By RON HIGGINS, Journal Sports
SACRAMENTO – For anyone not familiar with the personnel of the highest scoring team in women’s college basketball, let’s listen to LSU’s Flau’Jae Johnson expound on her teammates.
“When Lay in the game, she’s going to get her hood strip and go, so you gotta be real fast,” Johnson said. “12, she’s butter from the middy, from the 3, wherever. Z, she’s just an athlete. Leap out of the gym. Grace, her energy, her tenacity. MyMy, when she’s having a game, you just gotta let her go.”
Translation: MiLaysha Fulwiley steals and runs like a blur, Mikaylah Williams is a shooting machine from mid-range and deep. Undersized guard ZaKiyah Johnson consistently outleaps taller players for rebounds, Grace Knox plays with a chip on her shoulder and definitely pass the ball to Amiya Joiner when she’s dealing inside.
Add them all together, along with Jada Richard, Kate Koval and Bella Hines, and you get the No. 2-seeded team in the NCAA Sacramento Regional 2 semifinal, providing No. 3 Duke (26-8) a stiff challenge here tonight at 9 p.m. CDT.
“Our offense doesn’t run through one player to make everybody else better,” said LSU fifth-year coach Kim Mulkey of her team that averages 95.3 points. “We run a style of play that allows all of them a little freedom to score.”
The Tigers (29-5) just about hit their average in a 93-77 victory at Duke on Dec. 4. While the Blue Devils managed to snap LSU’s streak of eight straight 100-point games, it was the most points Duke allowed this season.
The Blue Devils, playing a brutal non-conference schedule featuring five teams in this season’s NCAA tourney field, including No. 1 seeds UCLA and South Carolina, and second-seeded LSU, started the season 3-6.
Since then, Duke is 23-2, won the Atlantic Coast Conference regular season title and league tournament, and beat No. 6 seed Baylor 69-46 in last week’s Durham Regional second-round to avenge a season-opening loss to the Lady Bears.
“Obviously, with the start of our season, we understood that there was a lot of growth that needed to be done,” Duke senior guard Taina Mair said. “Getting here (to the NCAA Tournament) was obviously one of the goals that we had internally.”
While Lawson has stuck with a seven-woman rotation, LSU’s dearth of talented newbies has resulted in a nine-woman rotation. It’s given Mulkey, who guided the Tigers to 2023 national championship, followed by two straight Elite Eight appearances, more lineup options than she’s had since taking over the program in 2021-22.
“The last time we played Duke, the two bigs played together on the floor,” Mulkey said. “Duke has two bigs. It’s a good match-up for me to have both bigs on the floor against Duke.
“Do what you’ve been doing all year. We throw it in there, finish, defend, run the floor, get back in transition defense. They’re playing with a lot of confidence.
“I think their (the Blue Devils’) confidence is out of the roof too. They didn’t change anything. Their identity and our identity is the same as it was last time we played. You just perfect what you do.”
Mulkey is 8-0 in her career when facing a team in the NCAA Tournament that she played earlier in a season.
LSU is an 8½-point favorite over Duke. The winner advances to Sunday’s regional final against the winner of today’s earlier game between No. 1 seed UCLA and No. 4 seed Minnesota.
The Tigers beat UCLA 78-69 in the 2024 Albany Regional 2 semifinals but lost to the Bruins 72-65 in last season’s Spokane Regional 1.
No. 2 seed LSU (29-5) vs. No. 3 seed Duke (26-8), NCAA Sacramento Regional, tonight, 9 p.m. CT (ESPN)
LSU NCAA Tournament appearances and record: 31, 58-29 (66.6 percent).
How the Tigers got here: Beat No. 15 Jacksonville 116-58 in Friday’s Baton Rouge Regional first round and No. 7 seed Texas Tech 101-47 in Sunday’s second round.
Head coach: Kim Mulkey 783-129 (85.8%) in 26 seasons overall, 151-25 (85.8%) in five seasons at LSU, 68-19 (78,2%) in 24 appearances in the NCAA tourney, including 53-16 (76.9%) in 19 appearances at Baylor, 15-3 (83.3%) in 5 appearances at LSU.
Series record: 3-3, last meeting was LSU’s 93-77 win in Durham earlier this season on Dec. 4.
Starting lineup: G Flau’Jae Johnson, 5-10, Sr. (14.3 ppg, 4.2 rpg), G Mikaylah Williams, 6-0, Jr. (14 ppg, 5.34rpg), G Jada Richard, 5-7, So. (9.6 ppg, 2.7 rpg), G ZaKiyah Johnson, 6-2, Fr. (10 ppg, 5.7 rpg), F Kate Koval, 6-5, So. (8.6 ppg, 6.4 rpg).
Top reserves: G MiLaysia Fulwiley, 5-10, Jr. (14.2 ppg, 3.6 rpg), Amiya Joyner, 6-2, Sr. (9.2 ppg, 7.5 rpg), F Grace Knox, 6-2, Fr. (8.9 ppg, 4.6 rpg), G Bella Hines, 5-10, Fr. (4.3 ppg, 2.3 rpg).
DUKE
NCAA Tournament appearances and record: 28, 93-64 (59.2 percent).
How the Blue Devils got here: Beat No.15 seed College of Charleston 81-64 in Friday’s Durham Regional first round, beat No. 9 seed Baylor 69-46 in Sunday’s s second round.
Head coach: Kara Lawson 123-49 (71.5%) in 6 seasons overall and at Duke, 8-3 (72.7%) in 4 NCAA tourney appearances.
Starting lineup: G Ashlon Jackson, 6-0, Sr. (11.3 ppg, 3.4 rpg), G Taina Mair, 5-9, Sr. (11 ppg, 5.9 rpg), G Riley Nelson (9.4 ppg, 3.4 ppg), F Toby Fournier, 6-2, So. (17.4 ppg, 8 rpg), F Delany Thomas, 6-3, Fr. (11.1 ppg, 6.4 rpg)
Top reserves: C Arianna Roberson, 6-4, RS Fr. (8.3 ppg, 5.7 rpg), F Jordan Wood, 6-4, Jr. (4.9 ppg, 3.1 rpg), F Anna Wilkstrom, 5-11, Fr. (1.3 ppg, 0.6 rpg).
Contact Ron at ronhigginsmedia@gmail.com