Lady Bulldogs Set To Clash With Florida State Sunday in Regional Semifinal
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DAYTON, OHIO. - The Mississippi State women's basketball team will continue its trek through the NCAA Tournament as they take the court against Florida State Sunday at the University of Dayton Arena in Dayton, Ohio. Tip time for the regional semifinal game is set for 1:30 p.m. CT.
The game will be televised nationally by ESPN2 and will also be available online via ESPN360.com.
Mississippi State, a 7-seed enters Sunday's game with a 21-12 overall record. The Lady Bulldogs are coming off an 87-67 victory over 2-seed Ohio State Tuesday in Pittsburgh. State continues to be led in scoring by All-American candidate Alexis Rack who ranks fourth in the Southeastern Conference in scoring, 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.
Florida State, a 3-seed, enters Sunday's contest with a 28-5 record this season. The Seminoles advanced to the regional semifinal game with wins over Louisiana Tech and St. John's. Led by head coach Sue Semrau, FSU is led in scoring by Jacinta Monroe who is averaging 13.2 points a game. FSU is averaging 74.5 points a game and has a scoring margin of +14.8.
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.
The winner of the Mississippi State-Florida State game will face the winner of Connecticut and Iowa State on Tuesday at 6 p.m. CT.