Mississippi State
18-11 (9-7)
#20 LSU
20-8 (9-7)
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mississippi State | 16 | 31 | 47 |
| LSU | 42 | 34 | 76 |
Lady Bulldogs Drop Regular Season Finale At LSU; Grab #3 Seed In SEC Tourney
February 28, 2010 | Women's Basketball
• Official Statistics
• Official Statistics (PDF)
BATON ROUGE, La. - A frustrating afternoon ended on a bright note Sunday afternoon for the Mississippi State women's basketball team. The Lady Bulldogs secured the third seed in the Southeastern Conference Tournament despite dropping a 76-47 decision to No. 20 LSU in the final regular season game of the year inside the Maravich Assembly Center.
The Lady Bulldogs finish the regular season at 18-11 overall and 9-7 in conference play. That mark was good for a four-way tie in the final conference standings. MSU earned a 3-1 mark against the tied teams, which included Vanderbilt (2-0), Georgia (1-0) and LSU (0-1). The three seed is the highest finish in program history.
The nine conference wins also marks the second-best finish in conference play in school history. The Lady Bulldogs have notched 18 or more overall wins for the seventh time in program history. This senior class completes regular season play with four straight winning seasons - a second-ever in school history.
The 2010 SEC Tournament will be played in the Gwinnett Arena in Duluth, Georgia. As the three seed, the Lady Bulldogs draw an opening-round bye and will play either No. 6 seed Georgia or No. 11 seed Alabama at 8 p.m. central time Friday night. That contest will be televised regionally by Fox Sports Net.
On the hardwood Sunday, MSU was unable to repeat last season's shocking 38-36 victory on LSU's home floor. The Lady Bulldogs actually won both regular season meetings a year ago, only to fall to the Lady Tigers in the conference tournament.
This time around, LSU led from start to finish. The Lady Tigers scored the game's first 11 points and quickly sprinted to a 30-8 advantage. The Lady Bulldogs failed to score until the 14:22 mark of the opening half. LSU finished one of its best offensive halves of the season with a 12-6 run to take a 42-16 advantage at halftime.
While the Lady Bulldogs played a competitive second half, the game was never in doubt in the final 20 minutes.
For the contest, the Lady Bulldogs hit 17 of 58 shots from the field (29.3 percent), 3 of 18 shots from 3-point range (16.7 percent) and 10 of 13 shots from the foul line (76.9 percent). The Lady Tigers hit 25 of 54 shots from the field (46.3 percent), 4 of 11 shots from 3-point range (36.4 percent) and 22 of 30 shots from the foul line (73.3 percent).
LSU held a 40-35 rebounding advantage. MSU had nine assists and 18 turnovers, while LSU had 17 assists and 11 turnovers.
Chanel Mokango paced the Lady Bulldogs with 18 points, while Armelie Lumanu added 10 points. Lumanu and Tysheka Grimes each had a team-high seven rebounds.
Allison Hightower paced LSU with 26 points, including a 10-for-18 night from the field with a pair of 3-pointers. LaSondra Barrett was also in double figures with 14 points. Katherine Graham and Barrett each had a team-high seven rebounds.
