Former Parkway star Mikaylah Williams scored 37 points as LSU held off Oklahoma 107-100 Thursday night at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
LSU, ranked No. 5 in the USA Today coaches’ poll and No. 7 in the AP Top 25, improved to 22-1 overall and 7-1 in the SEC. Oklahoma, ranked No. 12 in the coaches’ poll and No. 13 in the AP Top 25, dropped to 16-5 and 4-4.
Williams, a sophomore, was 12-of-20 from the field and 6-of-7 from the free throw line. She made 7-of-12 3-point attempts.
During the postgame press conference, Williams said she knew she was going to have a good game when her first shot fell.
“I know when I hit a shot early it’s going to be a real good game for me,” she said. “Very thankful for my teammates for feeding the hot hand and keep finding me at the end of the game.”
Her last 3-pointer came with 24 seconds left and gave the Tigers a 104-100 lead.
The Sooners had gotten within 101-100 on a 3-pointer by Payton Verhulst with 1:08 left.
After LSU called a timeout with 53 seconds left, Williams missed a 3. The Tigers’ Aneesah Morrow got the rebound but missed the putback. Flau’jae Johnson grabbed the offensive rebound.
Williams set the offense then didn’t hesitate, putting up a 3 off a screen. This time she didn’t miss.
“I was having a good game tonight so I was very confident in it falling,” she said.
LSU’s Aalyah Del Rosario blocked an Oklahoma layup and Willams got the rebound. Johnson scored on the fast break to put the Tigers up 106-100 with 12 seconds left.
In addition to her scoring, Williams also had seven rebounds and five assists.
LSU Head Coach Kim Mulkey said Williams simply does what it takes to win.
“Let me tell you how I feel about Mikaylah Williams,” she said. “She’ll play any position I need her to play and has been doing that for a month or so. Mikaylah, can you go play the forward and get in there with Morrow and let’s go small here? ‘No problem coach’ Mikaylah can you go play the point guard? ‘No problem coach.’ Mikaylah can you go to the wing? I put her wherever I need her.
“That tells you what I think of Mikaylah Williams. She’s willing to do whatever we need and I love that kid because she just wants to do right, she wants to win and she wants to get better every day.”
Oklahoma led 23-20 after the first quarter. Williams then scored 16 in the second quarter and LSU led 52-42 at the half.
The Tigers extended the lead to 72-48 with 4:13 left in the third quarter. The Sooner got within 15 going at the end of the quarter.
LSU led 85-68 early in the fourth. Oklahoma continued to rally and cut the lead to 93-86 with 4:01 left.
Williams answered with a 3-pointer to put the Tigers up by nine. Oklahoma went on a 10-2 run to get within 98-97 with 1:35 left. Shayeann Day-Wilson hit a 3 to push LSU’s lead to four with 1:16 left.
Williams scored nine points in the quarter.
“Obviously it was wild,” Williams said of Oklahoma’s rally. “But I think the biggest thing for the LSU women’s basketball team this year was to weather the storm. I feel like we weathered the storm well especially late in the game with the turnovers when the press happened.
“At the end of the day we stayed disciplined enough to pull it out at the end of the game.”
Johnson finished with 25 points and five assists. Morrow had 21 points and 12 rebounds.
LSU was 12-of-26 from behind the arc. Oklahoma was 9-of-24.
Verhulst led the Sooners with 26 points. Raegan Beers had 20.
LSU plays Mississippi State (16-6, 3-5) Sunday at 1 p.m. at home.
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