Lady Bulldogs Reach Round Of 32 With 73-47 Win Over Manhattan
Tournament Photo Gallery
Thomas and White tally 22 points apiece
| Tan White drives around Manhattan's Christine Bach. (AP Photo/Danny Johnston) |
The Lady Bulldogs opened the game with an 11-0 run, holding the Lady Jaspers scoreless until the 12:15 mark of the first half. They pushed the lead out to as many as 21 points twice during the first 20 minutes. MSU went in to the dressing room with its largest lead of 22 points at 36-14. Manhattan's 14 points is the lowest output in the first half for a Lady 'Dog opponent this season, the previous was 17 points against Arkansas.
"I am pleased with the effort and that we came out focused. It was a great win to get the tournament started," said head coach Sharon Fanning. "We felt like defense was going to be a key. They (Manhattan) are an aggressive, scrappy basketball team that stays after it. We need to do a better job on transition on Monday."
| Doceide Warren shoots over Manhattan guard Donnette Reed. (AP Photo/Jake Schoellkopf) |
LaToya Thomas and Tan White shared scoring honors for the Lady 'Dogs, both pouring in 22 points apiece. Thomas also pulled down 13 rebounds for her 47th career double-double and 11th of the season. White was 5-of-10 from three-point range, tying her seasonhigh for treys.
"I don't think we were nervous," said senior forward LaToya Thomas. "I mean when you come in and see approximately 15,000 people in the stands everybody is going to get bubble gut. We just came out focused. Tan was knocking down the big shots, so we kept on going to Tan and she kept hitting the big shots, so we felt comfortable."
Freshman Doceide Warren, who was making her second career start, scored nine points and grabbed five boards. Senior Renea Jones added five point of her own, while Mamie McKinney and Seneca Anderson both contributed four. Anderson also pulled down eight rebounds.
The Lady Bulldogs will play six-seed New Mexico in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Monday, March 24 at 7:23 p.m. MT on ESPN. Fans can also catch the game on the Bulldog Sports Network with Steve Ellis calling the action.
GAME NOTES
MANHATTAN (20-10)
Mason 5-15 6-9 16, Sangar 1-8 0-0 2, Schettig 2-14 0-0 5, Bach 0-0 0-0 0, Kilkenny 4-14 4-4 13, Walters 0-4 0-0 0, Reed 3-10 0-0 6, Wilson 2-4 1-1 5, Dedic 0-0 0-0 0. Total 17-69 11-14 47.
MISSISSIPPI STATE (24-7)
Thomas 9-14 4-6 22, Kates 1-3 1-2 3, Warren 4-6 0-0 9, Jones 2-7 0-0 5, White 8-16 1-4 22, Carter 1-1 0-0 2, Ferguson 0-3 0-0 0, McKinney 2-3 0-0 4, Anderson 1-1 2-2 4, Burton 1-4 0-0 2, McGhee 0-1 0-0 0, Moore 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 29-59 8-14 73.
Halftime -- Miss. St. 36-14. 3-Point Goals -- Manhattan 2-12 (Kilkenny 1-2, Schettig 1-9, Walters 0-1), Miss. St. 7-20 (White 5-10, Warren 1-2, Jones 1-3, Kates 0-1, Ferguson 0-1, McGhee 0-1, Burton 0-2). Fouled out -- None. Rebounds -- Manhattan 35 (Mason 9), Miss. St. 51 (Thomas 13). Assists -- Manhattan 6 (Reed 4), Miss. St. 12 (White 6). Total fouls -- Manhattan 18, Miss. St. 14. A -- NA.