Former Parkway star Mikaylah Williams scored 10 of her 19 points in the final 4:09 as LSU rallied past North Carolina State 80-73 to advance to the NCAA’s Elite Eight Friday in Spokane, Wash.
LSU (31-5), the No. 3 seed in the Spokane 1 Region, will face overall No. 1 seed UCLA (33-2) in the regional finals at 2 p.m. CT Sunday. The winner advances to the Final Four in Tampa. NC State closed its season 28-7.
In the postgame press conference, Williams said that senior teammate Aneesah Morrow’s words during a timeout were an inspiration.
“She got in the huddle and told us this was not going to be her last game,” Williams said. “That’s just me playing and not wanting it to be my last game and not wanting it to be her last game. So I think that’s a little bit of heart and a little bit of luck that the shots started to fall at the end of the game.”
LSU led 57-53 after three quarters. NC State rallied and took a 69-64 lead with 4:29 left. Williams hit a jumper and a layup to cut the lead to one.
After the Wolfpack went up 71-68, she hit another jumper with 2:27 left.
NC State regained the three-point advantage, but LSU’s Sa’Myah Smith answered with a layup.
After a Wolfpack miss, Williams made a layup to give the Tigers the lead for good at 74-73 with 1:07 to play. Smith sank two free throws with 44 seconds left.
An offensive foul was called on NC State with 17 seconds left. With 15 seconds left, Williams was fouled and made both free throws.
Smith made two free throws to complete the Tigers’ 10-0 run over the final two minutes.
Williams was 8-of-20 from the field and 3-of-5 from the free throw line. She also had eight rebounds and a team-high six assists.
Morrow led LSU with 30 points and 19 rebounds. Smith finished with 21 points and 11 rebounds.
Zoe Brooks led the Wolfpack with 21 points,
LSU led 23-15 after the first quarter. NC State rallied in the second and led 40-36 at the half.