Mississippi State
5-2
Utah
4-7
Lady Bulldogs Defeat Utes, 61-52, To Move To 5-2
December 11, 2010 | Women's Basketball
STARKVILLE, Miss. - A strong start lifted the Mississippi State women's basketball team to a 61-52 victory over Utah Saturday afternoon in the Humphrey Coliseum.
The Lady Bulldogs scored one-third of their offensive points in the first eight minutes of play. From there, the lead grew to as many as 17 in the closing minutes of the contest. In the end, the Lady Bulldogs improved to 5-2 overall and 4-1 at home on the young campaign, while Utah fell to 4-7.
“I don't want a team to get complacent,” MSU head coach Sharon Fanning-Otis said. “Our energy level was good. Our effort was good. Still at the end, there were too many possessions where we didn't get defensive stops.”
MSU came out clicking on all cylinders. The success happened despite the fact that leading scorer Mary Kathryn Govero was shut out in the contest.
The Lady Bulldogs erased an early 5-4 deficit by scoring 10 straight points. MSU hit a pair of early 3-pointers and eventually built a 21-11 lead with 11:59 left in the half.
The visiting Utes crawled back within 21-15 on a Michelle Plouffe free throw with 8:48 left. After a 3-point basket by Iwalani Rodrigues made the score 26-18, the hosts ended the half with a 7-3 run for a 33-21 lead at the break.
In the opening half, the Lady Bulldogs held a 10-rebound advantage and forced 11 turnovers. Diamber Johnson paced the Maroon and White with 13 points in the first half.
For Utah, a Plouffe free throw brought the Utes within 36-30 with 15:59 remaining. From there, the Lady Bulldogs found overdrive and put the contest away. An 11-3 run allowed the hosts to open a 47-33 advantage with 8:24 remaining. Again, a jumper by Johnson capped that run. Minutes later, a layup by Catina Bett ran the advantage to 53-37 with 6:05 left.
Utah later hit three 3-pointers in a two-minute stretch to close within seven. However, the Utes could get no closer.
“We did a nice job on the boards,” Fanning-Otis said. “Defensively, we hold them to 33 percent shooting, which is a goal. Our assist to turnover ratio is disappointing. However, I liked the effort tonight. We played hard. We will keep working to correct the mistakes.”
For the contest, the Lady Bulldogs hit 22 of 52 shots from the field (42.3 percent), 3 of 7 shots from 3-point range (42.9 percent) and 14 of 25 shots from the foul line (56.0 percent). The Utes hit 16 of 48 shots from the field (33.3 percent), 8 of 27 shots from 3-point range (29.6 percent) and 12 of 22 shots from the foul line (54.5 percent).
MSU held a 43-33 rebounding advantage. The Lady Bulldogs had seven assists and 12 turnovers, while the Utes had seven assists and 15 turnovers.
Johnson shattered her career high with a game-best 24 points - seven better than her previous standard. Also in double figures for MSU were Porsha Porter with 15 points and Ashley Brown with 11 points. Brown also had a team-high 10 rebounds for her third double-double.
Bett, a transfer from the
University of Kentucky, played 19 minutes in her MSU debut, recording seven
points and three rebounds.
Rodrigues hit four 3-pointers and paced Utah with
18 points. Plouffe finished with 14 points, while Janita Badon had a
double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds.
The Lady Bulldogs return to the road for a Wednesday night contest with Southern Mississippi. The in-state rivals tip at 7 Wednesday night at Green Coliseum in Hattiesburg. MSU is back home for another in-state foe, Mississippi Valley State, at 7 p.m., Monday, Dec. 20.
