LSU rallies with 24-7 fourth, beats Ole Miss 78-70 in Oxford

No. 7 LSU rallied in the fourth quarter to beat No. 17 Ole Miss 78-70 at the Sandy and John Black Pavilion in Oxford, outscoring the Rebels 24-7 after trailing 63-54 entering the final period. ESPN had projected LSU’s chances at roughly 15 percent at the start of the fourth, and the Tigers’ late 13-0 burst in the final minutes sealed the comeback.

MiLaysia Fulwiley led the comeback with a career-high 26 points on 10-of-18 shooting and provided several of the decisive plays down the stretch. After a missed free throw late, Fulwiley corralled the rebound, started a fast break, drove into a lane, hesitated, faked a step to her right and finished with a finger-roll off the glass that extended LSU’s run. Coach Kim Mulkey praised Fulwiley after the game, saying, "God blessed this child with speed." Fulwiley and a player listed only as Johnson were the only two Tigers in double figures.

The first half presented problems for LSU, which committed 11 turnovers and surrendered 11 points off those miscues to Ole Miss. Mulkey said she adjusted the defense during the game: "We mixed it up. We went to that 3-2 (zone) and might have stayed in it a little bit too long. They hit some 3s when we were in it, and then we went back man." Star junior Mikaylah Williams finished with 7 points in 16 minutes and did not play in the second half; Mulkey described Williams’ absence as "a coach's decision."

Ole Miss got 25 points from senior Cotie McMahon, who shot 8-of-25 from the field after a 39-point performance earlier in the week in a win over Tennessee. Christeen Iwuala added 13 points and Latasha Lattimore scored 12, giving Ole Miss three players in double figures. The Rebels struggled to finish in the fourth quarter, hitting 7 of 12 free throws but going 0-of-17 from the field in that period, a collapse that allowed LSU’s 24-7 fourth-quarter edge.

The victory delivered a dramatic SEC result in Oxford and leaves LSU scheduled to return to Baton Rouge to host Missouri at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center on Sunday at 3 p.m. The Tigers’ ability to erase as much as a 13-point deficit and execute a 13-0 finishing run against a ranked Ole Miss squad underscored the late-game adjustments that produced the comeback.