McCowan Leads State Past South Carolina

Thursday, January 17

Starkville

6:00 PM

Mississippi State

17-1 (5-0SEC)

#15 South Carolina

12-5 (4-1SEC)

South Carolina

Mississippi State

McCowan Leads State Past South Carolina

January 17, 2019 | Women's Basketball

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STARKVILLE, Miss. – On the game's big stage, Teaira McCowan came up for big for the No. 7 Mississippi State women's basketball team in a nationally-televised contest in Humphrey Coliseum.

McCowan recorded her 15th double-double with 26 points and 24 rebounds as the Bulldogs beat No. 15 South Carolina 89-74 on Thursday night. It was the fifth game of her career with 20-plus points and 20-plus rebounds. McCowan tied the Gamecocks in rebounding on her own (24).

A crowd of 10,006, the sixth largest in program history, watched as the Bulldogs won their 30th straight home game and 21st straight SEC game.

Jordan Danberry recorded her third career 20-point night for the Bulldogs, while Jazzmun Holmes had 12 points and Bre'Amber Scott and Anriel Howard each had 11 points. Danberry added seven assists, six rebounds, a block and two steals.

The Bulldogs also won despite losing Chloe Bibby in the first minute of the contest.

"Proud of my team, that was a hard-fought game against a tremendous opponent," head coach Vic Schaefer said. "To see our kids rally and adjust, you can't be prouder. To lose Chloe Bibby in a game of that magnitude, it rips your heart out. Our bench was so good. We played too much zone. We know I don't like that. We had to play through some foul trouble."

The game featured six ties and eight lead changes. In the final quarter, the Bulldogs held the Gamecocks to 20 percent shooting from the field (4-of-20) and shutdown South Carolina's three-point shooting. The Gamecocks entered the fourth quarter 10-of-15 from behind the arc before missing their final 10 attempts.
For the contest, the Bulldogs finished with a plus-25 rebounding advantage, including 23 boards on the offensive glass. State missed 36 total shots in the game, but grabbed their rebound nearly 64 percent of the time.


The Bulldogs scored the game's first four points, but a few ties followed before a McCowan 3-point play gave the Bulldogs a 22-16 advantage. The lead would later grow to eight at 26-18 on a layup by Danberry. The Gamecocks followed with the final five points of the quarter.

In the second quarter, the Gamecocks used an 8-0 run for a 36-30 lead with 7:06 left in the half. The Bulldogs battled back with a 14-3 run over 4:31 to turn a 30-36 deficit into a 44-39 lead. State led 48-43 lead at halftime, and would not trail again in the second half.

A basket by McCowan ran the lead to 50-43 to start the third quarter. The lead grew to eight at 58-50 on a jumper by Howard. A three-pointer by Howard pushed the lead to 63-56 with 1:34 left in the quarter. South Carolina answered with a three-pointer at the horn, bringing the Gamecocks within one, trailing 65-64 after 30 minutes.

An 11-2 run by MSU pushed the advantage to 76-66 in the early stages of the fourth quarter. South Carolina was back within eight at 80-72. The Bulldogs followed with seven straight points to close out the win. MSU shot 20-of-21 from the free throw line.

South Carolina (12-5, 4-1) received 27 points from Te'a Cooper, 17 points from Tyasha Harris and 12 points from Herbert Harrigan. Cooper had a team-high five rebounds.

MSU returns to action Thursday at Florida. The Bulldogs and Gators meet at 6 p.m. CT from Gainesville, Florida on SEC Network+.