How It Happened: Mikaylah Williams Leads No. 5 LSU to 94-88 Victory Over Stanford

Williams dominates down the stretch, finishes with 32 points to lead the Tigers over Stanford in Baton Rouge.

Apr 1, 2024; Albany, NY, USA; LSU Lady Tigers guard Mikaylah Williams (12) reacts in the fourth quarter against the Iowa Hawkeyes in the finals of the Albany Regional in the 2024 NCAA Tournament at MVP Arena. Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-Imagn Images / Winslow Townson-Imagn Images

BATON ROUGE – No. 5 LSU (10-0) trailed nearly the entire game Thursday night in the PMAC against Stanford (7-2), but Mikaylah Williams, who finished with 32 points and 9 rebounds, sank a turnaround jumper with four seconds left to force overtime and the Tigers completed the comeback with a 94-88 victory to remain undefeated.

“With the guards and team we have,” Williams said, “on any given night, it can be anybody's night; it just so happened to be my night tonight.

LSU fell behind early in the game and trailed by as many as 15 in the first quarter. The Tigers narrowed the Stanford lead to two going into the half, but the Cardinal extended the lead back to nine in the third quarter. Stanford continually hit tough shots when LSU closed in, but the Tigers persisted on.

With 40 seconds remaining, Stanford took a six point lead, 78-72. Williams drew an and-one, drawing contact as she sliced straight down the lane to cut the lead to three on the other end. But Aneesah Morrow fouled the next possession, sending Stanford to the line to take a five-point lead. With 17 seconds left, Jada Richard found Kailyn Gilbert on the right wing to sink a three and cut the lead back to two.

Stanford called a timeout and advanced the ball. Flau’Jae Johnson’s defensive play on the ensuing inbound may have saved the game. She got in the passing lane to deflect the ball off of a Stanford player to give LSU the ball with 15 seconds remaining.

Gilbert brought the ball up the floor and delivered a pass to Williams on the left at the top of the lane. Williams fumbled the ball, missing her opportunity to hit a cutting Gilbert towards the rim. But Williams took the game into her hands, rising up on the turnaround jumper to tie the game at 80 and send the game to overtime.

“I decided to make a play, and the rest was history,” Williams said.

Williams continued with her hot hand, scoring 6 points in overtime with two threes. Gilbert had 5 points and Shayeann Day-Wilson had 3 in the overtime period to lift LSU to the 94-88 win.

Gilbert was a key performer off the bench for LSU. She finished with a season-high 25 points on 9-12 shooting, one shy of tying her career-high. She also had four assists.

That kid had tears after the game and it’s her journey, it’s her journey and what it means to her,” Coach Mulkey said. “We certainly are happy she is at LSU. She listens, she wants to do good and when you contribute like she has been for our team, she should have tears of joy.”

Williams scored her 32 points at an efficient, 12-18, clip. She was 5-9 beyond the arc.

Aneesah Morrow’s double-double streak came to an end, scoring just 8 points. But the nation’s leading rebounder did what she does on the glass, hauling in a game-high 16 rebounds.

Stanford, the nation’s leader in three point percentage, was hot in the first half at 6-13 from beyond the arc. In the second half the Cardinal cooled off from outside, finishing the game at 30-percent from deep, but Stanford hurt LSU on backdoor cuts getting the rim. The Cardinal outscored the Tigers 42-22 in the paint.

Nunu Agara led Stanford with 29 points and 13 rebounds. In total, four Cardinal finished with double figures.

LSU limited its turnovers to just 4 and forced 15 Stanford turnovers. LSU doubles Stanford in points off turnovers, 14-7

LSU went down early in the first quarter, as Stanford gained a 10-3 lead in just 3 minutes. Stanford continued to build on a strong first quarter and the Tigers were forced to call a timeout down 16-5. Shayeann Day-Wilson was able to drain a three pointer out of the timeout to provide a much needed spark to the LSU offense.

Stanford’s offense remained strong from behind the arc, as the Cardinal went an impressive 5-7 from three in the first quarter. At the end of the first quarter, LSU trailed Stanford 28-15. Forward Nunu Agara scored 10 points on 4-6 shooting and added 6 rebounds to lead the Cardinal.

All 15 of LSU’s points in the first quarter came from Williams, Day-Wilson and Johnson, each of whom scored 5 points in the first period of play. 

Williams got a mid range jumper to fall to begin the third quarter for the Tigers. LSU forced 3 turnovers on 3 straight possessions to assist a 9-0 run that put the Tigers back in the game midway through the second quarter.

Both offenses went on a scoring drought in the second quarter, and the game score remained 34-27 with Stanford leading at the media timeout. Gilbert scored on back-to-back possessions after the timeout to cut the Stanford lead to 3 points with 3 minutes remaining in the half.

The Tigers continued the trend of playing the hot hand, as Morrow was able to get comfortable in the paint and rattle off 4 consecutive points to keep LSU within striking distance.

The Tigers stormed back in the second quarter and outscored the Cardinal 22-11 to go into the half down 39-37. Williams led the Tigers at the half with 13 points on 5-8 shooting. The Tigers were also stout defensively, and won the turnover battle 9-2 in the first half. 

Johnson pulled up from the mid range and dropped the jumper to start LSU off in the second half. Stanford then managed a 6-0 run that saw the LSU deficit increase to 9 points. The Tigers continued to fight to cut into the lead, as Johnson connected on a deep three pointer at the buzzer that energized the crowd in the PMAC.

Williams found scoring opportunities on consecutive possessions and cashed two mid range jumpers to cut the Stanford lead to 4 points. The Tigers trailed the Cardinal 52-57 at the end of the third quarter. Johnson played a critical third quarter, as the junior scored 7 points on 3-6 shooting in the period. Stanford was led by Agara once again with 5 points in the quarter. 

Johnson scored the first 5 points of the fourth quarter for the Tigers with a mid range jumper and three pointer to spark the LSU offense. After an Agara three, Gilbert responded immediately with an and-1 layup where she converted the free throw.

Stanford’s offense continued to find points in the fourth quarter and forced the Tigers to play comeback offense. Williams found the nylon from the mid range to shorten the lead to 3 points once again. Stanford was able to connect on a three pointer to make LSU’s comeback more improbable.

After a rollercoaster ride in the fourth quarter, LSU steadied the ship and forced a Stanford turnover to keep possession. With time winding down on the clock, Williams was able to convert a mid range jumper to tie the ball game and send the Tigers to overtime. 

Williams converted on a three pointer on the first possession of overtime to give LSU its first lead since the first minute of the game when the Tigers led 3-0. The Tigers were able to force a missed shot and responded with free throws from Kailyn Gilbert to extend the lead to 4 with 2:30 remaining in the contest.

Gilbert hit another mid range jumper to give LSU the 88-82 lead inside of 2 minutes. Williams connected on a three pointer late in the shot clock to secure an LSU victory with 22.4 seconds remaining. The Tigers were able to control the clock and close out the game at 94-88. 

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