Mississippi State
1-0
Jacksonville State
0-1
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jacksonville St. | 13 | 28 | 41 |
| Mississippi State | 35 | 43 | 78 |
Lady Bulldogs Open Season With 78-41 Win Over Gamecocks
November 11, 2011 | Women's Basketball
The Lady Bulldogs set a new school record with 14 total blocks as MSU scored the first 16 points of the game and cruised to a 78-41 victory over Jacksonville State at Humphrey Coliseum.
The victory was the 300th home win in program history. The Lady Bulldogs moved to 22-0 against Ohio Valley Conference foes and 36-2 in home openers. MSU has now won 26 straight home openers.
In her MSU debut, freshman Martha Alwal also set a school record with 10 blocked shots. A 6-foot-4 freshman from Worthington, MN, Alwal posted a double-double with four points, 11 rebounds and 10 blocked shots.
"Overall, I was excited about my game tonight," Alwal said. "There are lots of things I need to work on on the offensive end. I need to take better shots and work on blocking out. However, this was a good start."
For the Lady Bulldogs, it was a good start all the way around. The offensive charge was led by Diamber Johnson, who poured in a new career high with 30 points on 12-of-23 shooting.
A pair of 3-points by fellow newcomer Kendra Grant sparked the game-opening 16-0 run. After the Lady Gamecocks closed within 18-5, the hosts scored the game's next 10 points.
"Finding a way to win and finding a way to get better," MSU head coach Sharon Fanning-Otis said. "That is what we need to do. We still have to work on penetration and guarding players better. I am very proud. I was pleased that we kept them under 30 percent and shot 47 percent on our offensive end."
In the opening half, the Lady Bulldogs defensively held Jacksonville State to 14.8 percent shooting. The Maroon and White eased into halftime with a 35-13 advantage.
"This was a good start for this team," Johnson said. "It is like we have been saying through the preseason, this team has a chance to be special. We have to work hard every day and not go backwards. We did a good job of sharing the basketball tonight and guarded well on the defensive end."
In the second half, the Lady Bulldogs scored the first eight points to extend the lead to 30 points. The hosts would lead by as many as 39 on three occasions in the final half.
For the contest, the Lady Bulldogs hit 31 of 65 shots from the field (47.7 percent), 5 of 18 shots from 3-point range (27.8 percent) and 11 of 18 shots from the foul line (61.1 percent). The Lady Gamecocks hit 15 of 53 shots from the field (28.3 percent), 3 of 10 shots from 3-point range (30.0 percent) and 8 of 18 shots from the foul line (44.4 percent).
MSU held a 46-32 rebounding advantage. The Lady Bulldogs had 14 assists and 15 turnovers, while the Lady Gamecocks had 13 assists and 26 turnovers.
Porsha Porter added 10 points to the MSU cause.
Jacksonville State received 11 points from Destiny Lane and 10 points from Danielle Vaughn.
MSU continues its season-opening three-game homestand by hosting Xavier at 7 p.m. Monday.
