No. 5 Bulldogs Head To Southern Miss For Saturday Showdown

Saturday, December 10

Hattiesburg, Miss.

2:00 PM

Mississippi State

Southern Miss

No. 5 Bulldogs Head To Southern Miss For Saturday Showdown

December 08, 2016 | Women's Basketball

Game Notes (MSU)Game Notes (USM)Game Notes (USM)Live Audio

STARKVILLE, Miss. – No. 5 Mississippi State returns to the road Saturday as it heads to Hattiesburg for an in-state showdown against Southern Miss.

The Bulldogs take an 8-0 record into the 2 p.m. contest at Reed Green Coliseum. State is coming off a thrilling 85-81 overtime win at Iowa State last Saturday.

That win, in which MSU rallied from a 17-point halftime deficit, moved the Bulldogs to a school-record No. 5 in both the Associated Press and USA Today Top 25 polls and earned them NCAA Team of the Week honors.

Fans can listen to the game on WKBB-FM 100.9 in the Golden Triangle and surrounding areas. Live audio will be available on hailstate.com/plus, while Southern Miss will offer a premium live video stream (http://www.southernmiss.com/collegesportslive/?media=542579).

Southern Miss comes into the game with a 7-1 ledger.

SERIES BREAKDOWN

Saturday's game will be the 44th meeting of the in-state series between Mississippi State and Southern Miss.
A win for the Bulldogs would even the series, as USM leads 22-21.
The Bulldogs have won the last four meetings and nine of the last 11.
State won last season's meeting 78-65 in Starkville. Morgan William and Ketara Chapel scored 17 points each, while Dominique Dillingham had 15, Chinwe Okorie 13 and Victoria Vivians 10.
MSU won the last meeting in Hattiesburg 73-46. The Bulldog defense held the Golden Eagles to eight first-half points.

ABOUT THE GOLDEN EAGLES

This year's Southern Miss squad is 7-1 on the season and has won its last four games after falling at Tulane 86-67 on Nov. 20.
Southern Miss shoots at a 44.6% clip, including 35.1% from 3-point range. The Golden Eagles shoot 65.6% from the free-throw line.
The Golden Eagles are led by Brittany Dinkins, who is scoring 18.9 ppg. She is shooting 51.8% from the field and 41.5% from 3-point range.
Jayla King averages 12.5 ppg and paces USM on the boards with 7.9 rpg.

BULLDOG BITES

The Bulldogs were named NCAA Team of the Week on Tuesday.
Saturday's game begins a run of four games in nine days for the Bulldogs. MSU will travel to Arkansas-Little Rock on Tuesday before head to USC Dec. 16 and 18.
MSU snapped a 96-game win streak for Iowa State in regular seaon non-conference home games. MSU rallied from a 17-point halftime deficit, the largest comeback for a Bulldog team.
Mississippi State has won 36 of its last 37 regular-season non-conference games going back to 2014-15. That tally includes 16-straight victories. The only loss came last season at Texas.
State's non-conference slate sees State travel 17,190 miles before SEC play opens on Jan. 1. Saturday is the third time MSU has played in the Magnolia State this season, but it has only played in Starkville once.
Mississippi State made more firsts this week, moving to No. 5 in both the Associated Press and USA Today polls. State has been in the AP poll 41-straight weeks, the ninth-longest active streak in the nation and third-longest among SEC teams behind Kentucky (128) and South Carolina (78).
MSU is No. 9 in the first NCAA RPI released Wednesday.
The Bulldogs forced 18 Iowa State turnovers last Saturday. MSU ranks second in the SEC and 10th in the nation in turnover margin at +8.3.
State forces 22.1 turnovers per game, third in the league and 22nd in the country.
MSU leads the SEC and is 30th nationally claiming 17.0 offensive rebounds per game. Chinwe Okorie's 4.4 offensive boards average is second in the SEC and 26th in the nation.
Victoria Vivians was named to the Wooden Award watch list on Tuesday.
Morgan William paced MSU at Iowa State with 24 points. In two games against Big 12 teams this season, William has averaged 23.5 ppg. She tallied 23 in MSU's win against No. 8 Texas.
William has averaged 13.8 ppg the last five games, shooting 51.4% from the field. Vivians has averaged 14.0 ppg during that span after tallying 16 points at ISU.
Roshunda Johnson made her first start at ISU and had 15 points. She's third on the team in scoring with 10.4 ppg.
Breanna Richardson received her diploma during Friday's commencement exercises. Richardson has averaged 11.3 ppg against USM in her career.