Despite a 12-2 spurt to start the second half, the No. 13 Mississippi State Lady Bulldogs (14-4, 3-2) ended their three-game win streak with a 14-point loss to the No. 3 University of Tennessee (16-3, 5-0). The Lady Bulldogs pulled as close as 31-28 in the first half before being shut down offensively for the final four minutes. Tennessee led 38-29 at the half, and withstood the early Bulldog run to win going away at 82-68.
“Anytime you play on the road in the SEC it is tough; this is a good league,” said senior Bulldog LaToya Thomas after Thursday night’s game, “but playing there (Tennessee) is really hard. They always have a big crowd. When you go in there all you can see is orange.”
The Tennessee faithful packed 10,213 into the Thompson-Boiling Arena Sunday for the contest. The crowd is the largest that MSU has played in front of this season.
Early foul trouble caused the Bulldogs to play the majority of the first half without starting guard Tan White. White picked up three quick fouls in the first five minutes and sat the final 15.
Thomas picked up the slack for the Bulldogs, pouring in a game-high 28 points in her final regular season meeting with the Volunteers. The 28 points moves Thomas to fifth on the MSU career-scoring list with 2,605 points during her career.
White notched 10 points in the second half to finish with 14. Junior Seneca Anderson added eight points and eight rebounds off the bench for the Bulldogs.
Volunteer forward Gwen Jackson with 25 points and 12 rebounds posted the game’s only double-double. Senior Kara Lawson added 15 points and Shanna Zolman helped Tennessee’s cause with 14.
The Volunteers extend their dominance over the Bulldogs with the win, pushed the all-time record to 19-0.
On Thursday night, the Lady Bulldogs withstood several scoring runs by the Auburn Tigers (14-4, 2-3 SEC) to notch their third SEC win, with a 69-60 victory. MSU led by one after 20 minutes of play, and held the Tigers to 25 percent shooting in the second half to get the win.
“You have to know that good teams are going to make runs at you when you are leading,” MSU head coach Sharon Fanning said after Thursday’s contest. “Our girls did a good job of answering those runs.
“I thought we played a better second half. We were able to put pressure on them, and play our game.” Thomas once again led the Bulldogs, scoring 26 points to go along with eight rebounds in Thursday’s win. Despite struggling from the field, White added the games only double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Freshman Blessing Chekwa added 10 points in 16 minutes of action Thursday.
For the Tigers, Natasha Brackett scored 16 points. Le’Coe Willingham and Tia Miller each added 11 points for the Tigers.
The Lady Bulldogs will be back in action Thursday when they host the University of Alabama at 7 p.m. The Crimson Tide (11-7, 1-4 SEC) will be coming off an 81-70 win over the University of Mississippi on Sunday.