Mississippi State
14-9 (2-6SEC)
#2 Tennessee
21-1 (8-0SEC)
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| UT | 33 | 54 | 87 |
| MS | 40 | 29 | 69 |
#2 UT Overcomes Halftime Deficit To Move Past MSU, 87-69
February 07, 2008 | Women's Basketball
? Official Statistics
? Official Statistics (PDF)
? Postgame Quotes (PDF)
STARKVILLE, Miss. ? Despite a career-high 32 points off the bench from sophomore guard Alexis Rack and a seven point halftime lead, the Mississippi State Lady Bulldogs (14-9, 2-6) were not able to pull off the upset of second-ranked Tennessee (21-1, 8-0) Thursday night as the Lady Bulldogs fell 87-69 at Humphrey Coliseum.
After jumping out to an early 13 point lead, the Lady Bulldogs held the Lady Volunteers scoreless from the 12:52 mark until 3:48 mark, a span of more than nine minutes. During that span, Mississippi State went on a 21-0 run led by Rack, who added 10 points during that stretch.
All-American Candace Parker spent much of the first half in foul trouble and only managed to score two points. Mississippi State's 40 first-half points matched North Carolina for the highest Tennessee allowed in the opening period this season. Tennessee also trailed at the half for the first time since playing LSU March 3, 2007 in the SEC Tournament. The Lady Bulldogs out rebounded the Lady Vols 26-20. Rack paced both teams with 15 first-half points.
The Lady Vols rattled off an 8-0 run to start the second period. Junior Marneshia Richard hit a jumper at the 17:49 mark to stop the MSU drought. UT went up by six points before MState traded baskets to come within two points on a Rack 3-pointer to bring the score to 52-50 at 14:02. That would be as close as the Lady Bulldogs would come, as the Lady Vols went on a 26-7 run over the next 12 minutes to go up 78-59.
Late in the second half, Parker suffered an apparent knee injury and did not return. Rack's last three-point shot of the game with 20 seconds left gave her the most points scored by a Lady Bulldog since Tan White's 38 against Arkansas in the 2005 SEC Tournament. Rack's total was also the most points allowed by the Lady Vols since Mississippi's Armintie Price scored 30 on March 27, 2007.
Rack scored her 32 points on 10-of-18 shooting and 7-for-13 from the behind the arc. Freshman forward Mary Katheryn Govero added nine points on 4-of-10 shooting. With Richard's 10 assists, she ties for second on the junior class single game assists list and entered the MSU top 10 in career steals with three on the evening to bring her career total to 158.
Tennesee had five players tally double-figure scoring, led by 16 points each from Shannon Bobbitt and Alexis Hornbuckle. Parker added 11 points and led the team with 11 rebounds. Alberta Auguste scored 12 off the bench for UT.
MSU welcomes Florida to Humphrey Coliseum on "Think Pink" Day Sunday. Tipoff between the Lady Bulldogs and the Gators is slated for 1:30 p.m. CT on SEC- TV. Fans attending the game are encouraged to wear pink to promote breast cancer awareness.
