Archrivals MSU, Mississippi Meet In Opening Round Of SEC Women's Tourney
STARKVILLE, Miss. ? The ninth-seeded Mississippi State women’s basketball team (16-13, 4-10 Southeastern Conference) opens play in the 2008 SEC Women’s Basketball Tournament against archrival and eighth seed Mississippi (12-15, 6-8 SEC) Thursday in Nashville, Tenn. Tipoff between the Lady Bulldogs and Lady Rebels is scheduled for 12 CT at the Sommet Center, and will be televised by Fox Sports Network regionally in the southeast.
The matchup between Mississippi State and Mississippi marks the third time the two teams have met this season. The Lady Bulldogs took the first meeting 57-52 in Starkville earlier in the year while the Lady Rebels won in Oxford 73-65 nearly three weeks ago. Mississippi State and Mississippi last played at the SEC Women’s Tournament in 2000. The Lady Bulldogs won that first round matchup 75-59.
The Sharon Fanning-led Lady Bulldogs enter the matchup with UM coming off a hard-fought 64-49 loss to sixth-ranked LSU on Sunday. During that contest, MSU came back from an early deficit to tie the game at 42 with more than 10 minutes remaining but was unable to hold off the Lady Tigers.
On the year, MSU is led by sophomore guard Alexis Rack. The three-point specialist leads the team in scoring with 11.6 points per game, while shooting nearly 33 percent from behind the arc. The Lady Bulldogs are paced on the boards by sophomore forward Tysheka Grimes, who is averaging 6.4 rebounds per game.
Lead by first year head coach Renee Ladner Ole Miss is coming off a 72-66 home loss to the Florida Gators in Sunday. The Lady Rebels saw a 17-point halftime lead slip away in a 66-72 setback against Florida.
Mississippi is led by junior center Shawn Goff. The Tallahassee, Fla.,-native leads the team with 13.5 points and 7.3 rebounds a game. Senior forward Carla Bartee leads the team with 8.2 rebounds and had 15 rebounds against the Lady Bulldogs in the first meeting.
The Mississippi State Bulldogs will look for their first first round win in the SEC Women’s Tournament since 2004 when they beat Arkansas, 79-74. MState is looking to improve to 2-2 all-time in SEC Tournament games played in the Music City.
The winner of the Lady Bulldogs and Lady Rebels faces top seed LSU (25-5, 14-0 SEC) at noon CT on Friday in Nashville.