Williams scores 20 and surpasses 1,500 career points as LSU tops Tennessee 89-73

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Mikaylah Williams had 20 points, 10 rebounds and five assists, and No. 6 LSU pulled away in the second half for a 89-73 victory over Tennessee on Thursday night.

Williams’ also became the 17th player in LSU history to score 1,500 career points when she hit a jumper about midway through the third quarter.

MiLaysia Fulwiley scored 18 points, ZiKayah added 14 point for LSU (25-4, 11-4 SEC), which won its third straight game. Grace Knox scored 13 points and Flau’jae Johnson 10 for the Tigers, who led by as many as 18 points.

Jaida Civil scored 17 points, Nya Robertson added 14 points and Talaysia Cooper 13 for Tennessee (16-11, 8-7), which lost its fifth straight. Tennessee combined for 11 3s to give the Lady Vols a fourth straight game with at least 10 makes from deep, but they’ve lost all of those games.

LSU has now won four straight over Tennessee, which has not won in Baton Rouge since 2021.

Tennessee led by six in the second quarter, but Fulwiley’s back-to-back 3s ignited a momentum swinging 14-0 Tigers run capped by Williams’ layup. That surge put LSU up 32-24.

Tennessee recovered to briefly take a slim lead on Robertson’s 3 before Williams layup in the final seconds of the period put LSU up 43-42 at halftime.

The Tigers began to pull away for good when Fulwiley intercepted a pass from Kaniya Boyd and broke the other way for a reverse layup that made it 61-52. Johnson followed with a left corner 3 and another Tennessee turnover led to Williams’ putback to give LSU its largest lead to that point at 66-52.

Up next

Tennessee: Wraps up its regular season at No. 5 Vanderbilt on Sunday.

LSU: Closes out its regular season at Mississippi State on Sunday.

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