A Doceide Warren 3-pointer with 12:35 to play Sunday sparked an
11-2 run for the Lady Bulldogs and led a come-from-behind win for
the No. 11 Mississippi State (22-6, 10-4) women over Auburn (17-10,
5-9). MSU trailed 29-28 at the half, but pulled out the win
65-56.
The MSU win marked the first time since 1979 that the Lady
Bulldogs have won at Auburn. And with the victory, MSU finished the
regular season with it’s most ever wins (22), most SEC wins (10)
and highest SEC finish (tie for third).
LaToya Thomas once again led the Lady Bulldogs, posting her 45th
career double-double with 21 points and 11 rebounds. Thomas made
seven of nine free throws on the afternoon, and moved into a tie
for first place on the SEC career free throws made list with 681
made.
Warren finished the game as the only other Bulldog in double
figures with 13 points. Jessica Carter helped to spark the
Bulldogs, making three of four 3-point attempts to finish with nine
points. Blessing Chekwa and Tan White both finished with eight
points.
Nicole Louden and Mandisa Stevenson both finished with 10 points
to lead the home standing Tigers.
The Tigers led by as many as seven points during the course of
the second half, but the Lady Bulldogs took the lead on Carter’s
first 3-pointer of the game with 9:30 left to play. During the
first half the two teams traded the lead several times with neither
leading by more than four points.
With the final regular season game in the books, the Lady
Bulldogs will travel to Little Rock, Ark., for the SEC Women’s
Tournament. Their 10-4 conference record earned MSU a tie for
third, a No. 4 seeding in the tournament and a first round bye.
The No. 4 Lady Bulldogs will first be in action Friday night at
6 p.m. when they take on the winner of No. 5 South Carolina (21-6,
9-5) and No. 12 Mississippi (12-15, 1-13).
The Lady Bulldogs lost on the road to USC 83-79 in the only
meeting of the year on Jan. 9. MSU swept the series with
cross-state rival Mississippi beating the Rebels 69-60 in Oxford
Jan. 19 and 70-62 in Starkville Feb. 23.
MSU’s first round contest, as well as all first and second and
semifinal round games, will be televised on Fox Sports South.
Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. at ALLTEL Arena in Little Rock, Ark.