BATON ROUGE, La. – LSU women’s basketball players Mikaylah Williams and MiLaysia Fulwiley received recognition Wednesday from the league’s coaches as selections for the preseason All-SEC teams.
Williams and Fulwiley were named to the All-SEC First Team. LSU was picked to finish third behind South Carolina and Texas with Vanderbilt and Kentucky rounding out the top five. The preseason poll consisted of votes by SEC coaches who were unable to vote for their own players in the selection process.
Williams was a unanimous selection to the All-SEC First Team by the SEC coaches.
In the media poll released on October 12, Williams was selected to the first team and Fulwiley was selected to the second team by the SEC’s media members.
Williams enters her fourth season at LSU as one of the top returning guards in the country. She is coming off a strong junior campaign after being a part of LSU’s fourth consecutive Sweet 16 appearance. Williams is one of the purest scorers on the women’s basketball scene with the ability to impact the game from anywhere on the court, offensively and defensively.
One of the three mainstays in LSU’s starting lineup a season ago, Williams led the Tigers in three-point field goals made (50), defensive rebounds (159), assists (127) and minutes (999). She averaged 14.2 points, 5.3 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.4 steals per game, which garnered her an honorable mention on the Associated Press All-America list and earned her a spot on the All-SEC First Team. In her junior season, Williams eclipsed 1,500 career points against Tennessee and 500 career rebounds against South Carolina in the SEC Tournament semifinal.
Fulwiley, a game changing 5-10 guard, has been one of the nation’s most creative offensive players since she began her college career. In three seasons, she has come off the bench in 108 games with four starts (3 at South Carolina, 1 at LSU) and has averaged 12.6 points, 3.1 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.9 steals per game. Fulwiley has one national title, two Final Four appearances and a Sweet 16 finish over her three years at the collegiate level.
In the 2025-26 season, Fulwiley was LSU’s leading scorer with 511 points and paced the Tigers in made field goals with 190. Named SEC Sixth Woman of the Year for the second straight season, she joined LSU’s Sylvia Fowles (2005) and Allison Hightower (2008) as the third Tiger to receive the award. Fulwiley became the third SEC player to receive the honor in back-to-back seasons and earned an honorable mention from the AP as an All-American.
Fulwiley surpassed 1,000 career points and secured a career high of 28 points against Duke in the Sweet 16 round. She also etched her name into the LSU top 10 for steals in a game three separate times with 8 (2x) and 7 (once).
Coach Kim Mulkey will lead her sixth team at LSU ahead of the 52nd season of LSU Women’s Basketball. LSU returns key players including Williams and Fulwiley. Three sophomores from the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class a season ago return including ZaKiyah Johnson, an All-SEC freshman, Grace Knox and Meghan Yarnevich.
Joining LSU’s team from the transfer portal includes point guard Jada Williams from Iowa State, guard Laila Reynolds from Florida and guard Chloe Larry from Tennessee Tech. Newcomers to the college basketball scene include LSU’s freshman Lola Lampley out of Indiana and international standouts Noa Morro from Spain and Anna Minaeva from Russia. Collectively, LSU returned five players and welcomed six newcomers to round out its roster of 11.
The Tigers have two exhibition games on October 22 and October 29, both of which are free for fans to attend in the PMAC. LSU will officially open its season on November 2 at home against Southeastern Louisiana.
Order of Finish
Rank Team Points
1 South Carolina 239
2 Texas 215
3 LSU 204
3 Vanderbilt 204
5 Kentucky 182
6 Oklahoma 163
7 Ole Miss 157
8 Tennessee 124
9 Mississippi State 120
10 Texas A&M 93
11 Florida 85
12 Missouri 78
13 Alabama 55
13 Georgia 55
15 Auburn 44
16 Arkansas 22
Preseason Player of the Year
Mikayla Blakes, Vanderbilt
Preseason First Team All-SEC
Clara Strack, Kentucky (u)
MiLaysia Fulwiley, LSU
Mikaylah Williams, LSU (u)
Talaysia Cooper, Ole Miss
Aaliyah Chavez, Oklahoma
Joyce Edwards, South Carolina (u)
Tessa Johnson, South Carolina
Madison Booker, Texas (u)
Mikayla Blakes, Vanderbilt (u)
Aubrey Galvan, Vanderbilt
Preseason Second Team All-SEC
Kiyomi McMiller, Florida
Me’Arah O’Neal, Kentucky
Jada Richardson; Ole Miss
Madison Francis, Mississippi State
Grace Slaughter, Missouri
Sahara Williams, Oklahoma
Chloe Kitts, South Carolina
Jordan Lee, South Carolina
Ashlyn Watkins, South Carolina
Breya Cunningham, Texas
Mia Woolfolk, Vanderbilt
(u) - unanimous