Lady Bulldogs Give #4 Auburn Strong Test, Finally Fall 63-58

Sunday, February 15

Starkville

2:00 PM

Mississippi State

(19-7, 6-5SEC)

#5 Auburn

(25-1, 10-1SEC)

Team	1	2	F
Auburn	35	28	63
Mississippi State	29	29	58

Lady Bulldogs Give #4 Auburn Strong Test, Finally Fall 63-58

February 15, 2009 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

By: hailstate.com

? Official Statistics
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? Postgame Quotes (PDF)

STARKVILLE, Miss. - Mississippi State battled fourth-ranked Auburn into the game's final minute Sunday. However, the Lady Tigers scored the game's final four points to squeeze out a 63-58 victory in a Southeastern Conference women's basketball game Sunday afternoon in the Humphrey Coliseum.

The Lady Bulldogs saw a modest three-game conference win streak snapped. MSU fell to 19-7 overall and 6-5 in league play. Thanks to LSU's upset win over Florida, the Lady Bulldogs slipped back into sixth place in the overall conference standings.

Meanwhile, Auburn continued its amazing run, moving to 25-1 overall and 10-1 in conference play. The magic number is now two for AU in relation to clinching the overall conference championship. Auburn has now taken four straight wins in the series.

“It was a tough loss,” MSU senior forward Robin Porter said. “We played as hard as we could. We just missed some easy shots. We did everything we wanted to do in the game. We just couldn't find a way to finish.”

The teams were tied 55-55 with 2:26 left in the contest. MSU then missed a layup on its next possession. Then down 57-55, the Lady Bulldogs had a missed jumped and missed putback attempt. Auburn pushed the advantage to four before Alexis Rack converted an old-fashioned 3-point play with 18 seconds left. The Tigers then hit four straight free throws to close out the win.

“I am very proud of the effort and proud of the fight,” MSU head coach Sharon Fanning said. “We have to turn some of the statistics from this game around. Auburn is a big, physical team. They are different. The challenge is rebounding and keeping them off the line.”

The contest was close throughout. There were ten lead changes and the score was tied on nine different occasions. MSU built a seven point lead in the opening minutes, while Auburn led by six on five different occasions, including a 35-29 push at halftime.

MSU opened the second half on a 15-8 run to take a 44-43 lead with 10:07 remaining in the contest. The game then featured four more ties stretched out over the next eight minutes of play.

Still, the Lady Bulldogs could not turn the trick, failing to contain an Auburn team with a huge size and quickness advantage.

“I am proud of the rebounding,“ Fanning said. “There was a look in our eyes. We have to build on this game. What are the some of the things that you did well? How can you continue to do those things and do them more consistently. We have learned that we can play with really good basketball teams. The challenge is doing the little things with more consistently.”

AU's DeWanna Bonner, the conference's top scorer, paced Auburn with 25 points and 10 rebounds. Whitney Boddie added 18 points, while Sherell Hobbs scored 13 points.

Rack paced the Lady Bulldogs with 15 points and six assists, while Robin Porter added 13 points. Armelie Lumanu had a team-high 10 rebounds, while Porter had eight rebounds.

For the contest, the Lady Bulldogs hit 23 of 60 shots from the field (38.3 percent), 6 of 19 shots from 3-point range (31.6 percent) and 6 of 7 shots off the foul line (85.7 percent). The Lady Tigers hit 21 of 49 shots from the field (42.9 percent), 1 of 3 shots from 3-point range (33.3 percent) and 20 of 28 shots from the foul line (71.4 percent).

MSU held a 39-33 rebounding advantage. The Lady Bulldogs had 15 assists and 20 turnovers, while the Lady Tigers had six assists and 17 turnovers.

The Lady Bulldogs return to the road for their next contest. MSU plays at Tennessee next Sunday in Knoxville, Tenn. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. CT. For MSU, the final home game of the regular season is a Feb. 26 contest with South Carolina. That contest is slated for a 7 p.m. start.