GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) — A year ago, MiLaysia Fulwiley helped South Carolina win its third straight women's Southeastern Conference Tournament title.
On Saturday, the speedy, explosive point guard will try to do everything she can to prevent the Gamecocks from making it four in a row.
Fulwiley transferred to rival LSU last year after the South Carolina’s season ended with a loss to UConn in the national championship game. It was a rare instance of coach Dawn Staley losing one of her best players in the transfer portal era.
Filwiley has been a major contributor for sixth-ranked LSU, even though she still comes off the bench as she did at South Carolina.
She scored a team-high 22 points and had eight assists on Friday as the sixth-ranked Tigers thumped No. 7 Oklahoma 112-78 in the SEC quarterfinals. Next up is Saturday's semifinal against No. 3 South Carolina and her old coach and teammates.
“I’m excited to see them,” Fulwiley said. “I got love for them. But right now I’m just really focused on coming out there and just playing better than I did last time against them.”
Fulwiley was 1 of 6 from the field and finished with eight points, four steals and four rebounds in LSU's 79-72 regular-season loss to South Carolina on Feb. 14.
She averages 14.1 points per game for the Tigers.
When asked if she'll have to calm her nerves before the game, Fulwiley joked, “I don’t start, so that will give me time to calm my nerves. I just have to remind myself that I just have to go out there and help my team.”
Fulwiley said she believes the experience she gained from winning an SEC Tournament championship can help her new teammates.
She knows what to expect.
“Absolutely, because I'm kind of familiar with all of this, and with this gym,” Fulwiley said. “I played here in high school. I played here the last two years. So I will just kind of remind my teammates that, it’s not that serious — it's literally not that serious. I'm just have to remind them of who we are and just focus on us and not focus on anybody else.”
LSU coach Kim Mulkey said she doesn't plan to talk about Fulwiley before the game to make sure her emotions are in check.
“You don't have to talk to Lay,” Mulkey said. “Lay is going to make a spectacular play and then she might have you pulling your hair out the next minute. But you let her play. But no, this is not one of those where you think you have to calm her down. We will do film work and go over our ways to try to beat South Carolina.”
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