By ANDRE CHAMPAGNE, Tiger Rag Staff Reporter
The No. 6 LSU women’s basketball team will open SEC Tournament play on Friday, where it will face either Florida or No. 7 Oklahoma at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, South Carolina (1:30 p.m., ESPN).
Kim Mulkey’s team has a golden opportunity ahead. With three wins this weekend, the Tigers could capture their first SEC Tournament Championship since 2003. Not only would a conference title send LSU into the postseason with momentum, but it would most likely elevate the Tigers to a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
“For LSU, they actually have a chance, I believe, with a title at the SEC Tournament to get to a number one seed because that number one seed right now is really sitting there with Texas in it,” ESPN bracketologist Charlie Crème said on Tiger Rag Radio Tuesday night.
Junior guard Mikaylah Williams has been on a tear for the Tigers over the last three games. Since being benched in the second half against Ole Miss, Williams is averaging 19.3 points, 11.6 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 2.3 steals per game. She has recorded three straight double-doubles, including a season-high 26 points and career-high 15 rebounds against Mississippi State.
First-Team All-SEC 😤@mkwill12_ | @SEC pic.twitter.com/jpr1ZUVb1F
— LSU Women's Basketball (@LSUwbkb) March 3, 2026
Mulkey attributes Williams’ recent success to a couple of things.
“I just think she’s playing harder in practice. I think she’s playing harder in the games,” Mulkey said after the win over Mississippi State last week. “Sometimes, when you get older, you become a junior and a senior, it’s not that you coast, it’s just you try to pace yourself. And I don’t want her to pace herself. I think if you go hard every possession, it just becomes a part of who you are. Every possession, every rep that you get, just go hard as if it’s the last time you’ll ever play. And then asking her to go inside and play the four I think gets her some shots closer in when she misses some threes out there. She’s got the strength to battle in there for rebounds against bigger players, so I’m not surprised. As I said earlier in the year, Mikaylah has taken her game to a whole other level.”
LSU (26-4, 12-4 Southeastern Conference) defeated both Oklahoma (23-6, 11-5 SEC) and Florida (18-14, 5-11 SEC) earlier this season.
The Tigers’ defense was suffocating in both wins. LSU held Oklahoma to just 36.6% shooting and Florida to 36.8% while forcing both teams into more than 16 turnovers.
The Sooners are led by freshman guard Aaliyah Chavez, who is averaging 18.4 points, 3.8 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 1.5 steals per game. In LSU’s 91-72 win over Oklahoma in January, Chavez was limited to just 11 points on 3-of-14 shooting.
The Tigers will have to be able to find a way to contain Chavez while also staying strong in the paint against Oklahoma senior center Raegan Beers, one of just five SEC players averaging a double-double with 15. 9 points and 10.6 rebounds per contest. LSU’s defense will also need to do a better job of closing out on the perimeter, as Oklahoma attempts a high volume of three-pointers, averaging 22.7 attempts beyond the arc per contest.
Florida is led by sophomore guard Liv McGill, who ranks eight nationally in scoring, averaging 22.3 points per game. She was held to 14 points on 6-of-17 shooting in LSU’s 89-60 win in January.
If LSU advances on Friday, it would most likely set up a highly-anticipated rematch with No. 3 South Carolina (29-2, 15-1 SEC) in Saturday’s semifinals (3:30 p.m., ESPN).
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