The Mississippi State Lady Bulldogs dropped a hard-fought contest 67-60 Sunday afternoon to the Florida Gators. With 11 total newcomers, experience has been an issue, as the team has dropped nine straight games, including its first eight SEC games.
Florida started hot and built an early 13-2 lead behind the sharpshooting of Jordan Jones, who finished with 18 points and was a perfect 6-6 from the free throw line.
The Lady Gators never relinquished the lead, although MSU did battle back valiantly. The Lady Bulldogs actually tied the game at 18-18 on a 3-pointer by Mary Kathryn Govero, who led MSU with 22 points.
Florida did stretch the lead back out to seven at one point in the first half, but only took a three-point lead into halftime. Mississippi State was 6-8 from behind the arc in the first half, which helped to keep the Dawgs in the game.
Although there have been a few blowouts this season, there have been several close, winnable games, but the Bulldogs have yet to come out on top consistently. MSU is actually 2-5 in games decided by less than 10 points. Senior leader Govero may not know the stat, but said she knows MSU needs to close the deal late in games.
“We have to take that next step. We have to learn how to finish games,” Govero said.
It is easier said than done, and the MSU women are not losing for lack of effort. They lost the rebounding battle but challenged for every board. MSU was able to steal the ball 10 times, as it played stingy defense throughout the game.
Mississippi State head coach Sharon Fanning-Otis explains why MSU keeps coming up short in close contests.
“Forty minutes of focus. We have to do whatever it takes to control a basketball game and put ourselves in position to win,” Fanning-Otis said. “Each game has a series of defining possessions, and right now, we are coming up empty on those possessions.”
As expected from a veteran coach like Fanning-Otis, it appears she is dead on. The MSU women garnered a blazing 52 percent overall field goal mark in the first half but closed the second half out with an ice-cold 28 percent field goal shooting performance.
Govero attributes the late-game offensive collapse on the self-inhibiting practice of over-complicating the offense.
“We make things too hard. We need to do what we are capable of, even late in games,” Govero said.
Besides Govero, junior Porsha Porter had an outstanding day. She scored 18 points, grabbed seven rebounds and had five steals. The quick guard finally found her 3-point stroke this season, hitting three-of-six long balls.
Junior forward Danielle Rector also had a good day for the Bulldogs. She had five points but hit a huge 3-pointer late to cut the Florida lead to three with 30 seconds left. Her basket proved to be State’s last points.
Besides Jones, Florida has Azania Stewart and Ndidi Madu in double figures with 19 and 10, respectively. Azania also contributed on defense with three blocks and several altered shots, a stat not found on the score sheet, proving to be a difficult matchup for MSU in the post.
Mississippi State’s next opponent is Alabama at Tuscaloosa on Thursday. Alabama is coming off of an 82-69 defeat at the hands of Kentucky and is also winless in the SEC.