By KACE KIESCHNICK, Tiger Rag Staff Reporter
The No. 9 LSU women’s basketball team (2-0) continued its dominant start to the season with 131-22 victory over Texas Southern (0-2) on Thursday night in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. Just three days after the Tigers set a program record for its 94-point win over Southeastern Louisiana, they crushed that mark with a 109-point win in Game 2. Texas Southern’s 22 points were just three more than the fewest the Tigers have ever held an opponent to (19 vs. Alabama State in 2002)..
The monster total was just one bucket shy of the LSU scoring record of 133 points in a game set against McNeese State in 2023. LSU will host McNeese State (2-0) on Tuesday at 7 p.m. (SEC Network+) in the PMAC.
It was a complete, team win for the Tigers. Seven players scored in the double-digits, with six eclipsing 15 points – Anna Minaeva put up 21 in her second game, Mikaylah Williams had 20, Jada Williams scored 18, ZaKiyah Johnson posted 17, MiLaysia Fulwiley and Grace Knox each had 15 and Lola Lampley scored 10.
“Honestly, this is the best team I ever played on,” Iowa State transfer point guard Jada Williams said. “So I’m just out there having the time of my life.”
Six Tigers had six or more rebounds: Knox (8), Johnson (8), Minaeva (7), Lampley (7) Mikaylah Williams (6) and Chloe Larry (6). Four different guards each dished out five or more assists: Larry (8), Jada Williams (7), Fulwiley (6) and Mikaylah Williams (5). Eight Tigers recorded multiple steals, and the team shot 53-of-89 from the floor, 9-of-20 from deep and 16-of-23 from the free throw line.
“Every game it’s gonna be somebody else,” Jada Williams said. “I think we just do a really good job of running and sharing the ball. We are a very unselfish team, and I think you can see that.”
The Tigers faced more adversity in the opening minutes on Thursday night than they did in the entire season opener. After it took Knox just seven seconds to get LSU on the board with a jumper from the low post, the Tigers trailed twice in the game’s first two minutes. Texas Southern hit two threes in its first three possessions to take 3-2 and 6-5 leads, but those one point advantages were the only ones the visitors held in the PMAC.
LSU ran up a 25-13 lead by the end of the first quarter. Fulwiley helped kick-start the breakaway with a trio of steals and finished the period with seven points on 3-of-5 shooting. Minaeva also generated a quick four points off the bench after grabbing a pair of offensive rebounds that led to layups. The Tigers finished the first quarter shooting 10-of-24 from the floor and 4-of-5 from the free throw line while making just one of their seven three-point attempts.
Texas Southern was then held scoreless in the second quarter as LSU blew the game wide open. It made no shots on 13 attempts and turned the ball over nine times while LSU went on a 40-0 run to close the half. Jada Williams took over the game, putting up 15 points after a scoreless first period. She made six of her seven shots and each of her three attempts from deep. Always a creator, the point guard also added two assists, a rebound and a steal. Fulwiley finished the first half closely behind with 13 points, four rebounds, four assists, four blocks and four steals.
Jada Williams has said that her goal is to average 10 assists a night, but she called her own number against the Tigers.
“I just want to control the flow of the game as the point guard. That’s my job, and if there’s nights where I don’t score, that’s not a problem with me. As long as I’m controlling the game, doing what I’m supposed to be doing, being vocal, being the head of the snake on defense and stuff like that, that’s my job. And if the ball comes my way and I’m open, I’m going to shoot it.,” she said.
The Tigers kept their stranglehold on the scoreboard through the first 3:45 of the second half. Texas Southern guard Jayla Cornelius hit a corner three to make it 75-16 LSU, ending a 50-point run that lasted 14:09. That three, however, was the team’s only made shot of the quarter, and LSU extended its lead to 95-16 behind 10 points from Johnson and seven points from Mikaylah Williams.
Texas Southern finished the game 8-of-55 from the field and 6-of-29 from deep after hitting another three with 3:22 left in the game to halt another 12:53, 43-point LSU run. LSU forced 38 turnovers and out-rebounded the Tigers 61 to 26.
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