On an afternoon that saw four Bulldogs honored for senior day, the Mississippi State University women’s basketball team defeated the Ole Miss Rebels 55-47. The Bulldogs clinched third place in the SEC and will be the No. 3 seed once the SEC Tournament gets underway later in the week.
Head Coach Vic Schaefer expressed his happiness for everyone involved in what turned out to be a special regular season. The Bulldogs sealed their 26th victory of the season Sunday in front of a crowd of 7,326, the largest attendance for a women’s basketball game in the history of the programs and in the state of Mississippi.   
“It’s just a tremendous day for us and women’s basketball. I’m so happy for my seniors, and I just can’t say enough about them and what they have meant to the program. To send them out today with a victory in front of the largest crowd in the history of the school, I think is an opportunity they deserved,” he said. “To win 26 games in a season is really incredible, in a regular season especially.”
Along with setting the record for attendance at a single game on Sunday, another important attendance mark was set as well. With a total of 67,598 spectators for the year, MSU set the all-time record for total attendance for a single season, which demonstrates just how much respect this team has garnered from MSU fans. 
Senior Martha Alwal reminisced over playing in front of significantly fewer fans early on in her time at MSU.      
“We literally started from the bottom to the top. When I first got here there were 100 (fans) in the stands, and it was kind of hard. You have to get yourself going because the crowd really wasn’t that loud, but as we started doing better throughout the seasons that I have been here, the crowd kept multiplying,” Alwal said. “They’re loud all the time now, and they cheer us on good or bad. They help us through tough times and they have played a huge part in (Sunday’s) win.” 
The senior center finished her last regular season game with a nine-point, 13 rebound stat line and was a physical presence in the paint all game long, playing 39 minutes. Along with Alwal, freshman Victoria Vivians chipped in with 17 points and six rebounds for the contest and stayed aggressive for the entirety of the game, attempting 10 free throws for the contest.   
The key stretch in the game for the Bulldogs occurred in the final 11 minutes of the first half. The Rebels jumped out to a 9-0 lead to start the game and seemed to be gaining confidence on the floor. However, coming out of the media timeout at the 11:28 mark, the Bulldogs only allowed the Rebels to score seven more points in the entire half, locking down on the defensive end of the floor.
For the game, MSU only shot 32 percent from the field, but held the Rebels to 35 percent shooting for the day. Its defense has been the prohibitive factor in achieving everything it has all season, and it has ramped it up at home especially as it finished 16-1 at Humphrey Coliseum for the year.
Earning a double-round bye as the No. 3 seed, the Bulldogs return to action Friday at the SEC Tournament at approximately 8:30 p.m. in Little Rock, Arkansas, against the winner of the Thursday’s Game six. The tournament’s first 10 games, including the Bulldogs’ first matchup, will be televised on the SEC Network. Fans can watch the semifinals Saturday on ESPNU.