By RON HIGGINS, Journal Sports
BATON ROUGE – Someone on Charlotte’s women’s basketball team thought it was a good idea to trash-talk 5th-ranked LSU via social media.
“They took it personal,” Tigers’ head coach Kim Mulkey said. “It fired them up. And if I were a player, I’d be fired up, too.”
LSU treated the visiting 49ers like road kill, with seven players scoring in double figures and Charlotte not scoring a field goal in the second quarter, in a 117-59 beatdown Wednesday night in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
The Tigers (4-0) broke the 100-point mark for the fourth straight time. The school record for most consecutive 100-point games is five, set by the 2022-23 national championship team to open the season.
But even that LSU squad didn’t have what the 2025-26 team has, an abundance of depth which has produced 114.5 points per game with an average victory margin of 59.5.
And here’s the most astonishing stat of all – LSU’s bench is averaging 57.5 points and the starters are averaging 57.
“I’ve been doing this for almost 40 years,” Mulkey said. “I can’t even think about if I’ve ever had balance like that. I probably have never confidently substituted like this, even in non-conference. And what has dictated that is what goes on in practice every day. You show me in practice.
“Our practices are extremely tough, I think, because they’re fighting for playing time. And I tell them, ‘Don’t worry about who’s starting. Make me play you.’ Well, they’re all making me play them.”
South Carolina transfer guard MiLaysia Fulwiley, trotted out her entire arsenal, scoring 22 points and tying her 3-point career high of 5 3-pointers (in six attempts) in just more than 16 minutes off the bench. She finished just shy of her career-high 24 points scored twice for the Gamecocks, including vs. LSU in last season’s SEC Tournament finals.
“I’m a great driver, so I think that opens up my shot,” Fulwiley said. “It’s all about being confident. I’m a very confident player. When it’s (her shot) going in, I just keep letting it fly.”
Six other Tigers scored in double figures. Former Bossier City Parkway High star Mikaylah Williams had 18 points, Flau’Jae Johnson 16 and Amiya Joiner 15. Kate Koval, Grace Knox and ZaKiyah Johnson contributed 10 each.
“I feel like our team is definitely special,” said Koval, a Notre Dame transfer who also had 12 rebounds for her second consecutive double-double. “We truly enjoy each other.
“You can see our chemistry on the court. Everybody eats on this team. Everybody gets a touch. Double the post players, and we’ve got amazing shooters. You stop our shooters and drivers, we’ve got great post players. We all kind of play off of each other.”
The 49ers were relatively competitive in the game’s first five minutes, trailing 17-10. But when Mulkey replaced her entire starting five during a media timeout with 4:41 left in the first quarter, Fulwiley came off the bench and immediately got busy.
In a 19-2 Tigers’ run to close the first quarter with a 36-12 lead, she hit the first two of her game-total five 3-pointers and got an old-fashioned three-point play with a sweeping one-hand drive and a free throw.
Fulwiley hit 3 of 5 3’s in the second quarter, including a buzzer-beater as the first half ended for 62-17 LSU lead.
The Tigers outscored the 49ers 26-5 in the period as Charlotte went 0 for 17 from the field (including 0 of 13 3-pointers).
“I told them (Mulkey’s team at halftime) `You can’t do any better than that, it has to be a record’,” Mulkey said.
LSU returns to the court with a road game at Tulane on Monday.
Contact Ron at ronhigginsmedia@gmail.com