No. 3 Bulldogs Return Home To Face Oklahoma State In Big 12/SEC Challenge

Sunday, December 3

Starkville

1:00 PM

Mississippi State

Oklahoma State

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No. 3 Bulldogs Return Home To Face Oklahoma State In Big 12/SEC Challenge

December 02, 2017 | Women's Basketball

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STARKVILLE, Miss. – There's no place like home.

After four games away, the No. 3 Mississippi State women's basketball team returns to the friendly confines of Humphrey Coliseum on Sunday to face Oklahoma State in the Big 12/SEC Challenge.

Tip for the game is set for 1 p.m., with Courtney Lyle and Andraya Carter broadcasting the contest on the SEC Network.

Jason Crowder and Charlie Winfield will have the call on the MSU Radio Network and online on HailState.com/plus and the TuneIn app.

Tickets for the game cost $5 for adults and $3 for youth age 17 and under. Bully's Kids Club members get free admission with their membership ID card.

State returns home 7-0 on the year after defeating No. 24 Arizona State, Columbia and Green Bay in the Cancun Challenge, and Louisiana 94-37 in Jackson, Miss., on Wednesday.

Teaira McCowan paced Wednesday's win, becoming the first Bulldog women's player to record 30 points and 20 rebounds in a game as she notched 31 points and grabbed 20 boards to go with 4 blocks and 3 steals.

Playing in "The Big House" for the first time since leading Scott Central High School to two state championships, senior Victoria Vivians tallied 16 points in the victory against the Ragin' Cajuns.

Vivians ranks fifth in the SEC in scoring this season at 18.4 ppg. McCowan follows in ninth in scoring (17.0 ppg) while rating second in rebounds (11.7), fourth in field goal percentage (63.1 percent) and fifth in blocks (2.3 bpg).

Mississippi State enters Sunday second in the SEC in scoring offense but tops in the league in defense, limiting opponents to 50.4 ppg.

It meets an Oklahoma State squad that is 6-1 on the season and averaging 82.0 ppg. The Cowgirls' lone setback came against Tennessee in the Riviera Division of the Cancun Challenge.

OSU is paced by Loryn Goodwin, who is averaging 18.9 ppg. Kaylee Jensen averages 13.7 ppg while grabbing a team-high 8.7 rebounds per game.

GAME INFORMATION
Opponent: Oklahoma State (Big 12/SEC Challenge)
Time: Sunday at 1:02 p.m.
Doors Open: 11:30 a.m.
Admission: $5 adults/$3 age 17 & under/Free Bully's Kids Club (age 12 and under)
Watch: SEC Network (PxP – Courtney Lyle; Analyst – Andraya Carter)
Watch Online: WatchESPN.com or WatchESPN App
Listen: MSU Radio Network and HailState.com/Plus (PxP – Jason Crowder; Analyst – Charlie Winfield)

PROMOTIONS

Bully's Kidz Kourt (Mize Pavilion – Opens 11:30 a.m.)
Maroon Memory experiences (HailState.com/memories)

SERIES HISTORY
OKLAHOMA STATE (OSU leads 1-0)
At MSU: 0-0
At Oklahoma State: 0-0
At Neutral Sites: OSU leads 1-0
12/29/2011 L 71-78 N

BULLDOG BITES

MSU has won 29-straight regular season non-conference games and 28-consecutive non-conference home games.
The State seniors have amassed 96 career wins, T6th most nationally, 2nd in the SEC since 2014-15.
MSU moved up 1 spot to No. 6 in this week's Associated Press Poll and stayed No. 3 in the USA Today Coaches Poll.
The Bulldogs have started 7-0 for the 4th time in the last 5 seasons. MSU had only done it twice prior to 2013-14.
MSU is playing in the Big 12/SEC Challenge for the 2nd-straight year. State won at Iowa State 85-81 in OT last season.
The Bulldogs are 1 of 4 programs in the nation, the only SEC school, to have undefeated men's and women's teams.
State leads the SEC in scoring defense and is 2nd in the conference in scoring offense.
MSU has won the turnover battle 6 times this season. It is 112-26 under Vic Schaefer, 84-13 since 2014-15, when doing so.
Victoria Vivians, Teaira McCowan and Morgan William were named to the Naismith Trophy watch list Wednesday. Vivians and William were also tabbed to the Wade Trophy watch list.
McCowan had 31 points, 20 rebounds Wednesday against Louisiana in Jackson, the 1st Bulldog ever to record 30 points and 20 rebounds in a game.
McCowan also passed Tan White for 3rd in school history in career blocked shots.
Victoria Vivians is 117 points from becoming just the 3rd MSU player to score 2,000-career points (1,883).
Ro Johnson played her first 2 collegiate seasons at Oklahoma State. She is averaging 13.6 ppg this season for MSU.
Morgan William tops the SEC in assists (6.1 apg) and assist/turnover ratio (7.2).

LAST TIME OUT FOR MSU...

After winning the Mayan Division of the Cancun Challenge last weekend, Mississippi State traveled to the state capital of Jackson to meet Louisiana inside Mississippi Coliseum. The Bulldogs out-scored the Ragin' Cajuns 30-8 in the first quarter before going on to post a 94-37 win.
State shot 44.2% from the field while limiting UL to 22%. The Bulldogs also forced 25 turnovers, scoring 24 points off those miscues.
MSU tallied 46 of its points in the paint thanks to a historic night from Teaira McCowan, who became the 1st MSU player to record 30 points and 20 rebounds in a game with 31 points and 20 boards. McCowan also had 4 blocks and 3 steals.
McCowan led 5 Bulldogs in double figures. Victoria Vivians tallied 16 points in her first game in "The Big House" since she won 2 state championships with Scott Central High School. Blair Schaefer and Chloe Bibby notched 13 points each, and Jazzmun Holmes, who led Harrison Central High School to 3-straight 6A semifinal appearances, had 10.

GET TO KNOW THE OPPONENT

Oklahoma State comes to Starkville 6-1 on the season. OSU defeated Southern University 94-66 on Thursday to bounce back from its only setback of the year, a 79-69 decision to Tennessee at the Cancun Challenge.
Loryn Goodwin, the Conference-USA Newcomer of the Year at UT-San Antonio last season, leads the Cowgirls in scoring with 18.9 ppg. Kaylee Jensen, a Preseason All-Big 12 selection, scores at a 13.7 clip while grabbing a team-high 8.7 rebounds per game.