The Mississippi State Lady Bulldogs went into its match against Utah Valley on Wednesday with a shiny new No. 25 AP ranking and a need to justify it. After mauling the Utah (2-2) Valley Wolverines by a score of 81-35, the Bulldogs (3-0) not only made their case but also sent a message to the No. 20 Maryland Terrapins. You’re next.
The Wolverines got off to a short-lived lead early on a layup by center Erika Newbold for an 0-2 start, but it took them over 16 minutes to get another field goal, when guard Kayla Burningham hit a 3-pointer with 3:10 remaining in the half. By then, State was up 36-10 and had effectively wrapped up the game.
Utah Valley never reached that many points, as the MSU defense was smothering, intense and relentless.
At the end of the first half, MSU was up by a comfortable 41-14 lead. That is comfortable by anyone else’s standards other than head coach Sharon Fanning-Otis. The Lady Dawgs began running a full court press with a 40-point lead in the second half, forcing the Wolverines into mistakes, missed shots and easy turnovers.
Fanning-Otis said even with 33 points off turnovers, MSU missed some chances. She said if she were giving the team a score, it would only be about 50 out of 100.
“It’s probably a little better than that,” she sad. “I’m probably being a little too hard on them. But I told the girls, if you’re expecting a championship, then you’re going to have to play like that all the time. You can’t play in spurts.”
Fanning-Otis said with Maryland coming to the Hump Sunday, MSU will need to continue to work on plays like their full court press scheme to take on the ranked Terps.
“We had not run our [press] in the last game or so, and I felt like we needed to practice it,” she said. “It was just to give us an opportunity to do something that we’re going to need to have throughout the year.”
The Lady Bulldogs finished with all but one player scoring points and five in double digits. Senior guard Alexis Rack led with 16 points, 15 of which were from three pointers, and senior forward Tysheka Grimes scored 14 points. Both players are chasing Mississippi State and NCAA records, with Rack moving up in the ranks in 3 pointers and scoring and Grimes advancing on the top 25 SEC scorers list.
Senior forward Rima Kalonda contributed two points and nine rebounds in limited play, and guards Armelie Lumanu and Mary Katherine Govero rounded out the list of starters with 7 and 13 points respectively. Guards Dee Johnson and forward Chanel Mokango each had 10 points off the bench.
Rack said she suggested a goal for the team to aim for against Utah Valley.
“Last game I said maybe we should get it in our minds that we should score a hundred,” she said. “We scored 41 and 40, so we didn’t reach our potential. We had setbacks.”
MSU next plays Maryland (2-0), which is ranked No. 20 in the polls and was the national championship team in 2006. Even though the players always say they take the schedule one game at a time, Grimes said she sees tough opponents on the horizon.
“We’re trying to get ready for what is ahead,” she said. “Coach [Fanning-Otis] has high standards. She stresses defensive pressure. She wants us to annihilate our opponents.”
The Lady Dawgs will play host to the Terrapins on Sunday, which promises to be an epic battle between the two ranked teams. Fanning-Otis said there is one thing that is the most important for her players going into the matchup, and that the coaches will be driving the point home in practice for the rest of the week.
“Expect to win,” she said. “That’s great you get in the top 25. What are you going to do to stay there? And how are you going to move up? You win ballgames, you move up. That’s our challenge, and that’s what we’ll try to prepare for Sunday at 2.”