The Mississippi State women’s basketball team  ended the Southeastern Conference Tournament exactly where they planned to be–in the championship game.

    However, the result was not exactly the one they hoped for.

  The Bulldogs fell to  SEC champion South Carolina 66-52 at Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida. Despite the loss in the championship, the Bulldogs still strengthened their chances of an NCAA Tournament bid with solid victories over Vanderbilt and Tennessee. 

 The game was a defensive struggle for the Bulldogs as the Gamecocks offense took charge of the game early. On the Bulldogs offense, unstoppable sophomore Victoria Vivians started the game with an open three and tallied  11 of the team’s first 15 points. The first quarter fell in South Carolina’s favor with the result of 20-15. Tiffany Mitchell and A’ja Wilson contributed to a clockwork-like offensive performance from South Carolina. 

   In the second quarter, the Bulldogs stopped producing on the offensive side while giving the opportunity up second chance shots as South Carolina’s  forward Alaina Coates overpowered Chinwe Okorie. The Gamecocks defense shut down Vivians but still gave Morgan William chances to contribute five of the six points scored in the second quarter. After William’s layup in the fifth minute, South Carolina took the chance to pull away from the Bulldogs. Khadijah Sessions and Wilson dominated on both sides, forcing turnovers and scoring for the Gamecocks. Their performance in the second half resulted in a 13-2 run. Both team tied for 11 rebounds but South Carolina took more of their second chance shots. 

   Mississippi State Head coach Vic Schaefer said he felt the team could have performed better defensively after the loss.

   “We are disappointed because we didn’t execute defensively like we wanted to,” he said. “The game got away from us with about five minutes left in the first half.” 

 The Bulldogs began with their backs against the wall in the third quarter. With a defensive battle from Dominique Dillingham and Breanna Richardson, turnovers from the Gamecocks slowed their quick offense and helped the Bulldogs get chances to score.  Aggressive defense from the Gamecocks led to foul trouble, especially against Vivians in attempt to shut down the shooter. She went four for four on free throws. Though MSU played well against the Gamecocks in the third quarter, USC’s tremendous lead created space and a safety net, ending the third quarter at 50-39.

   During the final quarter, South Carolina kept their intense aggression, keeping their lead margin less than 10. The urgency of winning a title began to pressure the Bulldogs. Some Bulldogs were in foul trouble like Richardson, who ended up fouling out of the game. In a hard fought attempt against the nation’s best, the Mississippi State Bulldogs fell short of a SEC title to the South Carolina Gamecocks, 66-52. In the loss, Vivians tallied for 26 points and was named All-SEC Freshman for her performance during the tournament. South Carolina earned their second consecutive SEC title and secured their No. 3 spot on the AP Poll. 

 With the SEC tournament in the rearview, the Bulldogs will now look to the NCAA tournament, which begins on March 18, 2016.