Mississippi State’s Lady Bulldogs basketball team picked up a win and a loss in SEC games this week, defeating LSU on the road Thursday and losing to Arkansas at home Sunday.
On Thursday, junior guard Armelie Lumanu hit a 15-foot jump shot at the buzzer to beat the LSU Lady Tigers 38-36 in Baton Rouge for the Lady Bulldogs’ second straight road win.
“It may not be one of the top 10 prettiest games of all time, but it was a great defensive ballgame and a fun night for us in the end,” said MSU head coach Sharon Fanning.
Both teams shot below 30 percent in the game, and senior forward Robin Porter was the only Lady Bulldog to reach 10 points. Junior forward Chanel Mokango, the team’s leading scorer and shot blocker, only played nine minutes after being poked in the eye while going for a rebound.
“We had worked very hard the last couple of weeks in finding ways to get [Mokango] more touches. Then all of a sudden, we lose her and have to make some adjustments,” Fanning said. “It says a lot about this team, that we had some things go against us and we still found a way to win.”
LSU led 22-17 at the half, and early in the second half the Lady Bulldogs went on a 9-2 run to take a 26-24 lead. From there, the game returned to a defensive struggle. LSU took a 36-33 lead with 1:59 to go, but Alexis Rack’s 25-foot three-pointer as the shot clock expired tied the game. After another defensive stop, Lumanu’s shot at the buzzer gave the Lady Bulldogs their first ever road win at LSU.
“LSU has a great basketball team,” Fanning said. “This is the kind of win that makes you work a little bit harder in practice.”
On Sunday, junior point guard Ashley McCray’s two-point jumper after two offensive rebounds with 11 seconds left gave the Arkansas Lady Razorbacks a 65-62 lead that they carried to the end of the game.
“I felt like we were outworked. Arkansas is a very athletic team. They are a team that plays really hard. I don’t feel that we had good team chemistry today,” Fanning said.
She said her team was not prepared mentally for the game.
“You have to be tough. You can’t come into a game and not be ready to play mentally,” Fanning said. “I give Arkansas the credit for the win but I still felt like we were in a position to win the game. But in the last time and score, they get two offensive rebounds. That’s the story of the game, the extra play.”
McCray led the Lady Razorbacks off the bench with 14 points. Freshman guard Ciera Ricketts added 13 points, while senior guard Ayana Brereton recorded a double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds.
“Our kids needed this win really bad. I think we are a lot better basketball team than our record,” Arkansas head coach Tom Collen said. “I do not know whether Mississippi State overlooked us, but I can just tell you that our kids do not think of themselves as an 0-4 team, and they have not given up yet. I think they showed that today. This was a great ballgame for us.”
Rack led the Bulldogs with 18 points. Porter had a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
“Losing never feels good. We just got outworked, and they came up with the big plays at the end,” Rack said.
Mokango was unable to establish a rhythm, hitting only three of her 12 shots, although she did score nine points and block five shots.
“Chanel has to understand the level of play in this league. She has to understand the intensity and I don’t think that she was mentally ready to go,” Fanning said. “You could tell she wasn’t herself. You can’t worry about getting hit again. In this league you’re going to get hit again.”
Mokango agreed that she had an off night.
“I think I just did not play with enough intensity. I let the team down tonight. Coach Fanning told us there is no time to take off,” Mokango said.
The Lady Bulldogs will get a respite from their tough SEC schedule Thursday night against the Savannah State Lady Tigers, a Division I independent school which is currently 1-16. The game begins at 7 p.m. at Humphrey Coliseum.