Mississippi State
7-3
Samford
7-3
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Samford | 10 | 31 | 41 |
| Mississippi State | 40 | 40 | 80 |
Lady Bulldogs Roll Over Samford, 80-41
December 14, 2009 | Women's Basketball
• Official Statistics
• Official Statistics (PDF)
• Postgame Quotes (PDF)
• FREE M2M VIDEO: Coach Fanning-Otis' Postgame Press Conference
• FREE M2M VIDEO: Postgame Player Interviews
STARKVILLE, Miss. - Mississippi State remained perfect this season in the Humphrey Coliseum, rolling over Samford 80-41 in a women's basketball game played Monday night.
The Lady Bulldogs improved to 7-3 overall, won their third straight and also moved to 6-0 on their home floor. For MSU, all six home wins have been by a victory margin of 29 or more points. Meanwhile, Samford fell to 7-3.
Once again Monday night, the contest was never in doubt. MSU held Samford to 10 points in the opening half. That is the lowest point total in a half ever allowed by the Lady Bulldogs defensively. The previous low was an 11-point half by Alabama State in 1998.
"Rebounding and assists are important," MSU head coach Sharon Fanning-Otis said. "This is a good shooting team, so to hold them to 10 points in a half is an accomplishment. Defensively, in the second half we didn't play as hard and smart as we need to play."
MSU sprinted out of the gates, opening the game on a 15-2 run. Ashley Jones and Alexis Rack each hit 3-point baskets during that spree. A 12-4 run followed as the hosts opened up a 27-6 advantage with 5:47 left before halftime.
The Lady Bulldogs closed the half with a 13-0 run to take a 40-10 advantage at halftime. Samford was held scoreless over the final 4:13 of the half. MSU kept the defensive pressure up the entire half, forcing the visiting Bulldogs into 12 first-half turnovers.
After shooting a blistering 65 percent from the field in the opening half, the Lady Bulldogs remained almost as hot in the final half. MSU shot 62 percent from the floor in the final half. Samford never got closer than the halftime deficit in the final 20 minutes.
The Lady Bulldogs scored the first five points of the final half to take a 45-10 advantage. The hosts grabbed their largest lead of the night on an Armelie Lumanu putback with 7:09 left in regulation. That basket gave MSU a 70-29 advantage.
"For the game, we had a positive turnover-to-assist ratio and we were able to get to the foul line," Fanning-Otis said. "The girls have to keep believing in themselves. It was good that a lot of combinations got to play a lot of minutes. The balance was good out there tonight. It was a good team win."
For the contest, MSU hit 31 of 49 shots from the field (63.3 percent), 8 of 18 shots from 3-point range (44.4 percent) and 10 of 19 shots from the foul line (52.6 percent). Samford hit 16 of 45 shots from the field (35.6 percent), 5 of 25 shots from 3-point range (20.0 percent) and 4 of 8 shots from the foul line (50.0 percent).
MSU had 19 assists and 15 turnovers, while Samford had eight assists and 22 turnovers.
MSU placed four players in double figures. Rack led the way with 15 points, while Lumanu had 14 points, a team-high nine rebounds and a team-high six assists. Diamber Johnson had 11 points, while Mary Kathryn Govero scored 10 points.
Emily London paced Samford with 12 points, while Monica Maxwell had nine points and a team-high seven rebounds.
The Lady Bulldogs resume their homestand with the rare noon start Wednesday against Mississippi Valley State. MSU then travels to No. 8 Xavier for a 1 p.m. start on Sunday.
