The Mississippi State Lady Bulldogs sought to put the disappointing Tennessee game behind them, as they took on two more SEC foes, Arkansas on Thursday and Florida on Sunday.
It nearly worked.
While the Bulldog men were holding off a late rally by Arkansas at the Hump Thursday night, the Lady Dawgs were running away with their own game against the Razorbacks in Fayetteville, winning comfortably 78-60. However in what is becoming a trend this season, MSU started off slow before turning up the heat on their rival.
Once again, the matchup could best be described as a tale of two halves. In the first, both MSU and UA struggled with their shots as both posted field goal percentages in the twenties, with MSU shooting a dismal 12 percent from outside the arc – normally one of their strengths.
State jumped to an early 8-0 lead on shots by junior forward Mary Kathryn Govero and senior center Rima Kalonda, before a jumper by UA’s Charity Ford put the Lady Razorbacks on top 13-14 eleven minutes into the contest. From there the teams would trade the lead back and forth until the half when MSU led 26-20.
State opened the second half by going on a 23-10 run that sealed the Razorbacks’ fate. The Dawgs found their groove, improving to 67 percent from three-point range and 63 percent from the field. Senior forward Chanel Mokango led with 19 points, Govero put up 16, and senior guards Alexis Rack and Armelie Lumanu added 15 points each.
MSU head coach Sharon Fanning-Otis said she felt good about the team going into the game with Florida on Sunday. But another slow start put MSU down 23-20 at the half in one of their poorest offensive performances of the season.
True to recent form, MSU made a run in the second half, as a Govero three-pointer gave MSU the lead two minutes in. Sophomore guard Diamber Johnson and Alexis Rack began to finally get penetration and create opportunities for State, who ran off an 18-9 run to take a 38-32 lead midway through the final half.
But missed free throws, unforced turnovers and frustration among key players began to mount, and a steady Gators team slowly caught up, until a jumper by Trumae Lucas put Florida back on top for good. Tight defense and a late run of treys by Rack pulled the Dawgs to within three, but MSU ran out of time to complete a comeback.
Rack led the team with 16 points, and three other Dawgs put up ten, including Lumanu who set a new career mark with 14 rebounds, and recorded her third double-double of the season.
Florida head coach Amanda Butler said it was the kind of ugly game her team needed against a team as talented as Mississippi State.
“This is a huge win for us, coming into a tough place to play against a great team,” she said. “We strive for ugliness. It has to be ugly, a game that’s on the floor or up around the rim. That’s how we’re good.”
Fanning-Otis said the game was marked by a lack of communication and missed opportunities.
“We just didn’t play as smooth a game as we had to,” she said. “We missed a bunch of layups, right there around the bucket – something easy. The free throw line, you can’t go 6 of 14 and beat a lot of people. We got to the free throw line enough to win a game.”
Govero expressed her disappointment in the slow starts of late.
“I don’t really know exactly why we always come out with the slow start,” she said. “But we’re going to have to find a way to take what we’re doing in the second half and bring it for 40 minutes.”
State takes the court next on Thursday, at Oxford against Ole Miss, with tipoff at 7 p.m.