Mississippi State knew they had to play tough coming into their regionally televised game against Vanderbilt. They knew they had to fight.
They knew they had to play like their coaches had instructed them and leave it all out on the court. Despite coming up on the short end of a 106-98 score, they did just that Thursday night.
“We played to win and we left it all out on the court. I feel like that kind of effort will help us win a lot of ballgames,” head coach Sharon Fanning said. “When you play like winners, and carry yourselves like champions-that’s what we’re trying to get. That’s what the process of winning takes. It hurts to the bone when you play your heart out and leave it all out on the floor and you lose, but you have to draw from it and move on.”
The Lady ‘Dores did their best to take control early by jumping out to an 11-0 run to start the game.
MSU fought hard for the first six minutes of play, but seemed to be overmatched early, until senior guard Tiania Burns hit a three-point shot to halt Vandy’s run.
What happened next could only be described as the “Tan White Show” as the senior guard dominated the floor of play on almost every possession-scoring, passing and defensively.
Inaugurated by a three-point shot with 13:53 to play in the half, White seemed to be unstoppable as she carved up the Vandy defense with her drives and no look bounce passes. The Tupelo native would finish the game with a career-high 47 points.
The Lady Dawgs fought hard all half to try and cut into the Vanderbilt lead, edging it to within one possession on many occasions.
While they battled hard, the half would culminate with VU taking a four point lead, 36-32, in at intermission.
Going into the locker room at the half, State was easily aware of the statistics that were keeping them out of the Lady ‘Dores’ reach.
“At halftime they had 10 offfensive boards and we had one, and I think that was the biggest thing,” Fanning said. “They’re a very physical team. They’re going to look to block out, and they’re going to look to post you up.”
The second half would prove to be much the same as the first, as MSU and VU seemed to match each either shot for shot. State finally tied the game up at 51 at the 9:53 mark, on a lay-up by junior forward Mamie McKinney.
Over the last five minutes of play, a sense of urgency seemed to overtake both sides as ties and lead changes abounded.
With 17.0 seconds left on the clock, the Lady Dawgs seemed to have the game in hand as McKinney was sent to the charity line for two shots.
McKinney made both shots, but VU ran the ball down the court and into the lane for a tying lay-up with 3.2 seconds left on the clock.
State had one last shot before the conclusion of regulation when junior guard Doeceide Warren raced down court off the inbounds and put up a runner in the lane that bounced of the front of the iron and sent the game into overtime.
MSU seemed more than willing to take advantage of the extra five minutes as they raced out to an 8-0 run in the early going.
Not to be outdone, VU called a timeout and set the strategy for what would be a truly amazing finish.
“I told them [during the timeout] that we had to get stops, and that we had to run quick hitters to score right away, and then foul right away,” Vanderbilt head coach Melanie Balcomb said.
With the strategy set, Vandy executed when it counted and brought the end of overtime to a deadlock when sophomore forward Carla Thomas hit a jump shot with 1.2 seconds remaining.
As if the epic saga had not ventured far enough, the Lady Dawgs and ‘Dores would square off once more for another five minute period.
The Vandy women soared in the second overtime, showing that they had sustained momentum from their ceaseless effort of hanging around.
With MSU on the ropes, the Lady ‘Dores would take the lead in overtime number two and never look back as they went on to the victory.