Led by Williams, LSU holds off Oklahoma's comeback in home win

BATON ROUGE –  In a battle between two of the top offensive teams in the country, No. 7 LSU (22-1, 7-1)  defeated No. 13 Oklahoma (16-5, 4-4), 107-100, Thursday night in the PMAC as Flau’Jae Johnson, Aneesah Morrow and Mikaylah Williams combined to score 83 points.

The 107 points scored by LSU marked the most points in a SEC game in program history, surpassing the 106 scored by the Tigers last season against Florida. Thursday night marked the fourth game in program history where both teams scored 100 points.

The Tigers led by as many as 24 in the third quarter, but Oklahoma’s press and LSU’s turnovers allowed the Sooners back in the game. LSU took a timeout with 55-seconds remaining and a one-point lead. The Tigers got two offensive rebounds and Williams nailed a three and then Aalyah Del Rosario blocked a shot on the other end to secure the win.

“I know when I hit a shot early, that it’s going to be a real big game for me,” Williams said. “So just like I said earlier, just very thankful for my teammates for feeding the hot hand and finding me at the end of the game.”

“She wants to win and she wants to get better,” Coach Kim Mulkey said of Williams. “Every day she wants to get better.”

LSU’s big three of Johnson, Morrow and Williams were scoring the ball at an elite level. Williams led the way with 37 points to go with 7 rebounds, 5 assists and three steals. Johnson scored 25 points with 5 assists. Morrow recorded her 20th double-double of the season with 21 points and 12 rebounds.

Oklahoma’s Payton Verhulst led the Sooners with 26 points on the evening. Reagan Beers finished with 20 points and 7 rebounds. 

Thursday’s game was physical. LSU and Oklahoma committed 27 and 38 fouls, respectively, and both team shot over 30 free throws.

After two sub-par shooting games in a row for LSU, the Tigers were on fire and shot xx-percent from the field Thursday night. Midway through the third quarter, LSU led in fastbreak points, 16-0. But Oklahoma’s 1-2-2 press created issues for LSU and allowed the Sooners to ultimately win the fast break points, 24-21.

“You know, you turn the ball over, bam, bam, and good teams are going to capitalize on that,” Mulkey said. “And that’s how it became a game. Turnovers.”

Early in the first quarter LSU’s Sa’Myah Smith and Oklahoma’s Liz Scott got in a scuffle that resulted in both of them being ejected. Due to the rules, they will both miss the next contest.

LSU is back in the PMAC on Sunday at 1 p.m. CT to host Mississippi State.

Oklahoma jumped out to a 5-0 lead to start the first quarter from two straight buckets and a converted foul shot from Raegan Beers. LSU responded to score the next six points to get the whiteout crowd into the game. Oklahoma led by as many as five and the quarter ended in favor of the Sooners, 23-20.

LSU took a one-point lead after two made threes by Johnson and Williams early in the second quarter. Those shots sparked LSU to go on a 10-0 run to take a 30-25 lead before Oklahoma knocked down a triple to end the run. LSU maintained and extended the lead to eight points after a long-range three and a layup off of a turnover from Johnson. The Sooners responded with six points in just over a minute, but it was Williams this time who drained two threes and converted an and-one to push the LSU lead up to eleven points. After Oklahoma made a free throw on the other end, the first half ended with the Tigers in the lead, 52-42.

LSU’s big three had a big first half. Williams had 20 points in the first half, Johnson scored 13 and Morrow had 12.

The Tigers scored the first five points out of the half to take their largest lead of the game of 15 points. The Tigers extended their lead to as many as 24, holding Oklahoma scoreless for over a three minute stretch. The Sooners put together a 9-0 run to cut the lead to 15, but Mikaylah Williams was ready to answer as she drained her fourth three of the night to push the lead back to eighteen. But LSU went through a bad spell of committing turnovers after Oklahoma went to a 1-2-2 full-court press and closed LSU’s margin to 12. Williams answered again with a three. LSU took an 83-68 lead into the final quarter.

Oklahoma stormed back in the beginning of the final period to cut the lead to just six with 4:01 left. Like she did all night, Mikaylah Williams responded on the next possession with her sixth made three of the night to push the Tiger lead back to nine. The Sooners would go down without a fight however, as they cut the lead to one point with 1:35 remaining. On the next possession, Sheyann Day-Wilson made a clutch three to put the Tigers ahead by 4, but OU’s Payton Verhulst went right back down the court and made a three of her own to make the score 101-100 LSU with 1:08 remaining. With the game on the line, Mikaylah Williams launched a three and found nothing but net to once again to push the LSU lead to four. Oklahoma proceeded to turn the ball over on the following possession, and Flau’jae Johnson took the ball down and scored on a layup to put the nail in the coffin. The thriller ended by a final score of 107-100, with LSU taking the victory.

*LSU press release