Williams scores 20 as No. 12 LSU hands No. 2 Texas its first loss, 70-65

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Mikaylah Williams scored 20 points, capped by her 3 as the shot clock expired with 1:20 to go in the game, and No. 12 LSU handed second-ranked Texas its first loss this season, 70-65 on Sunday.

After Williams’ late 3 made it 66-59, she jogged back toward the defensive end with both arms triumphantly held high as an announced sellout crowd in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center erupted. The Tigers (16-2, 2-2 SEC) never let Texas (18-1, 3-1) get closer than five points after that.

Madison Booker scored 24 points, 14 after committing her fourth foul just 11 seconds into the fourth quarter. Kyla Oldacre had 16 points, 16 rebounds and three blocks. Jordan Lee added 12 points for the Longhorns.

Flau’jae Johnson, Milaysia Fulwiley, ZaKiyah Johnson and Jada Richard each scored 10 points for LSU, which led the entire second half and by as many as 13. The Tigers have now won two straight since falling out of the top 10 in the AP Top 25 with consecutive losses to Kentucky and Vanderbilt to open SEC play.

Both teams scored far below their per game averages in a game defined by ramped-up and physical defensive play.

LSU came in averaging 101.8 points per game and Texas 91.9.

Texas committed 17 turnovers, with Booker losing the ball six times and Oldacre five.

Johnson, who’d scored 25 in a victory at Georgia on Thursday, didn’t hit the 10-point mark against Texas until her driving scoop in transition as she was fouled hard and knocked to the floor by Oldacre. She converted the 3-point play to give LSU a 55-47 lead.

Texas led briefly in the first half but never by more than four points.

LSU took its first double-digit lead when Grace Knox hit consecutive layups to make it 43-32 after half way through the third period. The lead was still 11 when ZaKiyah Johnson and Fulwiley each hit layups to make it 50-39 after three quarters.

Williams had 11 points and three steals during the first half. Her third steal, from Lee, sent Richard breaking the other way for a pull-up jumper at the halftime horn that made it 30-25.

Up next

Texas is at No. 3 South Carolina on Thursday.

LSU is at No. 5 Oklahoma on Sunday.

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