BATON ROUGE - In the team's first time out back at the Maravich Center for the 2026-27 season, No. 9 LSU women's basketball handled UNT-Dallas handily in a 159-31 win.

All in all, the Tigers had the Trailblazers completely and totally outmatched, as was expected. Seven different LSU players scored in double figures, with Milaysia Fulwiley leading the team with 32.

With such a noncompetitive-looking final score, it's easy to wonder what LSU gets out of a game like this, but Tigers head coach Kim Mulkey says it has its purpose.

"What you do is you just allow your team to be seen by the fans," said Mulkey. "You allow your team to be under the lights for the first time, like a practice, get up and down the floor, get some conditioning in, and probably do more for the opposing team than we do for ourselves just to contribute to the overall growth of women's basketball."

Two notable absences on the court were Russian freshman Anna Minaeva, who, according to coach Mulkey, was dealing with a quad injury, and Spanish senior Noa Morra, who underwent foot surgery back in September.

LSU has one more exhibition on the schedule before opening the regular season. The Tigers face Loyola in the preseason tilt on Thursday, Oct. 29.