The Mississippi State Lady Bulldogs (10-7, 1-2 SEC) barely limped away from a 77-50 drumming by the No. 5-ranked Louisiana State Lady Tigers (16-2, 2-1 SEC) Sunday evening at the Humphrey Coliseum.Both teams started off with sloppy and erratic play. There were four lead changes in the starting minutes, but MSU would last lead by one with 17:24 to go in the first half before LSU pulled away for good.
The Lady Tigers capitalized on a 12-minute MSU scoring drought and soon jumped out to a 23-5 lead. The score was 33-19 at the end of the first half.
“They were crashing the boards hard,” sophomore guard Marneshia Richard said. “Sylvia Fowles probably had about 10 rebounds herself. We were not getting matched up down the courts, so they got open shots.”
All-American/All-SEC forward Sylvia Fowles ended the first half with seven points and eight rebounds. The Lady Tigers out-rebounded State 25-13 and had 13 second-chance points to State’s 2. They also added 14 points off the bench.
The Lady Bulldogs only shot 28 percent from the field and went cold from behind the arc, going 0-for-7.
Concerned that her girls were playing intimidated, Fanning went with a different lineup to begin the second half.
“I felt the group that was starting the game was not playing focused,” Fanning said. “We were questioning ourselves and some younger players. I decided to go with that group in the second half because they played more confident, communicated better and found some decent shots.”
They Lady Bulldogs did play better in the second half in some areas.
They shot 50 percent from the arc, but all in all the Lady Tigers – coming off a loss to cross-state rival Ole Miss – were too hungry and too determined not to lose. They dominated the Dawgs to a 77-50 final.
Out-rebounding State 45-27 and earning 40 points in the paint to State’s 20, the Lady Tigers controlled the game and led by as much as 32 points in the second half.
Fowles finished the game with 16 points and 11 rebounds for a well-earned double-double.
LSU coach Pokey Chatman was surprisingly critical of her team despite the impressive victory, saying that her team was still not as intense as she had hoped.
Most of that, though, she credited to the effort of the Bulldogs.
“It’s nice to come in here and play relatively well against a Mississippi State team that has played well of late,” Chatman said. “Mississippi State is moving in the right direction.
“To come in here and get a quality win is something we desperately needed,” she added.