Lady Bulldogs Drop Eighth Straight SEC Decision To Florida
* Official Statistics
* Official Statistics (PDF)
* Game Notes
* Postgame Quotes
STARKVILLE, Miss. - The Mississippi State University women's basketball teamdropped its eighth straight SEC decision on Thursday night, falling to theFlorida Gators (18-5, 6-4 SEC), 63-48, at Humphrey Coliseum. The LadyBulldogs (6-17, 1-9 SEC) got a double-double from freshman Robin Porter whohad 12 points and 10 rebounds to mark the third of her career and secondstraight. Sophomore guard Miayorka Johnson tallied the first double-doubleof her career with 15 points and a career-high 12 rebounds.
"I think we were playing hard the majority of the game, but we were not onthe same page," said head coach Sharon Fanning. "We missed a lot of openlooks. We have to see each other better and we have to communicate better.They (Florida) got a couple of threes and a couple of offensive boards thatchanged the game around."
MSU's only lead of the game came off senior forward Mamie McKinney's openingbasket with 19:13 on the clock. Florida tied the game at two with 17:37 leftto go and led by as much as four before Johnson's basket with 13:44remaining tied the game for the third time. From there, the Gators went upby as much as 11 with 6:46 left in the half before State crawled back towithin six with 1:35 to play. Despite shooting only 19 percent from thefield in the first half, the Lady Bulldogs went into the lockerroom down24-18 at the break.
State opened the second half strong with senior guard Doceide Warren hittinga three-pointer to cut the Florida lead to three. Following a missed Gatorshot, Porter scored on MSU's next possession to bring MSU back to withinone. It was the closest State got as Florida went up by two at the 16:33mark and extended the lead out to nine midway through the period. With 9:16remaining in the game, the Gators took a double-digit lead and held theadvantage for the remainder of the half. Behind 21 total points off of fiveMSU turnovers, Florida took a 15-point, 63-48 win.
Dalila Eshe led Florida with 21 points and 17 rebounds, while Sha Brooksadded 11 points.
The Lady Bulldogs return to action Sunday afternoon, hosting Alabama in a 2p.m. contest at Humphrey Coliseum in one of the two final remaining homegames of the season.
GAME NOTES
-Sophomore guard/forward Amy Reeder made the first start of her careertonight. It was sophomore guard's Miayorka Johnson's fourth career start.-The last time MSU had two players record double-doubles in a game wasagainst Mississippi on Jan. 8.
POST-GAME QUOTES
MSU HEAD COACH SHARON FANNINGOpening comments
"They (Florida) have grown together. They push the tempo. In transition defense they ended up getting a couple of easy looks late in the game. They got a couple of threes and a couple of offensive boards that changed the game around."
On overall play
"I felt like we got a little bit anxious. I think we were playing hard the majority of the game, but we were not on the same page. We missed a lot of open looks in terms of who's open, whether it is a two on one scenario. We should have moved the ball to that side of the court. We have to see each other better. We have to communicate better."
On Alabama Sunday
"We need folks here. We have two more home games and they are very important to us. We want to finish the season the right way. I felt like we have been stepping forward. We have to evaluate this and we have to go forward. We try to take what we can from a win or a loss and then look ahead as to how we play the next ball game."
MIAYORKA JOHNSON, SOPHOMORE GUARD
On the team's second half effort
"At that point we had worked hard to get back into the game. We missed a couple of offensive boards and they had a couple of wide-open shots because of miscommunication. I think we should have done a better job of communicating, knowing who is guarding who and blocking out."
On the last few games
"I think we are learning to play with each other more. We are learning each player's tendencies. Until the last part of this game we have been communicating well. Teams have beat us, but I think we have gotten better as a team."
On the in-bounds play pressure
"I think it was due to miscommunication. They had good defense, but then again, it is on our part. We did not execute like we should have on in-bounds plays and transition defense."
ROBIN PORTER, FRESHMAN GUARD/FORWARD
On bad turnovers and shooting percentage
"It is really frustrating knowing that you come back on a team and everything just breaks down. Everyone wants that win."
On her ankle injury
"We were warming up and when I shot the ball I stepped on Natasha's (Henderson) foot and twisted my ankle. It has already been bothering me, but I still have to go out there and play the best I can on it."
On the fouls in the second half
"We had like nine fouls to their two. Our defense should have been better."
FLORIDA HEAD COACH CAROLYN PECK
On the game
"We played a sloppy first half. We were not executing well. In the second half, we tried some different rotations and combinations, and I feel that that allowed us to execute our offense better. Our missed shots affected our defensive intensity, but we were lucky that Mississippi State did not take advantage of all of the open shots we gave them. Amy Reeder had some good looks from the three-point line."
On Dalila Eshe's play
"She stepped up for us in the second half. She gave us some good senior leadership tonight. In the first half, Mississippi State was double teaming our post player. We would try to feed it to her down low, but we are a much better team when we are able to move the ball. She did a good job finishing for us when we missed our threes."
On forcing 21 turnovers
"We forced Mississippi State to turn it over 11 times in the first half. Throughout the season I have been telling the girls to focus on forcing turnovers and not scoring points. Our press defense helped us in doing that tonight. We have got to press to keep up our intensity defensively. We, also, did a good job of pressuring the ball before it came inbounds. Depree Bowden had a lot of deflections up front for us. We made it difficult for Mississippi State to pass."