Something clicked for MiLaysia Fulwiley at the tail end of last season. Just look at her numbers. As LSU inched closer to March, they shot up — to the point at which it was clear the former South Carolina transfer was playing the best basketball of her career.
Now, Fulwiley is back for her senior season, and she’s hoping to take that hot streak and turn it into something more permanent.
So far, so good: Fulwiley picked up where she left off on Thursday, when the LSU women’s basketball team hosted the University of North Texas at Dallas in its first exhibition game of the 2026-27 season. In the Tigers’ 159-31 win, Fulwiley scored a game-high 32 points, assisted 17 shots and stole seven possessions after shooting 12 of 18 from the field and 7 of 11 from 3-point range.
“It’s my second year here,” Fulwiley said, “so I kind of feel like I know what needs to be done now, and now it’s just up to me to go out there and execute what my coaches need me to do.”
Fulwiley started the game and wound up logging a team-high 31 minutes — a few more than she likely would have had to play had the Tigers not been missing two of their 11 players: freshman center Anna Minaeva and senior forward Noa Morro. Both newcomers watched the tune-up from the bench.
Minaeva is dealing with a quad injury, coach Kim Mulkey said, and LSU hopes to have her back on the floor by Monday. Morro is out until at least late November with a stress fracture in her shin.
LSU’s five starters — Fulwiley, Jada Williams, Mikaylah Williams, ZaKiyah Johnson and Grace Knox — each logged more than 20 minutes. The Tigers were playing an NAIA program founded in 2020, but they still looked sharp. They didn’t have to shake off any rust or work through any sloppiness. The starters rattled off 21 straight points before the overmatched Trailblazers even made their first shot.
Mikaylah Williams, a star senior, finished with 22 points, eight assists, seven rebounds and 11 steals. Johnson added 23 points and 10 rebounds, while Knox chipped in 21 points and Jada Williams tallied 12 points and seven assists.
LSU also earned double-digit scoring outputs from a pair of newcomers who came off the bench: Florida transfer Laila Reynolds and freshman Lola Lampley.
Reynolds tallied 20 points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals, while Lampley notched 13 points and three steals.
But Fulwiley was the star of the first half. She scored 17 of her 32 points in the first two quarters after finding plenty of opportunities to display her signature flair and craftiness.
Mikaylah Williams drove the lane and found Fulwiley open for a corner 3 to begin the scoring barrage. Then Johnson stole a possession and bounced a pass to her down to the paint, where she glided into an open layup.
Fulwiley later flipped a no-look bounce pass from the lane and out to Jada Williams, who stepped back into an open 3-pointer. Then, in the second half, she paused a fast break to flip a pass behind her head and back to a trailing Johnson, who converted a layup that gave LSU two of the 61 points it scored on the fast break.
Those are the kinds of plays Fulwiley was making in the last 10 games LSU played last season — and the ones the Tigers will need her to deliver throughout her senior year if they want to reach the Final Four for the first time since they won their national championship in 2023.
That push won’t begin until Nov. 2, when LSU opens its season with a home game against Southeastern Louisiana.
The Tigers’ second and final exhibition is against Loyola-New Orleans, and it’s set to tip off at 7 p.m. next Thursday.
