Wherever Mikaylah Williams needed to be, she was there.
There was Williams, the shooter, Williams, the scorer, and Williams, the rebounder, all three of whom helped LSU secure an 80-63 win over Florida.
Three Tigers, including Williams, finished in double figures. Williams finished with a team-high 22 points, Aneesah Morrow finished with another double-double in 20 points and 10 rebounds, and Flau’jae Johnson added 19 points.
“Those three have been consistent in their production,” Kim Mulkey said. “It doesn’t matter to me if it’s a sub off the bench, if it’s one of our starters, be who you are, play your role.”
The Tigers shot 31-72 (43.1%) from the field and 4-15 (26.7%) from three as a team.
As LSU picks up win No. 20 on the season, here are the takeaways as the Tigers prepare to head to South Carolina:
LSU’s Impact Player: Mikaylah Williams
Williams finished the day with 22 points, shooting 8-18 from the field and 3-7 from three.
But her more critical contribution Sunday afternoon was her eight rebounds, including three rebounds on offense.
Florida out-rebounded LSU and held primary control in the paint. But along with her scoring ability, her presence at the basket gave LSU second chances it needed to build off its leads.
Florida turnovers turned into LSU scoring streaks
Florida had six turnovers in the second quarter alone, while LSU had five turnovers through the first half. LSU scored 35 points off of Florida’s 24 turnovers, including 22 points in the second half off turnovers from the Gators.
The Tigers leaned on their fastbreak offense, which led to scoring streaks throughout the game. LSU started the game with a 7-0 scoring run, but Florida fought back to end the first quarter with a 21-15 lead.
But LSU went on another scoring run, outscoring Florida 14-1 four minutes into the second quarter, and put together a 9-0 run midway through the third quarter.
“We took care of the ball, we didn’t have a lot of turnovers today,” Mulkey said. “We didn’t have any, what I would say, any bad forced shots.”
On the contrary, LSU held Florida to frequent droughts. After the Gators shot 47% from the field in the opening quarter, they shot 23.5% in the second and were held to just 12 shots in the third quarter.
LSU was inconsistent in the paint
The Gators out-rebounded LSU 44-38 despite Williams and Morrow combining for 18 rebounds.
Luckily for LSU, basketball is a game of two halves. The Tigers bounced back and out-rebounded Florida 20-17 in the second half.
LSU came into the matchup averaging the second most rebounds in the country with 48.7 rebounds per game.
Of Florida’s 44 rebounds, 30 were on the defensive side of the ball. Ra Shaya Kyle and Me’arah O’Neal each had seven total rebounds for Florida and six defensive rebounds. Jeriah Warren added five rebounds.
“Florida is very, very athletic,” Mulkey said. “That may be the first big [Kyle] we’ve really seen in the SEC.”
Games like these reflect how LSU’s numbers in the paint are relatively thin. While Morrow leads the country in rebounds per game, Jersey Wolfenbarger and Sa’Myah Smith haven’t been consistently involved enough to make that job easy.
What’s next?
LSU is headed into its toughest test this season, as the Tigers head to Columbia, South Carolina, to take on the defending National Champion South Carolina Gamecocks.
With College Gameday in attendance for this matchup once again, all eyes will be on the No. 5 Tigers and the No. 2 Gamecocks.
The matchup will tip-off at 7 p.m. CST on ESPN from Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, South Carolina.
“We’re going to enjoy this victory today. Any victory on the road in our league is an accomplishment,” Mulkey said. “But we know what we face next, a tremendous challenge to play the defending champions and do it at their place.”
