LSU women’s basketball defeated Texas Southern 131-22 at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on Thursday, Nov. 5, setting the NCAA Division I record for the largest margin of victory in a game between two Division I opponents.
Tigers Surpass Previous Scoring Records
The 109-point margin of victory surpassed the previous Division I record of 108 points set by Baylor when they defeated Winthrop 140-32 on Dec. 15, 2016, under then-head coach Kim Mulkey. The ninth-ranked Tigers built control during a second quarter where they outscored Texas Southern 40-0, bridging the second and third quarters into a total unanswered scoring run of 50 points, according to Chron. LSU limited Texas Southern to 22 points, the fewest points allowed by a Kim Mulkey-led team.
Freshman Anna Minaeva led all scorers with 21 points off the bench in 20 minutes of play, adding seven rebounds, three assists, and three blocks. Senior guard Mikaylah Williams added 20 points, while transfer guard Jada Williams contributed 18 points and seven assists. Ten different LSU players recorded points in the blowout, with seven players finishing in double-digit scoring and seven players ending with 20 or more minutes on the court. MiLaysia Fulwiley added 15 points and six assists, putting LSU ahead with a jumper at the 7:58 mark of the first quarter after the teams traded early leads. Anna Minaeva is a 6-foot-5 freshman from Russia. For Texas Southern, Jayla Cornelius led the team with six points as the visiting squad shot 13 percent from the field on 8-of-55 shooting and committed 38 turnovers, which LSU converted into a 55-0 advantage in points off turnovers. The game marked Texas Southern’s second contest of the season, dropping their record to 0-2. Just days prior, LSU set a different program record by defeating Southeastern Louisiana 129-35 in their season opener on Nov. 2, winning by 94 points.
Mulkey’s history with large margins includes coaching the winning team in five of the seven largest Division I wins by 90 or more points over the last ten seasons. Following the Thursday night matchup, Texas Southern’s men’s basketball team was scheduled to face LSU on Friday night in a game where oddsmakers favored LSU by more than 34 points, with the visiting men’s program set to earn $100,000 under their game contract.
Alumna Angel Reese Attends Game
Alumna Angel Reese attended the game as the guest of honor, sitting courtside before being recognized at halftime. Reese recently finished the WNBA season as a member of the Atlanta Dream, where she earned 2026 WNBA Defensive Player of the Year honors in October, became the first Dream player to receive the honor, earned a spot on the 2026 All-WNBA Second Team, and helped lead the team to the WNBA Finals. During her two-year collegiate career at LSU following her transfer from Maryland, Reese helped capture the program’s first national championship in 2023 by defeating Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes 102-85, earning Final Four Most Outstanding Player and 2024 SEC Player of the Year honors while averaging 20.9 points and 14.4 rebounds across 67 games. Members of the current LSU roster welcomed her return to the Pete Maravich Assembly Center by wearing custom T-shirts bearing her likeness in the locker room.
For them to see her walk in that locker room, and they all had her shirt on, they (see) that they can be Angel one day.
Coach Mulkey
Reese noted during the broadcast that she hopes the Atlanta Dream can draft Anna Minaeva in the future. Speaking about her return to Baton Rouge in front of an announced crowd of 9,591 fans, Reese described the atmosphere as nostalgic, stating that the university is home and praising Kim Mulkey for maintaining the program’s standard without a drop-off in fan support.
The matchup served as a scheduled guarantee game for Texas Southern, which received a $25,000 payout from LSU according to game contracts obtained by Chron. According to an On3 report by Andy Kitty analyzing 384 money games from the 2022-23 regular season, visitor programs in similar guarantee matchups held a 16-368 record, translating to a 4.1 winning percentage.
Upcoming Schedule
LSU hosts McNeese at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center on Tuesday at 7 p.m. The team’s early non-conference schedule also features upcoming matchups against Denver, a home game against No. 25-ranked NC State in late November, a road game against No. 9 North Carolina on Dec. 2, and a contest against No. 2 UConn on Dec. 20.
More on Texas Southern
🚨 LSU BEATS TEXAS SOUTHERN BY 109 POINTS Tigers WBB team sets the record for largest win in Division I history against a D1 opponent 🤯🔥 pic.twitter.com/2saH5FgGsB
No. 9 LSU beat Texas Southern 131-22, a 109-point margin—the largest Division I win against a Division I opponent, ESPN Research says. https://t.co/0Wjc0KD7ds #LSU #WBB #CollegeBasketball #Sports #SupremeBeingTV
Texas Southern women's basketball was on the wrong side of history Thursday night. The Tigers 131-22 loss to LSU was the largest margin of defeat a Division 1 team has experienced in NCAA history. pic.twitter.com/9GDGmJL44z
LSU outscored Texas Southern 40-0 in the 2nd quarter. The Tigers are now responsible for two of the three largest shutout quarters since Division I switched to quarters in 2015-16 🔥 pic.twitter.com/7kHuQ8Xhgu
LSU dismantled Texas Southern 131-22 on Thursday, earning the largest win by a Division I team over a DI opponent. LSU outscored them 40-0 in the 2nd quarter. https://t.co/UGEGZT43tK
COMPLETE DOMINATION IN BATON ROUGE 😱 LSU won 131-22 against Texas Southern, the largest win in Division I history against a D-I opponent. pic.twitter.com/zzGfCrddRj