Mississippi State
14-12 (4-9SEC)
#13 Tennessee
19-7 (10-3SEC)
Lady Bulldogs Drop 57-41 Decision To #13 Tennessee
February 16, 2012 | Women's Basketball
The Lady Bulldogs held Tennessee to one 3-point field goal and its lowest point total in a conference game this season. The Maroon and White led briefly midway through the first half. MSU battled back to a 10-point deficit in the closing minutes.
"It was a great team effort," MSU head coach Sharon Fanning-Otis said. "We needed to believe in shots more and punch them by getting the ball in the paint. You have to get offensive rebounds when you are missing shots like that. That is such an energy giver when you can get the rebound and put it back in on them."
With the victory, Tennessee moved into a tie for first place in the conference standings at 19-7 overall and 10-3 in league play. MSU fell to 14-12 and 4-9.
Both teams had an early struggle offensively. MSU built a 3-point lead on two different occasions, with the last being at 7-4 with 10:32 left in the first half.
The Lady Vols scored the game's next six points, with a jumper from Kamiko Williams giving the guests a 10-7 advantage. The hosts battled back for a 10-10 tie on a Kendra Grant 3-pointer.
The Lady Bulldogs trailed 14-13 before going the final 4:36 of the first half without another point. Back-to-back baskets by Cierra Burdick and Glory Johnson pushed the Lady Vols lead out to 22-13 at the intermission.
In the opening half, the Lady Bulldogs only connected on 5-of-34 shots from the field, including a 3-for-11 half from 3-point range. Defensively, the Lady Bulldogs forced 13 first-half turnovers by Tennessee.
Five straight points by UT allowed the Lady Vols to stretch the lead to 29-15 with 14:08 left in the contest. The Maroon and White continued to battle but could not close within single digits the remainder of the way.
"You cannot make a bucket and get it to within ten and all of sudden give up a layup because you do not know matchups," Fanning-Otis said. "We had some possessions like that in the second half. We played good enough defense to win this ballgame, but we just have to get better offensively."
For the contest, the Lady Bulldogs hit 16 of 69 shots from the field (23.2 percent), 6 of 20 shots from 3-point range (30.0 percent) and 3 of 5 shots from the free throw line (60.0 percent). The Lady Volunteers hit 24 of 62 shots from the field (38.7 percent), 1 of 9 shots from 3-point range (11.1 percent) and 8 of 14 shots from the foul line (57.1 percent).
Tennessee held a 59-37 rebounding advantage. MSU had 10 assists and 13 turnovers, while UT had 10 assists and 19 turnovers.
Grant paced the Lady Bulldogs with a career-high 17 points, while Porsha Porter added 15 points. Martha Alwal had a team-high seven rebounds. Diamber Johnson was held to three points on 1-of-15 shooting, but did dish out seven assists, with a steal and a block.
Shekinna Stricklin paced Tennessee with 22 points, with 20 of those points coming in the second half. Stricklin posted her fourth double-double, as she also garnered 12 rebounds. Johnson had a game-high 15 rebounds.
MSU returns to the road for a 2 p.m. start Sunday at Arkansas.
