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Louisiana State University (LSU) guard Mikaylah Williams started her college basketball career with a bang. She had one of the best freshman seasons in the program’s history, earning the 2024 Southeastern Conference (SEC) freshman of the year award, and going toe-to-toe with basketball icons like Flau’jae Johnson and Caitlin Clark in the 2023-2024 season. Now, as Williams heads into her sophomore year, she sees just how quickly women’s sports is evolving. The pressure is high, and at LSU especially, there’s some high expectations to live up to — but that doesn’t mean she’s backing down from the challenge.

With college athletes officially back to school, the women’s basketball team practices for four hours at a time, Williams tells PS. “It’s a lot, I’m not going to lie. But at this point in my life, it’s a lifestyle. All basketball players would be used to something like four hours a day. Everybody, every school’s going through it.”

In preparation for the upcoming season, there’s a few products Williams uses to get her through long hours of practice and constant game day travel. “For the shoes we’re wearing right now, obviously it’s Nike,” she says, specifically pointing to the Ja Morants ($105, originally $130). As for her favorite headphones, she swears by the Apple AirPods Max Headphones ($449, originally $549), which also happen to be PS editor-approved. Are they really worth the pricetag? “Absolutely,” she confirms.

If she’s ever in need of a boost, Williams relies on Red Bull ($35, originally $38), saying it keeps her energy up on and off the court. “It helps me stay energized throughout the day, throughout practice, and even when I go home,” she says. For an additional boost during practice, the team also likes to use energy gummies, Williams says, later identifying them as Honey Stinger Energy Chews ($25 for pack of 12, originally $26).

“Nobody’s really expecting us to come out and win.”

Training hard and staying energized is important, but as a sophomore, Williams is also taking a step back to acknowledge how rapidly women’s basketball has already grown. This is largely thanks to star players like LSU’s former forward, Angel Reese. “I’m so blessed to be a part of growing the game,” Williams says. “Ever since Angel left, I feel like the pressure went away a little bit. Like we’re the underdogs at this point. Nobody’s really expecting us to come out and win, you know what I mean?”

That said, it’s a mistake to underestimate the rest of LSU. “Angel was obviously a big role, but we still have more players behind her that could pick up the slack,” Williams says. But for now, she doesn’t really mind if people have their doubts. In fact, there’s a part of her that enjoys being the underdog. “We get to fly under the radar a little bit. It might just be a little easier than having that target on our back. We could come and surprise a few people this year,” Williams says.

Ultimately, it’s going to feel like a win for LSU no matter what the upcoming season may hold (although LSU coach Kim Mulkey might beg to differ). “We get to grow the game even more,” Williams says. “We get to know that once your biggest player leaves, everybody else is still right there, still ready to rally, still ready to get to work and win.”

Chandler Plante is an assistant editor for PS Health and Fitness. She has over four years of professional journalism experience, previously working as an editorial assistant for People magazine and contributing to Ladygunn, Millie, and Bustle Digital Group. In her free time, she enjoys finding new ways to rock her 18(!) different eye patches, and making videos about chronic illness, beauty, and disability.