LSU Women's Basketball Star Named to Prestigious Watch List Ahead of 2025-26 Season

Originally posted on LSU Tigers on SI | By Zack Nagy | Last updated Oct 28, 2025 8:00 AM ET

BATON ROUGE, La. – LSU’s MiLaysia Fulwiley was named to the Nancy Lieberman Award Watchlist Monday by the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame as one of the Top-20 point guards across the country in women’s basketball.

Now in its 27th year, the Nancy Lieberman Award recognizes the top point guard in women’s NCAA Division I college basketball.

To be considered for this prestigious award, candidates must exhibit the floor leadership, playmaking, and ball-handling skills of Class of 1996 Hall-of-Famer Nancy Lieberman.

LSU’s only recipient of the Lieberman Award in its history was Temeka Johnson, who was recently inducted into the LSU Athletics’ Hall of Fame.

Fulwiley, a game-changing 5-10 guard joined the LSU program in the offseason as one of the nation’s most creative offensive players.

In her two seasons at South Carolina, she came off the bench in all but three of her 77 games with the Gamecocks, averaging 11.7 points, 2.9 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.6 steals.

MiLaysia Fulwiley has been named to the Nancy Lieberman Award Preseason Watchlist!@MilaysiaF | @hoophallu pic.twitter.com/H2TITV0jro
— LSU Women's Basketball (@LSUwbkb) October 27, 2025

Fulwiley was a crucial piece to two-straight national championship appearances with one national title in hand from her freshman season.

Fulwiley came to LSU as the SEC Sixth Woman of the Year after helping her previous program to an SEC Championship and an NCAA Championship appearance against the University of Connecticut. In her freshman year, Fulwiley was on the 2024 SEC All-Freshman team and was the MVP of the SEC Tournament.

In the Tigers’ first exhibition contest against Mississippi College, Fulwiley accounted for 17 points, four assists and four 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 are encouraged to participate in fan voting in each of the three rounds starting on Friday, Oct. 31. In late January, the watch list of 20 players for the 2026 Nancy Lieberman Award will be narrowed to 10, and then in late February, to five.

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

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

Additional awards being presented include the Jerry West and Ann Meyers Drysdale Awards (Shooting Guard), Julius Erving and Cheryl Miller Awards (Small Forward), Karl Malone and Katrina McClain Awards (Power Forward), and the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Lisa Leslie Awards (Center).

This article first appeared on LSU Tigers on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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