The Mississippi State women’s basketball team etched a new record in the history books Sunday-one they’d like to have done without.
The Lady Bulldogs lost their 10th straight game of the season, the most consecutive losses in single-season history. They lost 11 consecutive games over the span of two seasons in 1994.
The victor in this 10th loss was Kentucky (19-6, 8-4 SEC), who upset nationally-elite Tennessee earlier this season.
The reason the loss was so difficult to swallow, though, is because MSU (6-19, 1-11 SEC) led the Wildcats by 12 points with 12:36 remaining in the ballgame.
However, State watched Kentucky chip away at that lead, as everything went the Wildcats’ way. Kentucky eventually came back to tie the game with 4:36 remaining and then took the lead for good after that.
Senior forward Mamie McKinney and freshman guard/forward Robin Porter paced the Lady Bulldogs with 10 points each on MSU’s “senior night.”
“It was tough,” said McKinney, who played her final game at The Hump Sunday. “I wanted a win but especially because it was senior night.”
MSU head coach Sharon Fanning’s 500th career victory still lingers.
“It doesn’t matter if a team knows what you are going to do or how they guard,” Fanning said following the game. “We gave up lay-ups. We gave up second shots and missed free throws.”
MSU closes out its 2005-06 season with road games against South Carolina and LSU. The SEC Tournament begins March 2, and all 12 SEC teams will make the bracket.
What will it take for the Lady Bulldogs to finally be able to put a mark in the win column? Fanning believes they’re doing almost everything right, but just a few key elements are missing.
“It takes a lot of focus,” Fanning said. “We are putting ourselves in positions to win games. That is the first step of winning.”