SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT

March 6, 2026

Kim Mulkey

Mikaylah Williams

Flau'jae Johnson

Bon Secours Wellness Arena

LSU Lady Tigers

Postgame Press Conference

LSU - 112, Oklahoma - 78

THE MODERATOR: We're now joined by LSU head coach Kim Mulkey and student-athletes Mikaylah Williams and Flau'Jae Johnson.

Q. Mikaylah, you've been shooting lights out as of late. What's working so well for you?

MIKAYLAH WILLIAMS: I think it's just finally falling. I don't think anything has really changed. I have continued to work hard, continued to work on my shot. I thank my teammates for continuing to pass me the ball and trust me with those shots. It's finally falling, and it's the right time to be falling too.

Q. 2,000 career points, but I want to go back to the moment where you were just in a rhythm, like the back-to-back 3-point shots, the acrobatic layup. Kind of just talk to me about what was going through your mind at that point in time?

FLAU'JAE JOHNSON: Kind of just like trusting myself and making the right reads. Coach said just seeing matchups. I seen that I think Beers was in the paint, so I wanted to attack her. I know nobody can stop me in transition.

Then I just started feeling it. My teammates started finding me and open shots.

It started off with assists, though. I came down in our play, and I hit Bella in the corner, and she hit it, and it kind of got my energy going.

Q. This is for Flau'Jae. You always seem to play with a lot of passion and fun, but this is your last SEC Tournament run. Just what does that mean to you?

FLAU'JAE JOHNSON: It means a lot to me. I love coming out here and playing basketball here. I always have a great time here because it's just like -- it's a great time. My family's here. I'm from Georgia, so a lot of my family gets to come.

The fans, our fans show up. They do a pep rally at the hotel. Then I don't know, it's just something about this floor. I love this gym. I'm really soaking it in because it is my last one. I'm just thankful I got to do it with Mikaylah.

If you all don't know, we've barely really had a chance to play together in the SEC Tournament. First year she was hurting with her injury. The second year I was out with my shins. Now this is the first time we get to share the floor. So it's great.

Q. This question is for the both of you. Can you talk a little bit about how good of a teammate MiLaysia has been for you guys. First season here at LSU, obviously brings a lot of production off the bench. How good of a teammate has she been with you guys?

MIKAYLAH WILLIAMS: She's been great, very willing to learn, very willing to gel in with us. I think her personality on and off the court fits right in with us. So she's been great, and it's been really fun to have her as a teammate.

FLAU'JAE JOHNSON: That's what I was saying. She's very willing to listen. She's very willing just to -- she's so talented. She's so, so talented. She's just willing to "I want to know what to do. How do I get better?"

A player like that, you just can't help but love to play with. Even through the mistakes she makes, it's so cool because she'll go back and get it after. She teaches me about confidence a lot because she'll go down there and she will turn the ball over, and then she'll come back and do a behind-the-back head pass again like it don't even matter. So she really has that short-term memory. So she's been such a good teammate to teach and to learn from.

Q. How impactful has Jada Richard been for you all?

MIKAYLAH WILLIAMS: Extremely impactful. We call her QB30 because when she's on the floor, she runs our offense. She's the energy on defense. She's extremely important to how we run.

FLAU'JAE JOHNSON: I'm most proud of Jada, just seeing -- we had a real talk during the summer, and I was just telling her: Bro, you're better than so many people. You need to play. We need you to play.

I think she's just proving herself night in and night out. It's not even her ability to score, like she can score, she will, but it's her ability just to calm us down. What are we in? Who do we look for? I think she's grown so much. She's a sophomore. She's only a sophomore. She's light-years ahead of where she was last year.

She's really dedicated. She's always in the gym. We're always working out together. I'm just proud of her, and it's finally showing.

Q. For both of the players, you guys came up short to South Carolina earlier in the season, and now you get to face them tomorrow in the semifinals. What are you expecting to see out of them?

MIKAYLAH WILLIAMS: I think the same thing. They come out with energy. They play hard on defense. I think we have some things to clean up. We'll clean those things up, go back to the drawing board, and just come out and play hard.

FLAU'JAE JOHNSON: I'm super excited. This is what the SEC is about. You play the toughest team all the time, ranked opponent after ranked opponent after ranked opponent.

We're so excited. It's going to be fun. We're in South Carolina, so they're going to have a crowd. Our Tigers are coming too. So it's going to be a great battle. This is what you come to college to play for. It's the top of the top. Like Mikaylah said, we're going to watch film, go back to the drawing board, and be ready to play tomorrow.

Q. Flau'Jae had a slow start but really took over in the second half. What did you see out of her?

KIM MULKEY: I saw an all-around game. I saw her confidence grow after she hit a couple of perimeter shots. Then when she did that, she mixed it up more. She kept driving in the paint to try to create. She just got a taste of, okay, I got this.

I think the teammates help her because we came out hitting shots. I was just looking at the stat sheet. If you'd have told me we would have almost tripled the number of threes that Oklahoma made, I would have said you lost your mind. We don't shoot that many.

But we shot the ball well today. I thought we defended good. We kept them under 27, 28 -- we couldn't stop fouling. We were just fouling that whole first half, and they got a lot of free throws, and then I think we cleaned it up starting the third quarter.

Q. You all held Beers to a season low, just six points. How were you all so effective in slowing her down aside from getting her in foul trouble?

KIM MULKEY: Well, she got in foul trouble, but we were all in foul trouble. In fact, I played Lay with two fouls and somebody in the first half with two fouls. I mean, it was a very physical game. I'm sure that affected her playing time getting in foul trouble, but I have a couple bigs that will bang with you in there.

I thought Kate Koval did a good job of doing the best she could on any shot she got. Don't let her bury you deep, alter the shot. We didn't have to help much. She could just pick you apart and kick it back out. I just thought that Mama came in and finally got on track, Grace. You know, they just started getting real physical and banging in there.

She's such a great player in there.

Q. In the second quarter, late in the second quarter, Raegan Beers did pick up another foul. Was that part of the game plan? Because right after that you guys seemed to widen the spread of the score.

KIM MULKEY: No, you don't have a game plan of we've got to make her foul. Your game plan may be take it right at her. Don't avoid the great player. Take it right at her, and if she blocks your shot or if you miss it or if she alters your shot, take it right at her again.

No, you don't have the game plan let's get her in foul trouble. You never know how the game's going to be called, but I've got a group, they all can score the ball, as you saw today. Don't be shy. If you get her deep, take it right at her.

Q. Just curious, MiLaysia, you know the history, obviously, with South Carolina. Will you talk to her about this game just not getting too hyped up about playing them? Do you have to talk to her as a coach? What do you expect of her?

KIM MULKEY: No, I won't. She's excited to be home. She sees all her friends that she's grown up with. You don't have to talk to Lay. Lay is going to make a spectacular play, and she might have you pulling your hair out the next minute, but you let her play.

No, this is not one of those where you think you've got to calm her down. She's played them already this year, against them. So we won't do anything like that. We'll just do film work and go over our ways to try to beat South Carolina and just go play.

Q. Prior to the game, you kind of shared some insight about Jada Richard and how important she's been to your team. In a game like today, how important was she and her impact for this year?

KIM MULKEY: You've got to have a quarterback. You've got to have someone that is the coach on the floor, and Jada really has stepped up this year to be that for us. She won four straight state championships in high school. She doesn't know losing.

People don't talk about Jada enough because she didn't play on the EYBL circuit, and I don't care. I've coached many of the players that didn't. What she does is she makes sure that she knows everybody's position, she knows everybody's strengths and weaknesses. She knows what plays we want to run. She is a calming effect to the younger ones. She is not afraid to talk to Flau'Jae and Mikaylah in a strong voice to tell them pick it up.

Then she can score the ball. You can't leave Jada open. She can shoot the ball as good as any point guard I've coached.

Certainly she has pieces around her that make her look better, but Jada has really, really been the quarterback and the coach on the floor for us this year. And she's had to guard some pretty darn good players. Look at who all she's had to guard this year that are older than her, that are more experienced than her, and she just gets after it.

Q. Speaking of Jada, the job that she did on Aaliyah Chavez, she had to work for everything she got today.

KIM MULKEY: Well, Jada mostly guarded her the last time we played, and of course most of my players know Aaliyah. They either played against her in the summer or played with her. She's a tremendous player. She shoots it really good. What did she shoot, 6 for 16 today, 2 of 8 from the three, 5 turnovers. You've got to live with that.

I thought, if you look at our stats, got a lot of players scoring the ball. In fact, everybody scored the ball today. But Jada did do a good job, but then late in the game you had Bella guarding her. Those two grew up together. They're like buddies. So I was watching them trying to make sure this one wasn't talking too much trash. But they respect each other.

Q. Coach, you've been playing freshmen a whole lot this year. You've got some really good ones. How do you think they played today, first one in the SEC Tournament?

KIM MULKEY: I thought, as the game progressed, they got better. I know Z made the All-Freshman team, but honestly, I think Grace could have made it. Grace, wow, she was in there banging and getting two and three offensive boards at a time and finishing.

They played all year. They knew, when we signed them, that they were going to have to play. So I'm honored to coach them. Very, very coachable young ladies. Sometimes I play them both together.

I think Bella has come on of late in that freshman class. She didn't miss a shot today, did she? But Bella's not afraid to guard either. They have a lot of confidence. They're very talented. Man, if they stay together, they're going to be even more special than they are now.

Q. You guys were neck and neck with South Carolina, didn't make the free throws at the end. What do you expect out of them tomorrow?

KIM MULKEY: I don't know that I can expect anything, that I can just say, oh, I expect this. I expect two teams that respect each other, that are good for the SEC, good for women's basketball, and they're competitors.

When you toss it up, you're trying to win. Someone's going to win. Someone's going to lose. But think of what's ahead. It doesn't matter what happens in this tournament, it's what all of us are trying to do, and that is get to a Final Four and win a Natty.

It should be a game that a lot of women's basketball fans should watch because you're looking at great talent on the floor, you're looking at two coaches that -- well, I'm old. Dawn's not quite as old as I am, but they've done a lot in the game. It will be good for the game. It will be good TV, and I don't anticipate anything but it being a good game.