It’s been an up-down season for LSU women’s basketball after an upset loss in its season opener, but one undeniable thing has been the performance of Mikaylah Williams.
The No. 2 player in the country coming out of high school has been lighting up the scoreboard in her first four collegiate games. The freshman from Bossier City, Louisiana, leads the team in points with 20.2 points per game while shooting 58% from the field and 56% from three.
Coming into this season, people were aware of what Williams brought to the table with her elite scoring ability, but many eyes were on Angel Reese, Flau’jae Johnson and new transfers Hailey Van Lith and Aneesah Morrow. Though they do play important roles on the team, the success of Williams is paramount for LSU down the line.
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The Tigers came into this season losing key assets such as Alexis Morris, LaDazhia Williams and Jasmine Carson, players who contributed in big ways last season, especially with Morris who added that additional scoring to help out Reese.
Getting Morrow and Van Lith was big, as many people were already calling them the 2023-24 national champions. However, after an early loss to Colorado, things have started to cool down.
Both Van Lith and Morrow led their previous teams in points last season, but things have been a struggle for them. Van Lith is shooting 38% from the field and 15% from three while Morrow is shooting 48% from the field and 22% from three.
I’m confident those players will find their groove, but in the meantime, someone else is going to have to step up. So far that’s been Williams.
Williams brings another scoring dimension to the offense; she is able to score everywhere on the court and has done it efficiently.
Against Kent State, she dropped a staggering 42 points on 83% shooting from the field while also knocking down five 3-pointers. She set a record for the most points in a game by an LSU freshman in the NCAA era.
This alone shows you what she brings to the team already as a freshman. She has shown great composure and made the transition from high school to college very smoothly. Her playing so well gives head coach Kim Mulkey more options to work with down the line with specific lineups.
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If you want to go with a bigger lineup you can have Van Lith, Johnson, Williams, Reese and Sa’Myah Smith. If you want a more small-ball lineup you can take out Smith and put in Morrow, moving Reese to the five.
The production of Williams allows Morrow to continue to play that sixth-man role off the bench and brings veteran leadership and the scoring ability we saw at Depaul. On top of that, you still have players such as Kateri Poole and Last-Tear Poa who played crucial roles last season off the bench.
People already knew how loaded this roster was, but now with Williams playing the way that she is, Mulkey has more to work with. The starting lineup becomes even stronger, and the bench becomes versatile.
