The Mississippi State Lady Bulldogs won their last two SEC games to finish the conference season with a winning record for the first time since 2003.
On Thursday, junior forward Chanel Mokango’s 13 points led the Lady Bulldogs to a 58-41 win over the South Carolina Lady Gamecocks at Humphrey Coliseum.
“South Carolina is a scrappy basketball team,” MSU head coach Sharon Fanning said. “In terms of rebounding, they beat us. We did not do a good job of playing as a team and attacking.”
Both teams got off to a slow start in the first half. Junior guard Alexis Rack, senior forward Robin Porter and junior guard Armelie Lumanu, three of the Lady Bulldogs’ four leading scorers this season, were all held to zero points, and the Lady Bulldogs led 20-19 at halftime.
The second half got off to a slow start as well, but Rack’s layup with 16:39 to go gave the Lady Bulldogs a 24-22 lead that they held until the end of the game.
Porter said the team was frustrated with its inability to hit shots in the first half.
“But we kept our heads up and come out the second half, stepped it up and played,” she said.
Rack scored 11 points for the Lady Bulldogs. Sophomore guard Mary Kathryn Govero and senior forward Donnisha Tate added nine and eight points, respectively, off the bench. Both earned praise from Fanning.
“I thought [Tate] did a nice job for us off the bench tonight. I thought [Govero] got some good minutes of the bench. Those two really helped our energy tonight,” Fanning said. “You have to communicate as a team and I think we did that in this game.”
Freshman guard Lakeisha Sutton led the Lady Gamecocks with 14 points. Freshman guard Tonia Williams scored 10 points off the bench. The loss dropped the Lady Gamecocks to 10-16 (2-11 SEC).
South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley said her team failed to hit shots and had too many turnovers.
“With 23 turnovers, you are not going to win many basketball games,” she said.
Sunday, a 19-0 run broke open a close game as the Lady Bulldogs defeated the Alabama Crimson Tide 67-49.
The Crimson Tide jumped out to a 10-0 lead in the first half, but the Lady Bulldogs were able to tie it at 13 on Rack’s jumper. A late three-pointer gave the Crimson Tide a 30-26 lead at halftime.
“We challenged them at the half,” Fanning said. “We knew coming in Alabama was going to play with everything they have. They can shoot the basketball. In this game, they made some early shots and we didn’t. That allowed them to play with more confidence.”
In the second half, the Crimson Tide extended its lead to 41-35 with 14:25 remaining, but did score again until sophomore forward Tierney Jenkins’ free throw with 5:52 remaining. By that time, the Lady Bulldogs had increased their score to 54. The Lady Bulldogs were able to keep a double-digit lead until the final buzzer.
“In the second half, our energy level really picked up,” Fanning said. “Our defense was better and we rebounded much better. We knocked down some shots and that changed the outlook of the game.”
Rack led the Bulldogs with 19 points. Mokango added eight points, and Govero scored 14 points off the bench.
The Crimson Tide were led by freshman guard Ericka Russell’s 12 points, and junior guard Dedrea Magee scored eight points and brought down nine rebounds. With the loss, the Crimson Tide fell to 13-16 (1-13 SEC).
Alabama head coach Wendell Hudson said the Tide didn’t give the effort they needed in the second half.
“I know it has been hard on them to lose games and not win that many SEC games,” she said. “If we don’t give maximum effort then we don’t have a chance.”
With the win, the Lady Bulldogs finish the regular season at 21-8 (8-6 SEC) and sixth place in the conference. They will begin play at the SEC Tournament Thursday at the Alltel Arena in North Little Rock, Ark., at 9 p.m.
The Lady Bulldogs’ first round opponent is South Carolina. If they win Thursday, their opponent will be the LSU Lady Tigers, a team they have already defeated twice this season, Friday at 9 p.m.
If the Lady Bulldogs were to beat LSU, they would play Saturday at 8 p.m. against Kentucky, Georgia or Vanderbilt. The championship game, televised by ESPN2, will be played Sunday at 6:30 p.m.