LSU Continues Perfect Start with Victory Over Duke

By ANDRE CHAMPAGNE, TIGER RAG STAFF Writer

No. 5 LSU kept its perfect start alive with a 93-77 victory over Duke Thursday night at Cameron Indoor Stadium, overcoming an early 14-point deficit to move to 9-0 on the season.  From the opening tip, the Tigers looked rattled—six turnovers in the first five minutes fueled a Blue Devils surge—but LSU refused to fold.

Junior guard MiLaysia Fulwiley sparked the rally, hitting consecutive baskets to cut the lead to four by quarter’s end. “It’s an absolutely great win,” Associate Head Coach Bob Starkey said on LSU radio. “By far, that’s the best Duke’s played this year—and gosh, 17-3? We spotted them 14 points and from that time on we were just a really good basketball team.”

LSU flipped the script in the second quarter, outscoring Duke 31-19 to seize a 51-43 halftime advantage. The blowout never materialized, but the Tigers steadily extended the margin behind a balanced attack. Six players finished in double figures—senior guard Flau’jae Johnson led the way with 18 points, followed by Fulwiley’s 16, junior guard Mikaylah Williams and senior forward Amiya Joyner each with 14, and sophomores Kate Koval and Grace Knox chipping in 12 apiece. “It makes it difficult for teams to prepare for us. It really does,” Starkey noted of LSU’s depth.

Flau'jae was chirping at Kara Lawson and Duke after this 3️⃣

She was hyped after her game sealing bucket 😤 pic.twitter.com/OaUHuL9MZY

— ESPN (@espn) December 5, 2025

Down low, the Joyner-Koval-Knox trio combined for 39 points on 17-of-24 shooting (71 percent). Koval’s stat line—14 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, a block and 3 steals—stood out so much that Starkey pointed to her +27 plus-minus as “the best on the team today.”

Sophomore guard Jada Richard, who struggled early in the season, also delivered a crucial performance: 6 points, 2 assists, 2 rebounds and two charges drawn. “Jada was just absolutely solid from start to finish defensively—running the team, hitting a shot when she needed to, picking up two charges,” Starkey said.

Next up for the Tigers is a Sunday afternoon trip to New Orleans to face winless UNO (0-7) at Lakefront Arena (3 p.m. CT, ESPN+).