Mikaylah Williams is coming home Sunday.
The former Parkway star and her LSU teammates face Grambling State Saturday at 2 p.m. at the Brookshire Grocery Arena.
“I’m excited,” Williams said during the press conference following the Tigers’ 94-88 overtime victory over Stanford Thursday night in Baton Rouge. “I feel like at the end of the game it’s probably going to get a little emotional because I just want to show the little girls where I’m from it’s possible to be on a big stage and it’s possible to be good on a big stage and you can do it all right at home.”
LSU, ranked No. 5 in the AP Top 25, is 10-0 in large part because of Williams’ performance against Stanford, her best of the season.
The Tigers rallied from a five-point deficit with 23 seconds left. Williams hit a jump shot with 2 seconds left to send the game into overtime tied at 80.
She finished with 32 points and nine rebounds. She was 12-of-18 from the field.
For the season, Williams is averaging 16.2 points per game. But in the last three games she has averaged 22 points, including 24 in a n 82-65 road victory over No. 20 North Carolina State.
The NC State game came after her worst performance. In a 68-67 victory over Washington she was 0-for-9 from the field and did not score.
“The Washington game is in the past,” Williams said Thursday night. “I can’t do nothing about it in any games going forward. So just leaving the Washington game in the past. And then my teammates and my coaching staff instilling that confidence in me to continue to shoot, to continue to give me the ball late in the game to make those big shots. As long as I know they got me I got them.”
Williams signed with LSU after a spectacular career at Parkway. She led the Lady Panthers to the 2022-23 non-select Division I state championship her senior year. Parkway finished runner-up her junior year.
She was a two-time Gatorade Louisiana Player of the Year and was named Miss Basketball by the Louisiana Sports Writers Association her junior and senior seasons.
Depending on what organization you went by, she was the No. 1 or 2 recruit in the nation coming out of Parkway.
She also be became a world traveler, leading the USA to multiple 3-on-3 age group competitions and a 5-on-5 World Cup gold medal.
Williams announced her commitment to LSU via a video produced by The Players Tribune and posted to social media.
In the fourth game of her freshman season, she scored an LSU freshman record 42 points against Kent State.
For the season, she averaged 14.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.9 assists. She helped the Tigers go 31-6 and reach the the Elite Eight in the NCAA Tournament.
In April, Williams signed an NIL deal with Jordan Brand
After the Stanford game, LSU Head Coach Kim Mulkey said Williams’ work ethic is a big asset. But sometimes she is too hard on herself if she doesn’t live up to her own expectations.
“She works on her off days,” Mulkey said. “She’s always in the gym. As she will tell you all I need to do is work coach. That’s how I was raised.
“The thing I work with the most with Mikaylah is she’s hardest on herself. This game will humble you. This game will reward you. She’s a pleaser. She does not want to disappoint anybody whether it’s her parents, whether it’s her coaches. And I tell her, you’re not going to disappoint us. Your worst is still good for us. Your best is good enough for us.
“And I just think that some kids have that personality that she thinks she ought to be doing this every game. And I have to remind her they have other players that can play too. And just keep plugging away and keep working. And you also play with great players and y’all complement each other.”
Williams isn’t the only standout athlete in her family. He brother Kaleb is Parkway’s starting quarterback. He started a full season as a sophomore but missed most of this past season after suffering an injury. He is also a starter on the basketball team.
During her signing ceremony, Williams tearfully spoke about her brother and the sacrifices he made as her talents took her around the globe.
Sunday’s game is also a homecoming of sorts for Mulkey. She starred as a player at Louisiana Tech and began her coaching career there as an assistant under Leon Barmore.
“We’re looking forward to going to Bossier,” she said. “And I know, Mikaylah, it will be emotional for her. She’s left her mark on this state with high school basketball, won her a state championship, and they’ll be lots of probably women’s basketball fans than just LSU fans.
“I hope to see some of my Louisiana Tech people. I know I’ll see Grambling people. People forget when you live down here there is another part of the state. People ten to forget that and there’s great institutions in the other part of our state.”
Of course, local fans will also get a chance to see LSU’s other players who are among the best in the country. Those include junior guard Flau’jae Johnson and 6-1 senior forward Aneesah Morrow. Kailyn Gilbert, a 5-8 junior guard, played a big role off the bench against Stanford.
Grambling State brings a 2-6 record into the game. The Tigers fell to Tulsa 77-60 on the road Thursday.
Last season, GSU went 23-10 and finished second in the SWAC at 15-3.
Kahia Warmsley, a 5-8 senior guard and former Mansfield star, leads the team in scoring at 12.8 points per game. Douthshine Prien, a 5-7 junior guard from Boynton Beach, Fla., averages 10.4.