What Dawn Staley said about facing MiLaysia Fulwiley, LSU Tigers
No. 3 South Carolina women’s basketball’s (24-2, 10-1 SEC) rivalry matchup with LSU (22-3, 8-3 SEC) this weekend is chock-full of intriguing storylines.
The game has two of the best coaches in the sport in Dawn Staley and Kim Mulkey, the Gamecocks have beaten the Tigers 17 straight times, and the result of the game will almost certainly affect seeding for both teams in the SEC and NCAA Tournament.
There’s also the MiLaysia Fulwiley-sized elephant in the room. The Columbia native spent two years at South Carolina and was considered a generational talent by Staley but transferred to LSU this offseason. It’s an intriguing storyline, to say the least. A homegrown talent who left for a “change in scenery” now has a shot to show the move was worth it in front of a national audience in primetime.
But to Staley that’s all it is — a storyline. She’s coached against former players before and there was no extra emphasis or change in game plan. That much is expected to be the same this time around.
Again, it’s just a storyline.
“Do we want to win? Absolutely,” Staley told local media Friday. “I mean, I don’t want to win because it’s MiLaysia Fulwiley. I want to win because we got a chance to win the SEC. We got a chance to hopefully keep a No. 1 seed on Selection Sunday night. So it’s all of those things, the MiLaysia dynamic, that’s the narrative that’s created to drum up publicity for the game.”
It sounds like South Carolina is treating this game like any other. It just so happens that one of its former teammates will now be on the other side of the court. As such, Fulwiley is treated the same way as the rest of LSU’s stars during prep for the game.
“For us, she was treated as Mikaylah Williams, she was treated as Flau’jae Johnson and going down the line,” Staley said. “We’re not putting anything extra. We’re not going to do anything to her that is outside the norm. We’re gonna play the game.”
Fulwiley is averaging 13.4 points per game and shooting at a 47.9% clip with LSU this year. She’s still capable of pulling off show-stopping players and has seen her averages in rebounds (3.5), assists (3.6) and steals (3.2) all increase slightly. So what does Staley see from Fulwiley now that she’s scouting against her former player?
“She’s pretty similar to what she’s been doing,” Staley said. “She’s great in transition, can hit the three, can get to the basket. I do think she’s putting a little bit more heat on the ball handler. Just looking like a junior when things start to come together for them.”
Fulwiley is in a similar role at LSU as she was during her time at South Carolina. She was typically a spark plug off the bench and started in just three of her 77 games she played in a Gamecock uniform. Fulwiley averaged 18.7 minutes per game in her two years at South Carolina.
This season at LSU, Fulwiley has made one start and seen her playing time increase marginally to 21.5 minutes per game.
On Friday, Staley was asked if she saw anything different about the way Fulwiley is being utilized at LSU compared to her time at South Carolina. Staley started her response by saying, “There’s a lot of similarities.”
“I think the bottom line of it all is people want to win,” Staley said. “Coaches want to win. We’re paid to win basketball games, and we’re paid to improve our players. Ultimately, if MiLaysia is improving, that’s great for MiLaysia. That’s what I want for every single player, whether they’re mine or someone else’s, is to improve. Because when they improve, the overall game improves. And I’m all for advancing women’s basketball.”
This story was originally published February 13, 2026 at 3:22 PM.
