Sweet 16 Trip On The Line As Bulldogs Host DePaul Sunday

Sunday, March 19

Starkville

1:30 PM

Mississippi State

#19 DePaul

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Sweet 16 Trip On The Line As Bulldogs Host DePaul Sunday

March 18, 2017 | Women's Basketball

Starkville NCAA Tournament HQ Buy Tickets Game Notes (MSU)Game Notes (DePaul)Live Audio

STARKVILLE, Miss. – An NCAA Sweet 16 trip is on the line Sunday afternoon in Humphrey Coliseum as the seventh-ranked Mississippi State women's basketball team hosts No. 19 DePaul in an NCAA Women's Basketball Championship second-round matchup.

Tip from the Hump is set for 1:30 p.m., with ESPN2 broadcasting the contest (coverage map) as well as ESPN3 online. Tickets, which cost $25 for adults and $10 for youth age 17 and under and MSU students, can be ordered on www.hailstate.com/tickets.

Fans can listen to the radio broadcast on WKBB-FM 100.9 in the Golden Triangle and WCNA-FM 95.9 in Tupelo. A free live audio stream will be available at www.hailstate.com/plus.

Mississippi State advanced to the second round for the eighth-straight time with a 110-69 win against Troy on Friday. The Bulldogs set a school NCAA Tournament record for points to claim their program-best 30^th win of the season.

Bulldog head coach Vic Schaefer notched his 200^th-career win, and his daughter Blair led the MSU contributions with a career-high 21 points.

She was one of five State players in double figures. First Team All-SEC and Wooden Award finalist Victoria Vivians and Roshunda Johnson added 13 each, while Ameshya Williams and Breanna Richardson notched 15 and 10 points, respectively.

DePaul improved to 27-7 overall after defeating Northern Iowa 88-67 on Friday.

BULLDOGS VS. DEPAUL

DePaul and Mississippi State have met four times previously, with the last meeting coming in 1994.
The Blue Demons have won all four meetings, but the two teams have never met in Starkville.
The only time the squads have faced off in the postseason was the 1988 WNIT, a game won by DePaul 73-57.

ABOUT THE BLUE DEMONS

DePaul improved to 27-7 on the year with an 88-67 win against Northern Iowa on Friday.
The Blue Demons went 16-2 in Big East Conference play, winning the regular season title while finishing runner-up in the league tournament to Marquette.
Three of DePaul's seven losses this season came to Marquette.
Tanita Allen raised her season average to 9.1 ppg with a game-high 25 points off the bench on Friday. Brooke Schulte leads DePaul with 16.2 ppg this season, while Jessica January averages 14.8 ppg.
DePaul shot 52.9% from the field Friday, raising its season percentage to 43.8%. The Blue Demons hit 3-pointers at a 33.1% clip after knocking down 45.8% against UNI.

NEXT UP

The winner of Sunday's game advances to the Sweet 16 in Oklahoma City. The regional semifinals will be played Friday, March 24, at 6 and 8:30 p.m. CT.

BULLDOG BITES

Mississippi State will play in the NCAA Tournament second round for the third-straight year.
MSU has advanced to the second round in its last eight tournament appearances.
This is the Bulldogs' ninth NCAA Tournament appearance. MSU is 10-8 all-time in the event.
State is the No. 2 seed in the Oklahoma City region, the highest seed in school history.
State is hosting the NCAA First and Second Rounds for the second time in as many seasons.
A win Sunday would give MSU a second-straight Sweet 16 appearance and the program's third overall.
MSU recorded its program-best 30th victory of the season. MSU has set the single-season wins record each of the last three seasons (27 - 2014-15; 28 - 2015-16; 30 - 2016-17).
Vic Schaefer claimed his 200th win as a head coach with Friday's opening-round win against Troy. He was tabbed one of four finalists for Naismith Coach of the Year.
Mississippi State scored a season-high 110 points in Friday's first round. That total is tied for the fifth-most in school history and the most by a Bulldog squad in an NCAA Tournament game. The 41-point win is State's largest margin of victory in the Big Dance.
MSU also claimed NCAA Tournament bests in points in a half (56), rebounds (61), free throws made (26), and free throws attempted (39). It also tied the MSU tournament bests for 3-pointers made (12), field goals made (36) and field goal attempts (82).
Friday's 110-point effort gave this year's squad the school record for points in a season with 2,579. The 75.9 season scoring average is sixth in program annals.
Blair Schaefer scored a career-high 21 points on Friday in her second-career start.
Teaira McCowan had nine points and 13 rebounds Friday. She is averaging 8.8 points, 8.4 rebounds and 2.2 blocks her last five games.
Freshman Ameshya Williams had the best game of her young career Friday, tallying 15 points, five rebounds and three blocks in just nine minutes of action.
Senior Breanna Richardson eclipsed 700 rebounds for her career with nine on Friday. With 702, she is tied for 10th at MSU.
Morgan William enters Sunday with 455-career assists, two back of second at MSU and eight back of the top mark.
With 408-career made free throws, William is five away from tying Tan White for second at MSU. Her 84.1% career free-throw percentage is tops at State and ninth in SEC history.
Victoria Vivians returned to double figures with 13 points on Friday. She is averaging 14.0 points in her career in the NCAA Tournament. Vivians had a 103-game consecutive starts streak snapped on Friday.
Roshunda Johnson earned her seventh start of the year and responded with 13 points against Troy. Johnson is 7 of 12 (58.3%) from 3-point range her last four games.