Lady Bulldogs Meet The Media To Discuss NCAA Championship
- NCAA Dayton Regional Headquarters
- MSU Game Notes vs. Florida State
- Video from Thursday's Press Conference (Fanning-Otis)
- Video from Thursday's Press Conference (Govero, Rack and Mokango)
- Transcript from Thursday's Press Conference
Mississippi State Women's Basketball coach Sharon Fanning-Otis and players met with the media on Thursday to discuss the upcoming trip to Dayton, Ohio for the NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen. The 7-seed Lady Bulldogs will face off with 3-seed Florida State on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. CT. The contest will be televised by ESPN2.
News and Notes:
- With a 20-point win over Ohio State in the second round, Mississippi State advanced to the Sweet Sixteen for the first time in school history. It also marks the first career Sweet Sixteen appearance for Head Coach Sharon Fanning-Otis who has coached in the NCAA Tournament with two different schools (Kentucky and Mississippi State).
- With two wins in the tournament this year, State has upped its all time tournament record to 6-5. All 11 games have come during the Sharon Fanning-Otis era.
- State continues to be led in scoring by All-American candidate Alexis Rack who ranks fourth in the Southeastern Conference inscoring, averaging 17.6 points a game. Rack has led State in scoring the last two outings with 21 points against MTSU and 30 against Ohio State. MSU also puts four other players in double-figure scoring. Senior Armelie Lumanu is averaging 12.4 points a game while Chanel Mokango is averaging 11.3 a game. Tysheka Grimes and Mary Kathryn Govero are both scoring 11.0 a contest. Senior first-team All-SEC selection Rack leads State in assists, averaging 4.6 a game. Mokango leads the Lady Bulldogs in rebounding, pulling down 7.2 a game. Lumanu leads MSU and was second in the conference in steals, averaging 2.6 a game.
- Mississippi State and Florida State have met five previous times in women's basketball dating back to 1978. Mississippi State won the first two meetings in 1978 and 1979 before Florida State won the next two contests held in 1989 and 2005. During the last meeting which came in 2006 in Starkville, the Lady Bulldogs outlasted FSU 65-60 in overtime to take an edge in the series.
- Mississippi State head coach Sharon Fanning Otis has faced Florida State four times with three different schools (UT-Chattanooga, Kentucky, Mississippi State). She is 2-2 in those meetings and 1-1 at MSU.
- Mississippi State and Florida State have faced five common opponents this season. Florida, Auburn, Alcorn State, Maryland and Louisiana Tech. FSU is 5-0 against those teams while MSU is 4-3.
- Mississippi State is not the only Southeastern Conference flavor in the Sweet Sixteen. Tennessee, Kentucky and Georgia also advanced after first and second round wins.
- When Mississippi State has the lead at the half this season, they are 15-3. When they have trailed, they are 5-9. They are 1-0 when tied at the half.
- In the first two NCAA tournament games, Alexis Rack has scored a combined 51 points, scoring 10 3-point field goals. The back-to-back 20+ point games were her first since December.