Bulldogs Stay No. 5 In AP Poll, Travel To Little Rock Tuesday

Tuesday, December 13

Little Rock, Ark.

6:30 PM

Mississippi State

Arkansas-Little Rock

Bulldogs Stay No. 5 In AP Poll, Travel To Little Rock Tuesday

December 12, 2016 | Women's Basketball

Game Notes (MSU)Game Notes (UALR)Live Audio Associated Press Top 25 Poll

STARKVILLE, Miss. – Mississippi State remained No. 5 in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll on the eve of a Tuesday road contest at Little Rock.

Tip for the contest is set for 6:30 p.m., and fans can listen on WKBB-FM 100.9 or online at hailstate.com/plus. A premium video stream will be available through Little Rock's website.

The Bulldogs head to Little Rock (5-4) the last unbeaten team in the SEC after improving to 9-0 with a 72-50 road win at Southern Miss on Saturday.

The perfect start puts Vic Schaefer one win from claiming No. 100 as head coach of the Bulldogs.

Schaefer's squad earned its second-straight week in the Top 5 and 42nd-consecutive week in the AP poll, the eighth-longest active streak in the nation.

A day after graduating from Mississippi State, senior Breanna Richardson paced the Bulldogs to the road win behind her first double-double of the season (19 points and 10 rebounds). Chinwe Okorie matched her career high as she tallied 18 points in the road victory.

In the last three games, Richardson is averaging 10.3 points behind 61.9-percent shooting, while Okorie is connecting on 69 percent of her shots for a 15.3 scoring average.

Okorie is one of three Bulldogs averaging double figures for the season. Her 10.6 average is third behind leaders Victoria Vivians (14.2 ppg) and Morgan William (11.1 ppg).

Tuesday's game will be a homecoming for Little Rock native Roshunda Johnson, who has scored at a 9.2 per-game clip in her first season at MSU.

SERIES BREAKDOWN

Mississippi State and Little Rock will meet for the eighth time, but it will be the first meeting between the two programs since 1988.
The Bulldogs have won all seven meetings, with five of those victories coming in Starkville. The only time the teams met in Little Rock was 1987, a contest won 68-55 by Mississippi State.

ABOUT THE TROJANS

UALR brings a 5-4 record into Tuesday's game. The Trojans began the season 1-4, but have won their last four contests.
Little Rock will be playing its first game since Dec. 4 when it won on the road at Memphis, 54-44.
The Trojans are 3-1 at home, with the lone setback coming to another SEC squad, Texas A&M, 55-37 on Nov. 23.
The Trojans average 49.8 ppg while holding foes to 52.6 ppg. Little Rock shoots 34.8% from the field, 23.2% from 3-point range and 76% from the free-throw line.
Kaitlyn Pratt and Sharde' Collins pace Little Rock with 13.8 and 12.3 ppg, respectively. Pratt also tops the Trojans on the boards with 7.7 rpg.

NEXT UP FOR THE DAWGS

Mississippi State heads from Little Rock to Los Angeles to play in the Women of Troy Classic. The Bulldogs face SMU on Friday in a rematch of last year's Puerto Rico Classic Championship. State closes the trip against either host USC or Grambling on Sunday.

BULLDOG BITES

Saturday's win gives MSU a 9-0 start to the season. It is the fourth time in program history a Bulldog squad has won nine straight to begin the year.
Bulldog head coach Vic Schaefer is one win from recording No. 100 at MSU.
Mississippi State has won 37 of its last 38 regular-season non-conference games going back to 2014-15. That tally includes 17-straight victories. The only loss came last season at Texas.
The non-conference slate sees State travel 17,190 miles before SEC play starts Jan. 1. This week will mark the fifth and sixth states MSU has played in the first two months of the season.
Mississippi State remained No. 5 in Monday's Associated Press poll, a week after setting new program-best rankings. State has been in the AP poll 42-straight weeks, the eighth-longest active streak in the nation and third-longest among SEC teams behind Kentucky (129) and South Carolina (79).
MSU entered Monday No. 6 in the NCAA RPI.
The Bulldogs are second in the SEC in scoring offense (80.7 ppg) and fourth in scoring defense (56.4 ppg).
MSU is second in the league and 18th nationally shooting the basketball, making 47.4% from the field this season.
The Bulldogs are second in the conference, 13th nationally, in turnover margin with a +7.6 tally. State has won the turnover battle in all nine games this season.
Nine Bulldogs are shooting 40% or better from the field, with four hitting 50% or higher.
Breanna Richardson received her diploma last Friday, and a day later recorded a double-double in the Bulldogs' win at Southern Miss, scoring a game-high 19 points while grabbing 10 rebounds. Her 19 points were one point shy of her career high which was set against USM in the 2014 WNIT.
Richardson is five points from breaking into MSU's career Top 25 and 14 from 900.
Fellow senior Chinwe Okorie had 18 points against USM, tying her career high she set two games earlier at Hawaii. Okorie is averaging 15.3 ppg and 9.0 rpg her last three outings, shooting 69% from the field in that stretch.