By KACE KIESCHNICK, Tiger Rag Staff Reporter
The LSU women’s basketball team’s dominant start to the 2026-2027 season continued with a 101-37 win over Denver University on Friday night in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
The Tigers narrowly met their 100-point quota, making it four straight games in triple digits to start the year.
But no one got to talk about it, because LSU Police evacuated the Assembly Center’s announced crowd of 9,134 and everyone else immediately following the game out of an “abundance of caution.” Police remained stationed out the arena after people left and offered no explanations to reporters.
Senior guard MiLaysia Fulwiley scored a season-high 23 points. She was 9-of-14 from the field, 2-of-3 from deep and 3-of-5 at the free throw line and also recorded three assists, two steals, two blocks and two rebounds.
Mikaylah Williams scored 20 points for the second time in four games. The senior grabbed six steals and seven rebounds and supplied three assists against just one turnover. She came up empty on two three-point attempts, but finished 9-of-16 from the floor and 3-of-5 from the free throw line.
As a team, LSU shot 59.1% from the floor (39-of-66) and 50% from three (4-of-8). The Tigers were off the mark from the free throw line again, though. They hit 19 of their 32 foul shots (59.4%). Coming into the night, they were shooting 57.1% from the free throw line.
LSU held the Pioneers to just 12-of-56 shooting. Mulkey’s Tigers have limited all four of their opponents to below 28% shooting this season. They also forced 26 turnovers, the third time in four games with more than 25.
Freshman Anna Minaeva was the leading rebounder for the Tigers with 10 off the bench. Senior guard Jada Williams paced the team with six assists and added six rebounds of her own. Sophomore ZaKiyah Johnson was the only other Tiger to finish in double figures. She has 13 points on 6-of-7 shooting and made her only free throw.
For a second straight game, the Tigers got off to an uncharacteristically sluggish start but still managed to build up a 20-12 lead by the end of the first quarter. It was a sloppy affair on both sides. LSU made eight of its 17 shots and the pioneers hit four of its 17 attempts. The Tigers made two of their three three-pointers but shot 2-of-10 from the charity stripe, leaving the door open in a game tied 10-10 4:29 minutes in. Jada Williams led the way for LSU in the period, making both of her threes for six points with one assist.
A 26-0 run that lasted the final three minutes of the first quarter and continued until there was 1:18 left in the second quarter brought the Tigers back to their regularly scheduled early-season programming. LSU had amassed a 42-12 lead before Denver guard Tori Baker ended the run with a 15-foot jumper.
During the second quarter, LSU found its rhythm on both ends of the floor, forcing 11 turnovers and finishing 10-of-17 from the field as a team. The Pioneers made just one of their 10 shots, including six missed threes. Fulwiley was at the center of both the offensive and defensive effort. She made three of her four field goal attempts for seven points, dished out two assists and recorded a block and a steal. Mikaylah Williams also added six points and three steals of her own.
The halftime trip to the locker room did little to stop Fulwiley and the purple and gold torrent. She opened the second half with a quick three from the corner, and LSU grew its lead to 72-28 by the end of the period. Sophomore forward Grace Knox scored eight points in just six minutes, making a jumper, two layups and a pair of free throws. Fulwiley also contributed a quick seven points in the first four minutes of the half.
The start of the final quarter resembled the start of the game more than the middle two periods as the Pioneers knocked down two threes while LSU struggled to get much going offensively. Mikaylah Williams went on a solo 6-0 run with a pair of fastbreak layups and a made jump-shot. She hit the final open floater at the front of the rim to give LSU 101 with 27 seconds left.
The Tigers return to the PMAC on Monday night to face the Troy Trojans (2-2). Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. (SEC Network+).
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