BATON ROUGE, La. – No. 9 LSU women’s basketball makes its much anticipated return to the Pete Maravich Assembly Center on Monday when the Tigers host Southeastern Louisiana for the program’s 2026-27 season opener.
The LSU-SLU game is available to watch on SEC Network with Chuckie Kempf (pxp) and Christy Thomaskutty (analyst) calling the season-opening action. Fans can also listen to the LSU Sports Radio Network with Patrick Wright and Shaeeta Williams broadcasting the contest on the airwaves.
LSU will play one additional game this week with Texas Southern coming to town for a 7 p.m. tip on Thursday, Nov. 5. The Tigers will play their first seven opponents in the friendly confines of the Maravich Center before traveling to Fort Myers for a multi-team event. Individual game tickets for games at the PMAC are available for purchase at LSUtix.net.
The Tigers will take on the Lions for the 49th time in series history with the Tigers holding a 37-11 advantage. The last time LSU and SLU met in women's basketball was last season where LSU came away with the 115-26 victory on Nov. 6, 2025. LSU’s record when hosting the Lions at the PMAC is 24-4.
LSU’s margin of victory (89) against the Lions a season ago matched the program record also accomplished versus McNeese on Dec. 12, 2023. Additionally, the Tigers shot 67.6% from the field, which ranks fourth in LSU history (70.0% at Alabama – Jan. 5, 1978; 69.6% vs. North Carolina A&T – Jan. 1, 2006; 67.8% vs. McNeese – Jan. 30, 1980).
Last time out in exhibition game No. 2, LSU put nine players on the floor against the Loyola Wolf Pack and seven Tigers finished with double digits in scoring. Senior Mikaylah Williams led all scorers with 23 points, while adding five assists, two rebounds and three steals. The Tigers’ next best scorers included sophomore ZaKiyah Johnson (22), senior MiLaysia Fulwiley (16), freshman Lola Lampley (16), sophomore Grace Knox (12), senior Laila Reynolds (12) and freshman Anna Minaeva (10).
Minaeva saw her first action at the collegiate level with 54 seconds left in the first quarter. Minaeva finished her first game with 10 points and five rebounds, going 3-of-4 from the field while drawing five fouls that yielded 10 free throw chances (Minaeva converted on four attempts).
LSU’s defense created 36 turnovers against Loyola, scoring 48 points off takeaways. The Tigers also blocked five shots, which included three emphatic swats from Knox. Fulwiley had eight of LSU’s 22 steals on the night, contributing to the Tigers success with forcing turnovers.
The new look Lions will be led by Aliyah Collins, who last posted the fourth-best scoring average (14.7) in the Southland Conference. The senior also paced the SLU offense in 2025-26 with a team-best 91 assists. Natalie Huff will take the court after a solid freshman season with Southeastern. Huff was the team’s steals leader (49) in her first season in Hammond, America. Eryn McKinzie, who led the Lions in rebounding average (5.0) and averaged the third-most points on the team (9.9) in 2025-26, will compete in the season opener.
SLU’s newest Lions will take the floor on Monday, with Southeastern bringing in nine additions to the 2026-27 squad. Division I transfers Micah Cooper and Lillian Merow headline Southeastern’s newcomers. Cooper was a high school standout out of Hebron High, where the Carrollton, Texas native led her alma mater to the playoffs while averaging 13.3 points per game. Merow was also a standout student-athlete from Port Washington, Wis. The sophomore was a four-year All- Conference selection during each season of her career at Port Washington High.