JOURNAL SPORTS
LEXINGTON, Ky. – It was just another tightrope act on the road to the Big Dance for the seventh-ranked LSU women’s basketball team – and of course, Bossier City sophomore Mikaylah Williams made big plays when the Tigers needed them most Sunday.
For the second time this season LSU (26-2, 11-2 SEC) erased a double-figure second half deficit and the Tigers took down No. 14 Kentucky (21-4, 10-3 SEC) in a sold out Memorial Coliseum, 65-58, clinching a double-bye in the upcoming SEC Tournament.
Williams, the Parkway High product, led LSU with 24 points, grabbed five rebounds, had a key assist as the Tigers pushed away from the Wildcats in the final minutes, and drained a dagger of a 3-pointer with 49 seconds left to push the visitors up by four.
Her subtle ability to step forward in pivotal moments playing four of the five positions endears her to LSU coach Kim Mulkey.
“Why is she not in the mix as being talked about as one of the top sophomores in the country?,” said Mulkey. “You saw today how much we rely on her and how good she is. She missed some there down the stretch. They’d rim in and out. But if you notice, we ran a set for a post up one time, and then she hits the big three there at the end.
“That’s what great players do. You gotta move fast in this game and forget the last miss and not think about it.”
Her team is also a bit under the radar, said Mulkey.
“You better not overlook us. People forget we’ve only lost two ball games. Now think about what I just said. We’ve only lost to two top five teams on the road at their place. One was a one-possession game and one was a three-possession game.
“We just battle, we grind. You got kids that are competitors in that locker room, and we’re having a tremendous year. It’s just the SEC is so tough.”
Referencing the upset of No. 1 Notre Dame Sunday by North Carolina State, a team LSU handled 82-65 on a neutral court Nov. 27, Mulkey touted her team as a contender.
“It’s a wide-open race for whoever is playing good at the end of the year to win a national championship, and we need to be in that mix,” she said. “Why not? You don’t have to win your conference to be in the mix. We won the natty my second year at LSU, and we finished second in the league.
“There’s about seven teams out there who can win it all. And I said to my team afterward, `Why can’t we talk about us a little bit? You’ve had a tremendous year, and you let them know it hasn’t been that we’ve been blowing people out.
“That may be a blessing, that we’ve had to grind and win games and last second shots, and we’ve had to execute, and then we’ve lost a couple that we didn’t execute at the end of all games.”
The win marked No. 750 for Mulkey in her head coaching career with an .862 winning percentage.
The Tigers trailed by 28-14 in the second period and 38-26 at halftime, but surged and outscored UK by 17 to take the lead in the third quarter. After Williams nailed her second triple of the afternoon to put LSU up by four with 49.1 seconds left, Johnson got a steal on the ensuing defensive possession and the Tigers iced the game with free throws and offensive rebounding. LSU also overcame a double-digit, second half deficit against Washington.
Flau’jae Johnson posted a double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds. Aneesah Morrow also grabbed her 25th double-double of the season and 99th of her career with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
The Tigers will face their final road test of the regular season on Thursday at Alabama against a ranked Alabama squad.