Mississippi State
3-0
Lamar
3-1
Strong Second Half Leads No. 6 MSU Past Lamar
November 15, 2018 | Women's Basketball
STARKVILLE – No. 6 Mississippi State scored 69 second-half points to roll to a 104-53 victory against Lamar in women's college basketball action Thursday night at Humphrey Coliseum.
The Bulldogs placed five in double figures with a pair of double-double performances. Anriel Howard had her first double-double with 24 points and 13 rebounds, while Teaira McCowan had her third this season with 11 points and 16 rebounds.
Howard collected the 34th double of her career while McCowan grabbed her 42nd as a Bulldog and ninth straight dating back to last season.
Jordan Danberry added a career-best 15 points for the Bulldogs, while Chloe Bibby had 11 points and Jessika Carter had 10 points. Carter added eight rebounds. Jazzmun Holmes had nine points and nine assists.
"We want to commend Lamar because they came in and played a tremendous first half," MSU head coach Vic Schaefer said. "They had an edge to them. It's not easy to play in the Hump when you are the visitors. I was very pleased with our second half, but disappointed with the first half. You don't have to look any further than me. I didn't have them ready to play.
"I am proud of the second half. Sixty-nine points in a half is great. Forty-two points in a quarter is a great. Twenty turnovers are too many. But proud of how we came out and played in the second half."
The Bulldogs led throughout the contest but did play a sluggish first half.
MSU scored the game's first seven points and later built a 15-5 lead. The Bulldogs ran the lead to 11 before the Cardinals battled back to a 20-15 deficit after one quarter.
In the second quarter, the Bulldogs shot 30 percent from the floor. MSU led 35-28 at halftime.
In the second half, the Bulldogs took better care of the basketball and also worked their way to the line 22 times (compared to nine times in the first half).
Carter provided a huge lift for the Bulldogs with McCowan battling through foul trouble.
"Very proud of Jesskia, she really battled down low," Schaefer said. "Ten points, eight rebounds, four blocks, we have been seeing that every day out of her in practice. Anriel Howard had a great all-around game. Chloe Bibby hit some timely 3-pointers."
The Bulldogs finally blew open the contest with an 18-0 run late in the third quarter. Bibby hit a pair of 3-pointers to help run the lead to 70-36 with 1:46 left in the third quarter.
In the third quarter, MSU shot 70.6 percent from the field for a school-record 42 total points and a 77-43 lead after three quarters.
An 11-0 run in the fourth quarter ran the lead to 90-45 with 5:37 remaining.
For the contest, the Bulldogs hit 37 of 75 shots from the field (49.3 percent), 6 of 19 shots from 3-point range (31.6 percent) and 24 of 31 shots from the foul line (77.4 percent). The Cardinals hit 19 of 74 shots from the field (25.7 percent), 5 of 18 shots from 3-point range (27.8 percent) and 10 of 17 shots from the foul line (58.8 percent).
MSU held a 64-32 rebounding advantage. The Bulldogs had 22 assists and 20 turnovers, while the Cardinals had five assists and 20 turnovers.
Lamar (3-1) received 16 points from Chastadie Barrs.
MSU will resume its homestand with a 2 p.m. start Sunday against Coppin State. The game will be available nationally on SEC Network +.
