State Women Begin WNIT Play At Southern Mississippi
STARKVILLE, Miss. ? Following an 18-day layoff, the Mississippi State women’s basketball team (16-14) faces the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles (20-13) in second-round action in the 2008 Women’s National Invitation Tournament Monday evening. Tipoff from Hattiesburg’s Reed Green Coliseum is set for 7 p.m. WFCA 107.9 FM will broadcast the game locally and free audio will be available via Maroon to the Max, MSU’s online subscription based service.
The Lady Bulldogs are competing in the postseason for the ninth time under Head Coach Sharon Fanning. MState is 4-5 in four previous WNIT appearances. MSU received a first round bye for the second consecutive season and are facing the Golden Eagles for the second time this season.
State previously defeated USM 77-56 in Starkville on Nov. 29, 2007.
Southern Mississippi enters Thursday night’s game 20-13 on the year. USM fell to UTEP in the Conference USA semifinals and defeated Arkansas-Little Rock on Thursday evening (67-57) to advance to the second round of the WNIT. The Golden Eagles are led by Pauline Love who averages 16.4 points per game and brings down 10.4 rebounds. Andrea Barber leads the team in assists, dishing the ball out 6.3 times each game.
Sophomore Alexis Rack continues to lead MSU in scoring. The Franklin, La.,-native averages 11.7 points per contest followed closely by classmate Tysheka Grimes with 11.0 points each time out. Grimes also leads the team in rebounding with 6.7 boards per game. Junior point guard Marneshia Richard averages 4.7 assists per game and is seeking to add to her junior class single season record (136). State is seeking to snap its season-longest three-game losing streak.
Fans interested in viewing Monday night’s game can watch free video courtesy of southernmiss.com.
The winner of the MSU-USM contest faces the winner of Monday’s VCU/Michigan matchup on a date to be determined.