The Mississippi State Lady Bulldogs broke the 90-point mark again in their second game as they defeated the Northwestern State Lady Demons 99-75 Sunday at Humphrey Coliseum.
“We had four players in double figures. We’d like to see five if we could, but there were several others that were knocking on the door. That is good balance and good from our bench. I like our assist-turnover-ratio. This is the second game in a row where we had 20 assists. That is a great stat for us,” MSU head coach Sharon Fanning said.
The Lady Bulldogs started off sluggishly, until a three-pointer by Alexis Rack with 9:12 to go in the first half put them up 22-21 and gave them the lead for good. After going into halftime up 44-37, the Lady Bulldogs went on an 18-7 run to blow open the game.
“Our objective is to play all 40 minutes of a game and you can’t become complacent. So I was just really disappointed with our teamwork and our communication on the floor,” Fanning said. “I was pleased that we regained our momentum and put our foot down. However, you shouldn’t be in a position to have to do that.”
Junior Armelie Lumanu led the scoring for the Lady Bulldogs, scoring 24 points and also bringing down seven rebounds. Junior Chanel Mokango added 19 points and seven rebounds and tied a school record with six blocked shots.
“The first half I didn’t get a chance to get the ball down low and play, but by the second half when the ball was rotating and they give me space that is when I got the ball and scored. When I get my space I usually score a lot,” Mokango said.
Senior forward Donnisha Tate scored 11 points and led the team with nine rebounds. Senior guard Robin Porter scored 10 points and blocked three points off the bench.
Fanning specifically complemented freshman Diamber Johnson’s play. Johnson, playing in only her second game as Lady Bulldog, had five points and three assists from the bench.
As a team, the Lady Bulldogs blocked 11 shots, won the rebounding margin 45-32, and had 20 assists and only 12 turnovers. The Lady Bulldogs scored more than 90 points for the second time in as many games, after only doing so three times in all of last season.
“We tried to come out and bring more intensity in the second half than we did in the first half,” Rack said. “I was pleased with our second half game more than our first half.”
Sophomore guard Brooke Shepherd led the Lady Demons in scoring with 20 points and also led her team with seven rebounds. Freshman guard Demetria White added 17 points. Sophomore forward Jessica McPhail had 10 points and junior forward Sherrion Thomas added 11 points off the bench.
The Lady Bulldogs will continue their season against the Mississippi Valley State Devilettes of the Southwestern Athletic Conference today at 7 p.m. at Humphrey Coliseum.
The Devilettes are currently 0-1, losing at Georgia Tech 72-37 Saturday. The Devilettes’ roster includes senior center Michelle Messaga, a preseason Second Team All-SWAC selection, and freshman guard Kanesha Smith, who led the Devilettes against Georgia Tech with 10 points and six rebounds. The Lady Bulldogs are 10-2 alltime against the Devilettes.