Mikaylah Williams leads LSU to miraculous win over Stanford | LSU

When Kim Mulkey looked up, she noticed that the crowd at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center had thinned.

On consecutive possessions, Stanford hit a 3-pointer and rolled in a layup, building its lead over LSU back to six and driving some fans toward the exits. They thought the Tigers were facing their first loss of the season.

Those who left missed the improbable comeback that kept LSU undefeated.

Just in the final 23 seconds of the fourth quarter on Thursday, with Stanford leading 80-75, Kailyn Gilbert hit a miraculous 3-pointer, Flau’jae Johnson forced a turnover and Mikaylah Williams sank a tough, fading free throw- Line jumper to tie the game and send it into overtime.

From there, the No. 5 Tigers (10-0) took the lead for the first time, outscoring Stanford by six points on Thursday and earning a 94-88 win in the SEC/ACC Challenge.

“I took names,” Mulkey said. “I won’t see her at church on Sunday because I’m away, but I’ll pick her up next Sunday. I saw it.”

Williams, a sophomore, finished the game with a game-high 32 points and nine rebounds after converting 12 of 18 field goal attempts and 5 of 9 shots from long range. She scored 15 of her points in the fourth quarter and overtime.

In regular time, the Cardinals (7-2) shot 49% from the field and 35% from 3-point range. It also limited LSU to just 12 points on the fast break, 18 points in the paint and 12 free throw attempts. These advantages allowed Stanford to build a 15-point lead in the first quarter, a lead that LSU narrowed in the final three quarters.

The Tigers gained their first lead three times. Once before halftime, Gilbert hit a mid-range jumper to cut Stanford’s lead to two. Once in the third quarter, when Johnson hit a jumper that brought LSU back to within two points. And again late in the fourth when Williams converted a three-point play to give the Tigers one last chance to grab a win.

Each time the cardinal rebuilt his cushion.

But it failed to elicit a response to the final three-play sequence that breathed new life into LSU.

“A little bit of God,” Williams said, “is what happened.”

“As long as there is still time, we still have a chance to win. That was the only thing on my mind. And then we just stay disciplined in our plays and our throws.”

Stanford deployed a balanced 3-2 zone defense that shut down the Tigers’ halfcourt offense. LSU missed eight of its first ten field goal attempts, and on the other hand, it allowed the Cardinal to not only hit five of its first seven attempts from beyond the arc, but also allow five second-chance points on three offensive rebounds achieve.

As the night progressed, Williams found open space in the halfcourt and converted most of her open jumpers, elevating the LSU offense through the cold portions of the first half.

LSU also received an offensive boost from Gilbert, who scored 25 points off the bench. After cutting Stanford’s lead to two in the final seconds of the first half, the Arizona transfer entered the game and started the second game in place of redshirt sophomore Sa’Myah Smith, who was held scoreless in 15 minutes of play against Stanford’s perimeter offensive attack.

Johnson, a junior, scored 21 points after hitting 8 of 20 field goal attempts. Senior Aneesah Morrow grabbed 16 rebounds but only managed eight points against the tight defense Stanford played inside.

“Whatever they did,” Mulkey said, “it unsettled us. But it wasn’t so much what they did defensively that was bad – it was what we couldn’t stop defensively. We couldn’t stop them. We tried, but this one was enough and we were too far away and she got a 3. I have to go back and watch the movie.”

Sophomore forward Nunu Agara led Stanford with 29 points on 12 of 16 shooting. Demetre scored 19 points after hitting three of 10 shots from distance.

On Thursday, Stanford traveled to the PMAC for the first time and played LSU for the third time. The Tigers won their first two meetings, one in 1981 and one in the 2006 Elite Eight.

The Cardinal is in its first season under coach Kate Paye, a former Stanford player and longtime assistant who was named head coach after legendary coach Tara VanDerveer retired at the end of last season, her 38th at Stanford .

LSU next faces Grambling in Williams’ hometown of Bossier City on Sunday at 2 p.m.

For the second time in four seasons, this game is 10-0 under Mulkey, who got more looks in the stands as LSU came from behind to win.

“Some of them turned back,” she said.