Two different Mississippi State Lady Bulldogs teams showed up last Monday night against UC-Santa Barbara. Fortunately the good State team played better than the bad State team and the Lady Dogs were able to hold off the Gouchos for a 69-62 win at Humphrey Coliseum.
Mississippi State ran out to a 21 point halftime lead but lost almost all of that in the second half before steadying the ship at the end of the game to hold on.
Head coach Sharon Fanning blamed the team’s loss of intensity and focus in the second half for the UCSB comeback.
“We just didn’t play with intensity in the second half,” Fanning said. “We were complacent. We didn’t do what we needed to do defensively. Sometimes when you get a big lead, mentally you just relax.”
The Lady Dogs started the game on fire and continued that way for the entire first half. They jumped out to a 23-6 lead at the twelve minute mark as they surprised the taller Gouchos with their defensive and rebounding intensity.
State held Santa Barbara’s All-American candidate Kristen Mann to 7 points on 2-11 shooting.
The much smaller Lady Dogs also held the rebounding margin in the first half as they took a 41-20 lead into the halftime break.
Fanning called the first half of the game one of the best halves the Lady Dogs have played all year.
“If we can play like that the whole game, we will find a way to win,” Fanning said.
The second half was a completely different game. While the Lady Dogs had won the rebounding margin in the first
half 21-19 over the much bigger Gouchos, they were out-rebounded 30-13 in the second half.
Mississippi State still held a 61-42 lead when Ebonie Ferguson hit a three-pointer with 9:33 remaining in the game. MSU would hit only one more field goal for the next seven minutes.
UCSB went on a 14-2 run over the next seven minutes to close the lead to 63-56 with 3:13 left. Mississippi State called a timeout to settle down and Tan White made sure that the timeout was worth it.
The Wooden Award candidate had been having a terrible second half up to that point. After scoring 11 points in the first half on 5-7 shooting, she had only three points in the second half. However, all of that was to be forgotten.
She worked her way in the paint, received a pass, and laid the ball in with 2:49 remaining to stop the run. Follow that with a jumper in the lane by Blessing Chekwa and the Lady Dogs had dodged a bullet and held on to the victory.
Ebonie Ferguson and Mamie McKinney both picked up the slack when White stumbled in the second half. Both scored career highs, Ferguson with 13 points, and McKinney with 16. White finished with 17 points. UCSB’s Mann finished with 19 points and 12 rebounds.
Fanning said she was encouraged by the fact that other players stepped up when White wasn’t at her best.
“We’ve been seeing more of that recently,” Fanning said. “Everybody’s got to play in the SEC. If you are depending on one person, it’s not going to happen. But if we play hard as a team and help each other out and work together we’ll find a way to win.”
The Reflector
Two different Mississippi State Lady Bulldogs teams showed up last Monday night against UC-Santa Barbara. Fortunately the good State team played better than the bad State team and the Lady Dogs were able to hold off the Gouchos for a 69-62 win at Humphrey Coliseum.
Mississippi State ran out to a 21 point halftime lead but lost almost all of that in the second half before steadying the ship at the end of the game to hold on.
Head coach Sharon Fanning blamed the team’s loss of intensity and focus in the second half for the UCSB comeback.
“We just didn’t play with intensity in the second half,” Fanning said. “We were complacent. We didn’t do what we needed to do defensively. Sometimes when you get a big lead, mentally you just relax.”
The Lady Dogs started the game on fire and continued that way for the entire first half. They jumped out to a 23-6 lead at the twelve minute mark as they surprised the taller Gouchos with their defensive and rebounding intensity.
State held Santa Barbara’s All-American candidate Kristen Mann to 7 points on 2-11 shooting.
The much smaller Lady Dogs also held the rebounding margin in the first half as they took a 41-20 lead into the halftime break.
Fanning called the first half of the game one of the best halves the Lady Dogs have played all year.
“If we can play like that the whole game, we will find a way to win,” Fanning said.
The second half was a completely different game. While the Lady Dogs had won the rebounding margin in the first
half 21-19 over the much bigger Gouchos, they were out-rebounded 30-13 in the second half.
Mississippi State still held a 61-42 lead when Ebonie Ferguson hit a three-pointer with 9:33 remaining in the game. MSU would hit only one more field goal for the next seven minutes.
UCSB went on a 14-2 run over the next seven minutes to close the lead to 63-56 with 3:13 left. Mississippi State called a timeout to settle down and Tan White made sure that the timeout was worth it.
The Wooden Award candidate had been having a terrible second half up to that point. After scoring 11 points in the first half on 5-7 shooting, she had only three points in the second half. However, all of that was to be forgotten.
She worked her way in the paint, received a pass, and laid the ball in with 2:49 remaining to stop the run. Follow that with a jumper in the lane by Blessing Chekwa and the Lady Dogs had dodged a bullet and held on to the victory.
Ebonie Ferguson and Mamie McKinney both picked up the slack when White stumbled in the second half. Both scored career highs, Ferguson with 13 points, and McKinney with 16. White finished with 17 points. UCSB’s Mann finished with 19 points and 12 rebounds.
Fanning said she was encouraged by the fact that other players stepped up when White wasn’t at her best.
“We’ve been seeing more of that recently,” Fanning said. “Everybody’s got to play in the SEC. If you are depending on one person, it’s not going to happen. But if we play hard as a team and help each other out and work together we’ll find a way to win.”