State Women Close Out Regular Season At South Carolina On Sunday
Mississippi State leads the all-time series with South Carolina, 12-8. State has not won in Columbia since Jan. 6, 2005 (55-48). The Lady Bulldogs are 3-6 all-time in Columbia with two of those wins coming during the Sharon Fanning era. In games played in Starkville, State leads 8-2. Of conference opponents played, State has faced USC the least amount of times (Arkansas is a near second with 22).
With her 17 points in the 89-70 win against Alabama on Thursday, freshman guard Alexis Rack became the first player since Tan White(2002-05) to record double figure scoring in 10 straight games. Rack's streak started on Jan. 18 at Tennessee when she scored 10 points. Since then, she's averaged 14.5 points per game. She has 285 total points on the season and is currently averaging 10.2 each time out. Rack has been named SEC Freshman of the Week twice and has scored in double figures in15 games this year. Against the Crimson Tide, freshman forward Tysheka Grimes led the Lady Bulldogs with 20 points. In addition to Grimes and Rack, three other Lady Bulldogs posted double figures for the second straight contest.
As a team, MSU ranks first in the conference in three-point field goals made in SEC games (6.85). The Lady Bulldogs are second in conference games in three-point field goal percentage and rank in the top half in eight other statistical categories. In overall games, MState is third in three-point field goal percentage defense, fourth in three-point field goals made and sixth in four categories.
Individually, sophomore guard Marneshia Richard leads the league in minutes played in conference games and is fourth overall in steals. Rack is fifth overall in three-point field goals made and second in the same category in league games only.
South Carolina enters Sunday's game with Mississippi State at 15-13 overall and 5-8 in league play. The Gamecocks did not play Thursday evening. South Carolina's last game was on Feb. 18 against Vanderbilt (L, 65-83). In their last five games, the Gamecocks are 2-3 with wins at Arkansas (74-69) and Auburn (70-61).
Lauren Simms leads the team in scoring with 9.9 points per game game. Melanie Johnson leads the team in rebounding with 5.4 boards per game. As a team, the Gamecocks average 68.8 points per game and out-rebound their opponents by 8.7 rebounds each time out (44.0).
With the win over Alabama, Mississippi State secured the sixth-seed in this week's Southeastern Conference women's basketball tournament (MSU holds the tiebreaker against Kentucky by virture of an 83-75 double overtime win in Lexington). State will face the #11 seed, Florida, in the tournament on Thursday evening, March 1, at 8:30 p.m. CT. The game will be broadcast regionally via SEC-TV. Fans are asked to contact their cable and satellite providers for more details.