Women's Hoops Faces South Carolina In First Of Two-Game Road Swing To Conclude Regular Season
STARKVILLE, Miss. - The Mississippi State Lady Bulldogs (6-19, 1-11 SEC) wrap up the 2005-06 regular season with two road games this week. MSU travels to South Carolina (16-9, 6-6 SEC) on Thursday, Feb. 23 for a 7 p.m. ET matchup before heading to Baton Rouge, La. to face the LSU Tigers on Sunday, Feb. 26 to be televised on Fox Sports Net South.
State came up short this past Sunday, falling to Kentucky, 51-46, after leading by as much as 11 points in the second half. The loss marked the 10th straight for the Lady Bulldogs and a school record for losses in a single season. State's overall loss record is 11 games from Feb. 6, 1994 to Dec. 2, 1995. The loss also marked the fifth SEC game that MSU lost in the last five minutes. Senior forward Mamie McKinney and freshman guard/forward Robin Porter led MSU with 10 points each. Porter continues to lead State with 10.4 points per game. She is on track to become just the fifth freshman to finish the season leading the Lady Bulldogs in scoring average.
MSU owns the overall series record vs. South Carolina, 11-7, including three of four of the last meetings with the Gamecocks. USC holds the advantage when hosting State in Columbia, 5-3. The Gamecocks took the narrow win earlier this season in Starkville, 51-46, on Feb. 5. In that meeting, State cut a 10-point second half lead by USC down to just two with 40 seconds left but could not find the win. MSU won the last meeting in Columbia, 55-48, to open up SEC play last season Jan. 6, 2005.
Since the Feb. 5 meeting in Starkville, the Gamecocks have gone 3-1 in SEC action. Its sole loss was vs. Kentucky by four points, 75-71. USC has brought home wins at Florida (81-63) and at Auburn (58-46) and most recently at home vs. Ole Miss (77-66). Melanie Johnson is leading the Gamecocks in the points and rebounds column averaging 10.0 ppg and 6.2 rpg.