Mississippi State Tops No. 23 Tennessee on the Road, 72-55

Thursday, February 6

Knoxville, Tenn.

5:30 PM

Mississippi State

21-3,9-1SEC

#23 Tennessee

17-6,7-3SEC

Mississippi St.

Tennessee

Photo by: Mississippi State Athletics

Mississippi State Tops No. 23 Tennessee on the Road, 72-55

February 06, 2020 | Women's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)VIDEO: Schaefer Interview

by Josh Lively, Assistant Director/Communications

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – With a 72-55 victory against 23rd-ranked Tennessee on Thursday night, Mississippi State became the first program in SEC history to win three-consecutive games against the Lady Vols in Thompson-Boling Arena.

"First of all, I just want to commend Tennessee," said head coach Vic Schaefer. "I thought they just played extremely hard. I thought Rae Burrell came out and played extremely well early and carried them. She played extremely hard for them. I am just really proud of our kids with how hard they played. I thought in the second half, Jordan Danberry figured things out and played extremely hard for us. We tend to play off of her. It was probably Yemiyah Morris' best career game. I thought she competed. Her first rotation in wasn't great, but I thought her second rotation was outstanding. I played my bench, if you noticed, early in that first quarter. I kind of thought this is where we were going. I thought my bench was outstanding in the first quarter and came in and gave us some needed minutes."

After a slow start to the game, the No. 8 Bulldogs (21-3, 9-1 SEC) turned things up on both ends of the floor, outscoring Tennessee 53-34 during the final three frames to earn their first ranked win of the season. UT (17-6, 7-3 SEC) shot 47 percent from the field in the first quarter and only had three turnovers, but State's defense locked in during the second and third stanzas, holding the Lady Vols to 25 percent shooting or less in the two periods.

For the game, Mississippi State finished with 14 steals and forced 23 turnovers, which the Bulldogs converted into 20 points of offense. Danberry led the way with five steals to go along with 11 points, four rebounds and two assists. Morris had arguably the best game of her career, recording 11 points, six rebounds and three steals to help MSU's bench outscore Tennessee 23-6.

Rickea Jackson narrowly missed a double-double with 14 points, nine rebounds, two assists, two steals and one block. Chloe Bibby added 13 points and four boards in the game to help spark the offense.

Both teams went back and forth to begin the contest with eight lead changes between the two squads. Bibby had the hot hand early, connecting on four of her six shots to lead the Bulldogs with nine points. A late basket by the Lady Vols gave them the early 21-19 advantage.

Mississippi State responded with a 9-2 run in the first three minutes of the second stanza. Both teams went cold offensively during the middle of the period, but a 10-0 run by State swung the momentum in the Bulldogs' favor. State's defense was stout in the quarter, holding the Lady Vols to just 25 percent shooting from the field. Tennessee ended the frame by scoring five straight points, but MSU entered halftime with a 38-30 lead.

Morris sparked the offense early in the third period by scoring State's first five points, capped by the first basket of the frame from either team at the 6:27 mark. Danberry finally got going on offense in the stanza, scoring seven points and fueling MSU to an 11-1 run to end the quarter. State entered the final frame boasting a 56-40 advantage.

Despite playing with four fouls, Morris continued her strong performance in the fourth quarter, leading State with six points. The Bulldogs finished the game shooting 40 percent from the field to cruise to the 17-point victory against the Lady Vols.

Up next, State returns home for another top-25 matchup, as No. 16 Texas A&M comes to Humphrey Coliseum for a noon tip on Sunday. The game will be nationally televised on ESPN and can be streamed on the MSU Radio Network.

For more information on the Bulldogs, follow MSU women's basketball on Twitter, like them on Facebook and join them on Instagram by searching for "HailStateWBK."