When Jada Richard joined LSU women’s basketball in 2025, she was labeled as the talented young freshman who would occasionally find her way onto the court.
Every time she subbed in, she heard the love from the LSU crowd as one of Louisiana’s own suiting up for the purple and gold. Fans knew that she could play an important role for the Tigers in the future.
Playing roughly seven minutes a game and sitting behind veteran guards such as Shayeann Day-Wilson, Last-Tear Poa and Mjracle Sheppard, Richard waited patiently until her number was called.
Fast forward to her sophomore season, she’s starting to blossom into the player that her coaches, teammates and fans believed she would be.
“She was a very, very competitive defensive player in high school and also quick off the bounce — could shoot the basketball,” assistant coach Bob Starkey said. “It was just a matter of her transferring it to the collegiate level.”
During Sunday’s matchup against the Oklahoma Sooners, the Tigers propelled to a 91-72 victory, adding another ranked win to their resume.
Leading the way was none other than one of LSU’s stars, Flau’jae Johnson, recording a stat line of 23 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and three blocks while also shooting 9-for-19 (47.4%) from the field.
While this was nothing new for one of the already known premier players in the SEC, right behind was Richard, who recorded a career game of her own.
Richard scored a career high of 21 points while also adding five rebounds, three assists and two steals, shooting 8-for-16 (50%) from the field.
Not only was it undoubtedly the best game she’s had since setting foot onto campus, but she also got it done against one of LSU’s most challenging opponents.
“She’s the type of player right now that we thought she was going to be,” Starkey said after the Oklahoma game. “I had somebody ask me on the floor, did we know that No. 30 was going to be this good? We did know No. 30 was going to be this good.”
When the season tipped off back in early November, Richard was still adjusting to the role as the starting point guard.
During the non-conference schedule, her numbers didn’t look the best, averaging seven points on 40.7% shooting, while attempting only 4.8 shots per game.
Despite the slow start, Richard and her team never lost faith that she would pick it up and contribute when the games got tougher down the road.
In the five conference games that the Tigers have played, Richard has been playing more efficiently and confidently. Over the five-game stretch, she’s averaged 12 points on 44.4% shooting while taking nine shots per game.
It’s the exact thing you would want to see from your point guard as you enter conference play, where the games are going to get harder.
Richard’s seen significant improvement not just on the offensive end but also on the defensive end.
Leading Oklahoma in scoring is true freshman guard Aaliyah Chavez, who was a five-star recruit in high school and the No. 3 player according to espnW’s class of 2025 rankings.
Averaging 18.8 points, four rebounds and four steals, the Tigers knew they would have their hands full, but with the help of Richard, was practically eliminated Chavez from Sunday’s game.
Richard got the assignment of mainly guarding Chavez and held her to only 11 points on 3-for-14 (21.4%) shooting from the field and four turnovers.
“When you talk about defense, you’ve got to mention Jada Richard,” Johnson said. “Three-for-14, Aaliyah Chavez, that was her main assignment. I would say she did a great job just controlling the tempo on defense — getting back in transition. We had a couple of lapses in transition, but overall, Jada controlled the pace. She really controlled the whole dynamic on defense, so I would say it was hard really dictating what Oklahoma did on those actions.”
The assignment to guard the opposing team’s leading scorer speaks volumes about how much trust this LSU team has in her.
Richard earned that trust because what’s grown the most in her game is her leadership skills.
“She has a voice on the floor now,” Starkey said. “She doesn’t have a problem saying something to Flau’jae or Mikaylah, or any of our players in terms of getting them in the right place, or telling them something that they need to do, or some area they need to pick up on. So that voice has been, I think, the biggest change, but her ability to play and defend — everything we knew we were going to get.”
