The No. 13 Tennessee Lady Volunteers went on an 18-4 run over the final six and a half minutes to defeat the Mississippi State Lady Bulldogs basketball team 82-68 Sunday at Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, Tenn.
“When you come into the arena here you know it’s going to be a 40-minute game,” MSU head coach Sharon Fanning said. “Toughness has a lot to do with winning. I didn’t think we were very tough, and today we were in a position to win a basketball game. Down the stretch [the Lady Volunteers] were a tougher basketball team.”
After not scoring for the first 3:37 of the game, the Lady Bulldogs tied the game at 10 with 13:38 to go in the second half and led 36-34 at halftime. The second half was a seesaw battle in which neither team led by more than three points for the first 13 minutes. Junior guard Armelie Lumanu’s layup with 6:58 to go gave the Lady Bulldogs a 64-62 lead, but from there a series of Tennessee rebounds and made shots, combined with Lady Bulldog missed shots, gave Tennessee a 14-point win.
Tennessee senior forward Alex Fuller said MSU’s shots were falling early on despite UT’s best defensive efforts.
“We couldn’t let that get our spirits down and we had to keep coming at them,” she said. “I think our defense kind of wore on them and that’s what got us the win.”
Junior guard Alexis Rack led the Lady Bulldogs with 24 points. She hit six three-pointers in the game, extending her school single-season record to 88. She also ended the game with 223 three-pointers in her career, passing Tan White’s school career record.
Sophomore guard Mary Kathryn Govero scored 14 points for the Lady Bulldogs, while Lumanu and junior forward Chanel Mokango each scored 13 points.
The Lady Volunteers were led by freshman center Kelley Cain’s double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds. Fuller and freshman guard Shekinna Stricklen added 14 points apiece.
Tennessee head coach Pat Summit praised Strickland’s play and leadership.
“In our last team meeting when we talked about what each player was going to bring to the team, she said that she had let this team down but that she wouldn’t let it happen again,” Summit said. “She’s a woman of her word. She was huge for us.”
Since the Lady Volunteers had lost their two most recent games to Duke and Kentucky, Summit said she had banned the team from using its locker room. Although she called the game “probably our best game this year,” she did not restore the rights to the locker room yet.
“I’m proud of the way we played, but this is just one game. We’ve got two more big games with LSU on the road then coming back to face Vanderbilt, who is in a tie for first in the SEC,” Summit said. “Mississippi State is a great team. They’ve had some good wins. We’re going on the road where we sometimes don’t play the best.”
The win improved the Lady Volunteers to 19-8 (8-4 SEC). The Lady Bulldogs dropped to 19-8 (6-6 SEC). Tennessee improved to 30-0 all-time against Mississippi State.
The Lady Bulldogs will play their final home game Thursday against the South Carolina Gamecocks at 7 p.m. at Humphrey Coliseum. The Gamecocks are currently 10-15 (2-10 SEC) and 11th in the SEC standings. Their leading scorer, senior guard Brionna Dickerson, averages 13.4 points per game.
The game will be the final home game for three Lady Bulldogs – seniors Robin Porter, Lauren Roberts and Donnisha Tate.