Mikaylah Williams scored eight of her game-high 20 points during a decisive third-quarter run Thursday as LSU blew open an 89-73 defeat of Tennessee.
The junior guard out of Parkway High scored more than half the points in the Lady Tigers’ game-breaking 15-3 sprint and also finished with game-highs of 10 rebounds and five assists, marking her second-straight double-double.
No. 6 LSU (25-4, 11-4) overcame a slow start to take a 43-42 halftime lead on a Williams layup just before the break.
The teams traded baskets early in the third before Williams and company took control with a stretch of more than four and a half minutes in which five different Lady Tigers scored while allowing the Lady Volunteers (16-11, 8-7) to just two made field goals.
LSU received a huge spark off the bench from junior guard MiLaysia Fulwiley and freshman forward Grace Knox with most of the Lady Tigers’ reserves’ 36 points in all and many of the team’s 50 points in the paint.
Fulwiley finished with 18 points, six rebounds, four blocked shots, three assists and two steals, and Knox added 13 points and nine rebounds.
Freshman guard ZaKiyah Johnson scored 14 points and grabbed eight rebounds.
And while star guard Flau’jae Johnson‘s 10 points on her senior-night celebration were far from her biggest scoring output, she provided three steals and two blocks to LSU’s disruptive defensive performance that gradually shut down the Lady Vols as the game wore on.
LSU guard Flau’jae Johnson scored 10 points and helped provide key defensive and hustle plays to the Lady Tigers’ 89-73 defeat of Tennessee on her senior night Feb. 26, 2026. (Photo: Elias Carman, @shotbycarman)
LSU has now won four straight meetings the past three seasons in the historical rivalry and six of the seven since coach Kim Mulkey took over the program in 2021.
The Lady Tigers will visit Mississippi State (18-11, 5-10) at 3 p.m. Sunday to close the regular season before awaiting their draw for the SEC Women’s Basketball Tournament next week in Greenville, S.C.
A victory in Starkville, Miss., would secure a top-four seed in the bracket and a double-bye to the quarterfinals Friday, March 6.
The tournament tips off Wednesday at 11 a.m.
