MSU gets nip and tuck victory over Big 12 foe

Sunday’s SEC/Big 12 Challenge between No. 6 Mississippi State and Oklahoma State felt more like a conference game to Bulldog head coach Vic Schaefer.

Competition was at a fever pitch for four quarters as the game went down to the wire, but MSU was able to sneak out with a quality non-conference win 79-76.

“That was a heck of a game,” Schaefer said. “I knew going in that (Oklahoma State) was going to be ready. That’s the way that program is and how that staff gets them ready. I was proud of our resilience (Sunday). The reason we won the game was because of our toughness.”

It was the battle of the senior guards on Sunday with MSU’s Victoria Vivians tallying a season-high 30 points and eight rebounds.

“The whole time in practice, I felt like I was in attack mode,” Vivians said. “I stayed in attack mode for the game and my teammates were getting me the ball.”

Vivians was only bested by Oklahoma State’s Loryn Goodwin, who notched 35 points in an impressive 40-minute stretch and secured a double-double with her 10 rebounds. She shot 13 of 29 from the field in the losing effort.

“I really just want to win,” Goodwin said. “I’ve got to knock down more shots. We fought back, but we still have a lot of things to get better at moving on to the rest of the season.”

The Bulldogs (8-0) also had double-digit scoring from Roshunda Johnson. The transfer from Oklahoma State had 18 points against her former team and five rebounds, four of which came on the offensive boards. Morgan William scored 15 points in the game.

MSU took advantage from the foul line going 26 of 34 from the charity stripe.

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