With the LSU Lady Tigers winning it all last season and looking to repeat this year, you’d think that any freshman looking to impact the team would have to bide their time.
Not Mikaylah Williams.
The first-year guard already leads the team in minutes, averaging 32.1 per game. Her stat line is a marvel at age 18, averaging 15.9 points, 5.1 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.4 steals per game. The fact that she is only going to get better is a horrifying realization the rest of the SEC will have to come to grips with.
Williams is a certified bucket. She’s already an elite shooter, scoring from deep at a 40.2 percent clip. She also makes so many buckets off hustle plays. She crashes the boards and gets into the paint on virtually every field goal attempt, which allows her to clean up the glass and get easy points from missed shots. Her ability to shoot the mid-range basket is elite as well, a lost art in a game becoming more and more about the 3-pointer or a layup near the basket. Sure, Williams zigs like the rest of her peers, but she also can zag too.
She’s had many stellar performances, but none as impressive as her 42-point performance versus Kent State. In that game, she was unstoppable, converting on five 3s, going a perfect 7-for-7 from the charity stripe and shooting 80 percent from the field. It was the highest point total for a freshman in LSU women’s basketball history.
What made the display impressive was that the game came to her. It didn’t feel rushed or forced. She was just getting to her spots, knocking down her shots and, as her momentum built, the game flowed her way. It was an efficient night and the right play was often to feed Williams the ball. And she delivered, time and time again.
Defense is probably where Williams could use the most work. Speed and physicality can get to her at times, but she’s becoming good at steals and deflections. She also shows the effort needed to become a good, or even great, point-of-attack defender. Again, it’s year one. These things take time.
With the college basketball season gearing up for its grand finale, watching how Williams performs on the biggest stages will be interesting. The SEC tournament will be intense and March Madness will put an even bigger spotlight on her as she tries to help lead this team back to the Final Four in Cleveland.
I can’t wait to see her making big plays in big moments come the postseason. Williams is not just a player to watch as we enter the spring; she’s a superstar in the making who will soon have her coming out party on the national stage.