Lady Bulldogs Seek Third-Straight Win Sunday Against South Carolina
STARKVILLE, Miss. - Having won two consecutive conference games on the road, Mississippi State returns home Sunday to face South Carolina at the Humphrey Coliseum. Game time is set for 1 p.m. CT and will be televised by the SEC Network. Cara Capuano and Robin Muller will have the call.
Mississippi State has been stellar the last two games on the defensive end of the floor, allowing 45 and 43 points respectively.The Lady Bulldogs are fifth in the league in field goal percentage defense as opponents are shooting just 36.9 percent from the field. Offensively, State is shooting 37.2 percent from the field.
Senior Mary Kathryn Govero is leading the scoring charge, averaging 12.1 points a game. Junior Diamber Johnson is scoring 11.4 points a contest. Junior Ashley Brown is pacing State in rebounds with 8.6 a game which is fifth-best in the SEC and 82nd nationally. Brown is now averaging 6.3 points a game.
Mississippi State's Porsha Porter continued her outstanding play this past Thursday against Ole Miss, scoring 16 points, while adding five rebounds, three assists and two steals. The junior from Chicago now has double figures in five straight games and six of the last seven.
After dropping three of its first four Southeastern Conference games, South Carolina (14-10, 6-5 SEC) has won five of seven including two in a row entering Sunday's game. The Gamecocks are coming off a 66-61 victory over 15th-ranked Kentucky on Thursday in Columbia. Prior to that, USC won at Arkansas 64-62.
USC is led by sophomore guard Ieasia Walker who is scoring 12.6 points a game. La'Keisha Sutton is averaging 10.2 a contest. As a team, South Carolina is 11th in the SEC in scoring offense and ninth in the league in scoring defense.
Mississippi State and South Carolina have met 25 previous times in the series dating back to 1984. The Lady Bulldogs hold a 16-9 advantage in the series including a 9-2 advantage in Starkville. MSU has won four straight in the series dating back to 2008.