The Lady Bulldogs basketball team split a pair of games on their final road trip last week, defeating South Carolina on Thursday before falling to No. 3 Tennessee on Sunday. Mississippi State’s 58-54 victory over South Carolina (14-13,3-9 SEC) marked the team’s fourth conference win and first on the road. The game was a back-and-forth contest with 10 lead changes and two ties. MSU led by as much as 12 in the first half, and South Carolina’s largest lead was five with less than eight minutes left in the game.
Lady Bulldogs guard Marneshia Richard led all scorers with a season-high 20 points. Alexis Rack and Robin Porter tossed in double-digit points for the Lady Buldogs as well. South Carolina’s scoring was evenly spread through several players. They were led by Jordan Jones and Demetress Adams, who each scored 12, followed closely by Lakesha Tolliver with 10 and Ilona Burgrova with nine.
The Lady Bulldogs closed out their road schedule at No. 3 Tennessee on Sunday, falling 72-46 in front of a crowd of 20,249.Like the first matchup between the two teams, Mississippi State played well in the first half, only to have Tennessee run away in the second period. UT built a 16-5 lead before State rattled off 13 unanswered points to take a two- point lead with 4:25 left before the half. Tennessee outscored MSU 11-4 in the remainder of the half to take a five-point lead into the locker room.
The second half belonged to the home team, who outscored the Lady Bulldogs 45-24. State found it hard to score due to Tennessee’s stifling defense, which held the Lady Dawgs to less than 30 percent shooting.
“They were getting out to all the shooters, so we were trying to find open shots,” Richard said. “They did a good job preventing us from having those open looks.”
Tennessee junior Candace Parker led all scorers, pushing in 19 points, including nine from the free-throw line.
Mississippi State’s scoring effort was led by Alexis Rack with 15 points. Rack scored the only three 3-pointers of the game for the Lady Bulldogs. Richard added 11 points and was the only other Lady Bulldog in double figures.
Lady Bulldogs head coach Sharon Fanning said not playing tough the entire game affected her team’s recent performances.
“I felt like from the [first] Tennessee game forward, we have played harder, but we have not played for the 40 minute stretches that we need,” Fanning said. “We’ve matured and are understanding better how hard you have to play. In this league, it takes 40 minutes. Against Tennessee, it takes 40 great minutes. You have to play great basketball.