The Lady Bulldogs’ late comeback fell short Sunday afternoon against the Arkansas Razorbacks as the team fell 56-61. In their SEC home opener, the girls trailed by as many as 17 before cutting the deficit to three with a minute remaining, but two Razorback free throws sealed the win.
The goal looked small in the first half for the Bulldogs as they shot just 20 percent from the field and 9.1 percent from three-point range. Another struggle for the Bulldogs was maintaining possession of the ball. MSU committed 15 turnovers in just the first 20 minutes of play, which led to several fast break points for Arkansas. Coach Sharon Fanning-Otis said Arkansas is one of the many teams who is quick enough to press and half court trap, so the Bulldogs have to get used to that style of play.
“You have to penetrate before somebody traps, or you have to pull away, reverse the ball and then attack it,” Fanning-Otis said. “It’s going to have to be seams, and you have to have the courage to go in there; it takes courage to attack.”
When the shots were not falling in the first half, State’s defense slacked as well. Fanning-Otis said that a mature team will find ways to keep its energy high even when its shots are not falling.
Junior Diamber Johnson also noticed this struggle for the girls.
“That’s one problem we have is taking off on defense when we’re not doing well offensively,” Johnson said. “That’s something we’ve got to work on.”
A bright spot for the Bulldogs was the play of freshman Katia May. May finished with a team-high 12 points and added three rebounds. Johnson chipped in 10 points while senior Mary Kathryn Govero and junior Ashley Brown added nine points each.
The No. 25 Razorbacks, who moved to 14-1 overall, were led by sophomore Sarah Watkins, who finished with a game-high 21 points and six rebounds.
However, a scary moment occurred for Arkansas when forward Ashley Daniels went down hard and remained down for about 10 minutes until she was taken off the court on a stretcher. Both teams combined to pray for Daniels during this scary incident.
After this, the Razorbacks let the Bulldogs back into the game but never relinquished the lead. Fanning-Otis credits Arkansas’ athleticism for their success.
“They have great experience now that they have players who have played together, and they’re long and quick,” Fanning-Otis said. “They take the ball to the hole, they can shoot the 3, and they have players in multiple positions that play their roles really well.”
For Mississippi State, this season has been marked by outstanding defensive efforts, as opponents are scoring just 54.7 points a game, which ranks 33rd nationally.
The Bulldogs lead the SEC and are ranked 16th nationally in field goal percentage defense as opposing teams shoot only 34.1 percent against it.
However, the Bulldogs must continue to improve with each game as the girls have not played together very long. Eleven of the 14 girls are new to the team this year. Govero, who is in her fourth season with the Lady Bulldogs, is no longer the only senior on the team. Ashley Newsome is making her Bulldog basketball debut this year after playing four years on the State volleyball team. Juniors Brown and Porsha Porter both transferred from Jefferson College and are starting for State this season.
Fanning-Otis recognizes this need for a greater connection among the girls.
“We don’t know each other as a team,” Fanning-Otis said. “The main thing is that we become more stubborn and tougher, practice harder and learn; we have to be tougher and play harder, and if we do that and learn the game, then we will find ways to win ball games.”
The Lady Bulldogs will have a chance to improve on its efforts this Thursday as it hosts the LSU Tigers at 7 p.m. This game will be televised regionally by Fox Sports South.