Lady Bulldogs Overcome Auburn In Overtime, 75-68
Official Game Statistics (PDF)
Senior guard Tan White tallies 23rd career double-double on Senior Day
STARKVILLE, Miss. -- The Mississippi State University women's basketball team (17-10, 6-8 SEC) closed out the 2004-05 regular season with a 75-68 overtime win against the Auburn Tigers (15-12, 6-8 SEC) Sunday afternoon at Humphrey Coliseum. Senior guard Tan White tallied her 23rd career double-double, her seventh of the season, scoring 34 points and posting 12 rebounds on Senior Day.
"This was a great ball game," said MSU Head Coach Sharon Fanning. "Hitting the first five shots of the game gives us a lot of confidence and we took advantage of that. Hopefully, this excitement and good shooting will flow over into the tournament. When Tan shoots seven of eight from three-point range and gets 12 rebounds, I don't think there is too much left to say. The way that Blessing went at the ball just shows her composure and control out there. She is completely confident in what she can do. Defensively, Doceide did a great job staying in the passing lane and containing their point guard. She got to loose balls. She really controls our team out there."
White jump started the contest for MSU, hitting a three just 30 seconds into the game to spark a 13-5 Lady Bulldog run to put State up with 16:55 left on the clock. Coming out of the first timeout, Auburn chipped away at the lead, using two three-pointers and a jumper to tie the game at 13 with 14:02 on the clock. Senior guard Ebonie Ferguson kept State up with a jumper, but the Tigers answered with a three-pointer on their next possession to take a one-point advantage. The Lady Bulldogs tied the game at 16 on a White free throw before Auburn rattled off a 6-0 run to jump up 22-16 with 8:19 remaining in the period. State fought back with a 7-1 run tie the game at 23 with 5:31 on the clock. After senior guard Tiania Burns put State up at 25-23, Auburn tied the game for the fourth time in the period. MSU went up by seven at the 1:55 mark and held off the Tigers to take a 32-29 lead into the locker room at the break.
Auburn tied the game on its first possession of the second period with a three-point basket and took the lead on two free throws. The Tigers extended their lead out to as much as four before MSU tied the game at 38 with 14:32 on the clock. White's three-point shot at 14:01 put MSU up by three and with 10:37 remaining in the game, MSU held a 49-40 lead, its largest of the game. Auburn fought back to cut the lead to two with 8:45 left on the clock. State regained composure and went back up by as much as eight with 4:50 remaining. However, the Tigers came back to within two at the 3:20 mark. In the closing minutes of the half, State held a four-point lead with 2:02 left to play. Auburn hit a layup with 55 seconds to play and two free throws with 18 seconds on the clock to tie up the game. White made a contested three-point basket that was waved off at the end of regulation to force overtime.
White took control of the game from the opening tip of the extra period. Her three-point basket eight seconds into the game put MSU up and her second trey at 3:22 gave MSU a six-point advantage. While Auburn attempted to cut into the lead, State held a six-point spread with 1:21 left to play. In the game's final 30 seconds, MSU held the Tigers to just three points to take the 75-68 win.
Natasha Brackett led Auburn with 22 points, Louise Emeagi had 17 and Nicole Louden added 11 in the loss.
In addition to White's 34 points, junior guard Doceide Warren added 10.
With the win, the Lady Bulldogs finish sixth in the league with a 6-8 record. MSU will face 11-seed Arkansas on Thursday, March 3 at 9:15 p.m. ET in the first round of the 2005 SEC Women's Basketball Tournament in Greenville, S.C.
GAME NOTES
- White has scored in double digits in 38 consecutive games. With her nine free throws made this afternoon, White now ranks second on the MSU Career Free Throws Made list.
- With her 10 points this afternoon, junior guard Doceide Warren now has 504 total career points.
- Auburn leads the overall series 26-12. State is 9-9 when hosting the Tigers in Starkville and has won eight of the last 12 meetings, including the last six in Starkville.
- MSU is now 9-9 in all overtime games played.
- Head Coach Sharon Fanning is seven wins shy of her 500th career win.