LSU Women's Basketball's Mikaylah Williams Named Finalist for Cheryl Miller Award

BATON ROUGE – LSU’s Mikaylah Williams is one of 10 finalists for this year’s Cheryl Miller Small Forward of the Year award, presented by the WBCA and Naismith Hall of Fame.

Williams has been critical to LSU’s success this season. She has been called upon to play numerous positions ranging from point guard all the way through power forward when LSU uses its small lineup.

The sophomore has been a three-level scoring threat for the Tigers. She is averaging 17.0 points per game with 48-39-90 shooting splits. Over LSU’s previous two games, Williams scored 37 points against No. 13 Oklahoma and 22 points against Mississippi State, combining to sink 11 threes in both games. She nailed the three to prove decisive in the wild, 107-100, win over the Sooners.

Williams has been clutch all season long. In a game against Stanford in December, she had 32 points and forced overtime with a last-second mid-range jumper from the elbow to help erase a six-point deficit with 40 seconds left in the game. She knocked down two threes in overtime to help secure the win over the Cardinal.

The Hall of Fame is releasing finalists for all its position awards each day throughout this week. Fans can support their favorite players in the remaining rounds by participating in Fan Voting, starting Friday, February 7, on hoophallawards.com. The Fan Vote will count as one committee vote during the finalist selection process.

Cheryl Miller Small Forward of the Year Finalists:
Yarden Garzon, Indiana
Mikaylah Williams, LSU
Grace VanSlooten, Michigan State
Saniya Rivers, NC State
Alyssa Ustby, North Carolina
Sonia Citron, Notre Dame
Cotie McMahon, Ohio State
Madison Booker, Texas
Sarah Strong, UConn
Gianna Kneepkens, Utah

Angel Reese Plans Return to the PMAC:

LSU is set to host a WNBA Preseason Game between the Chicago Sky and the Brazil National Team on May 2 at 7 p.m. CT in the PMAC as LSU star Angel Reese makes her return to Baton Rouge. Tickets will be available on LSUtix.net at a later date.

“We are excited to host a WNBA game in May featuring the Chicago Sky and Angel Reese,” Coach Kim Mulkey said. “Angel played a major role in establishing our program at LSU and I know our fans are going to be excited to have her back in the PMAC. She had such a great rookie season and we can’t wait to continue to watch her thrive in the WNBA.”

“I’m very excited the Sky will play a preseason game at LSU,” Reese said. “It will be amazing to return to Baton Rouge, a community that means so much to me. LSU was instrumental in preparing me for the WNBA and I can’t wait to hit the court in front of both Tigers and Sky fans!”

Reese had a great run at LSU, leading the Tigers to their first NCAA Championship in 2023. She set the NCAA record with 34 double-doubles throughout the national championship season. Reese was named Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Tournament. She averaged 23.0 points, 15.4 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.8 steals and 1.6 blocks in her junior season. Reese went on to be named SEC Player of the Year (2024), a three-time AP All-American (2022-24), two-time First Team All-SEC member (2023-24), two-time SEC All-Defense honoree (2023-24) and a 2024 Wooden Award All-American Team member.

In 2024, Reese led the SEC in scoring (18.6 points) and rebounds (13.4) for the second consecutive season, becoming the first player since Wendy Scholtens from Vanderbilt (1989-90) to lead the league in both stats over consecutive seasons. Reese finished her LSU career with the third-most points in a single season in LSU history (829 in 2023) and as the program leader in career rebounds per game (14.4).

More LSU News:

LSU Adds Commitments From Seven Top-100 Transfers in the Portal

LSU Dishes Out Offer to No. 1 Quarterback in America

Nick Saban Calls LSU Quarterback Garrett Nussmeier a "Sleeper" Ahead of 2024 Season

Join the Community:

Follow Zack Nagy on Twitter: @znagy20 and LSU Tigers On SI: @LSUTigersSI for all coverage surrounding the LSU program.