LSU Women's Basketball Guard Mikaylah Williams Earns Prized Preseason Honor

Williams enters her third season in the Bayou State, remains a critical component to the Tigers' success.

Courtesy of LSU Women's Basketball.

BATON ROUGE, La. – LSU’s Mikaylah Williams was named to the Cheryl Miller Award Preseason Watchlist Wednesday by the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame as one of the Top 20 small forwards across the country in women’s basketball.

The Cheryl Miller Award, in its ninth year, honors the top small forwards in women’s Division I women’s college basketball. It is named after the three-time Naismith Player of the Year and Class of 1995 Hall of Famer.

Across its first eight awardees, no LSU player has received the Cheryl Miller Award.

Williams is entering her third season at LSU after averaging 17.2 points, 4.4 rebounds and 3.3 assists in her sophomore year. Williams is one the purest scorers on the women’s basketball scene with the ability to impact the game from anywhere on the court, offensively and defensively. 

Williams, who was named the 2024 SEC Freshman of the Year, made the jump in her second season to First Team All-SEC. She had 11 games last season with at least 20 points and two with at least 30 points.

Courtesy of LSU Tigers Women's Basketball.

Williams made a turnaround jumper at the buzzer to force overtime against Stanford and hit two threes in overtime to propel LSU to the win, finishing with 32 points in the SEC/ACC Challenge.

She drained seven threes, including one in the final minute to put the game on ice, to finish with 37 points against Oklahoma and hit the knockout three in the final minute at Kentucky to help complete a 16-point comeback victory.

In the Tigers’ first exhibition contest against Mississippi College, Williams accounted for 16 points, seven assists and three rebounds. LSU returns to action on Thursday, Oct. 30, to face Langston in the second of two exhibition games before the Tigers welcome Houston Christian to the Pete Maravich Assembly Center on Nov. 4.

Fans can support their favorite player by participating in fan voting starting Friday, October 31. In late January, the watch list of 20 players for the 2026 Cheryl Miller Award will be narrowed to 10, and then in late February, to just five.

In March, the five finalists will be presented to Miller and the Hall of Fame’s selection committees, where winners will be selected. The Selection Committees for the Cheryl Miller Awards are composed of top women’s college basketball personnel, including media members, head coaches, sports information directors, and Hall of Famers.

Courtesy of LSU Women's Basketball.

The winner of the 2026 Miller Award will be presented on a to-be-determined date, along with the other four members of the Men’s and Women’s Starting Five.

Additional awards being presented include the Bob Cousy and Nancy Lieberman Awards (Point Guard), Jerry West and Ann Meyers Drysdale Awards (Shooting Guard), Karl Malone and Katrina McClain Awards (Power Forward), and the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Lisa Leslie Awards (Center).

MiLaysia Fulwiley was named to the Nancy Lieberman Award Preseason Watchlist on Monday, and Flau’jae Johnson received recognition on the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award Preseason Watchlist on Tuesday.

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