BATON ROUGE — There are times in life where a change of scenery can do a person some good.
MiLaysia Fulwiley, when discussing her decision to transfer from her hometown team in South Carolina to LSU women’s basketball this past offseason, mentioned gaining a different perspective from a change in surroundings.
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The star junior guard will matchup against the No. 3-ranked Gamecocks (24-2, 10-1 SEC) in a highly anticipated, top-6 clash of SEC titans with Fulwiley’s new coach Kim Mulkey and former coach Dawn Staley inside the Pete Maravich Assembly Center Saturday (7:30 p.m. CT, ABC).
Fulwiley’s move shocked the women’s college basketball world and has brought some spicy flavor to an already boiling kettle of a rivalry between No. 6 LSU (22-3, 8-3) and South Carolina. But Fulwiley has said as she weighed her options last year, it began to make more and more sense to put herself out there.
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“I think it was time for a change of scenery,” Fulwiley told reporters. “In college, we are blessed enough to have the opportunity to change if we want to. I just did what I wanted to do, which is change. I made sure I went to a school that has a great program, that has a great coach and also wins.”
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Six months into Fulwiley being a part of the LSU program, and nearing a full season with her in the mix, here are several questions that have been answered. What level of impact has the star junior guard made for the Tigers? Where has LSU gotten better with Fulwiley on the roster and where is there still work to be done?
Where MiLaysia Fulwiley has made LSU women’s basketball better
Off the top, arguably one of Fulwiley’s biggest impacts on LSU has been instant offense. Whether she’s scoring it herself or not, defenses have to account for her and others are getting better looks. The Tigers have seen their scoring average increase nearly 12 full points from last season to this year. More players are posting double-digit scoring averages this year than in previous seasons.
LSU’s pace is better, but it’s only taking one more shot per game in 2025-26 over the previous year. LSU’s field goal percentage is up nearly six points.
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Defense is the other biggest benefit LSU has experienced with Fulwiley on its side. The team has significantly increased its steals from last year to this season and is averaging 12.5 per contest. Fulwiley has 80 steals and is on pace to fly by the team’s leader, Aneesah Morrow, in that category from last year.
Is MiLaysia Fulwiley better at LSU vs South Carolina?
Stats certainly don’t tell the whole story, but Fulwiley has bettered a lot of her numbers this season with the Tigers versus her first two seasons with the Gamecocks.
Her points are up to 13.4 per game from 11.7 she had at South Carolina. And the 47.9% shooting percentage she’s currently experiencing is a career high for her by more than four percentage points. Assists and steals are also up. A lot of this could be attributed to more playing time as she’s seen a dramatic uptick in minutes with Mulkey to 21.6 per game versus less than 19 at South Carolina.
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But there’s also some regression in areas for Fulwiley. When she’s on the floor with the Tigers this season, she has seen her usage rate, which measures how much a player is active with the ball while on the floor, drop to a career-low 27.1%, down from a career-best 33.5% last season.
On top of the numbers, Fulwiley, who is still coming off the bench for the Tigers like she did at South Carolina, is learning to play point guard and playing two different positions for LSU.
Where MiLaysia Fulwiley can improve with LSU women’s basketball
Turnovers are a problem for Fulwiley. Her turnover rate is up from 1.87 to 2.28 per game at LSU.
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“What I start with MiLaysia is turnovers,” Mulkey recently said. “That’s really important. And flow of the game.
“She’s trying to make things happen. She’s trying to play two positions, one minute I got her at the point, then the next minute I have her on the wing. I’m glad I get to coach her.”
There are times where Fulwiley and the team get a little too out of control and that’s usually when the mistakes, like turnovers and missed layups, take place from playing too fast.
Kim Mulkey on MiLaysia Fulwiley facing Dawn Staley, South Carolina
It makes for a juicy storyline, but to Mulkey, there isn’t much there between her star guard and her former team. The LSU coach thinks Fulwiley will likely have a few extra nerves before playing against her hometown team, in the Gamecocks.
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But it’ll be nothing more than that.
“I don’t know if I have to really do anything. I think about when you’re a player you’re out there trying to do the best you can for the team you play for. I don’t look for it as extra pressure on her,” Mulkey said after LSU’s last game against Auburn. “Internally, a competitor wants to do really good against their former team, but in my talks with her she’s never said anything ugly about South Carolina. She doesn’t have any bitterness.
“She’s answered y’all’s questions. She just wanted to go somewhere where she would have an opportunity to learn the point guard position. She liked our style of play. I don’t think there was any animosity or hard feelings. If there is, I don’t know about it, so (Fulwiley) will be fine except internally she’s probably going to be a little bit excited, have butterflies but she’s really a valuable part of our team.”
Cory Diaz covers the LSU Tigers for The Daily Advertiser as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his Tigers coverage on Twitter: @ByCoryDiaz. Got questions regarding LSU athletics? Send them to Cory Diaz at bdiaz@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: MiLaysia Fulwiley to play South Carolina – How she’s impacted LSU
