No. 4 Mississippi State beats Alabama

STARKVILLE, Miss.—Mississippi State's Victoria Vivians and Teaira McCowan scored a bunch of points and grabbed a bunch of rebounds, just like they do almost every game.

But coach Vic Schaefer said some hard-nosed defense from backup guards Jazzmun Holmes and Jordan Danberry was the catalyst that led No. 4 Mississippi State to a 75-61 victory over Alabama on Sunday.

"Jazz and Jordan came in during that second quarter and really made a difference," Schaefer said. "They played extremely well and impacted the game."

Mississippi State (19-0, 5- 0, Southeastern Conference) earned its 11th straight victory by double digits, but this one was more difficult than most.

Alabama (13-5, 3-2) recovered from a shaky first few minutes to take a surprising 20-16 lead at the end of the first quarter. Hannah Cook hit a pair of 3-pointers to jump-start the Crimson Tide's offense.

A frustrated Schaefer inserted Holmes and Danberry into the game, and that's when things started to turn around. The duo helped force 10 Alabama turnovers during the second quarter as the Bulldogs rallied for a 44-29 lead by halftime.

"It's hard to be 19-0 in this league," Schaefer said. "We've played an incredibly tough schedule, but you know what, we've played it with some incredibly tough kids."

Vivians scored 21 points while McCowan had 19 points and 16 rebounds for her SEC-leading 14th double-double. Vivians scored in double figures for the 18th time in 19 games this season. Roshunda Johnson added 14 points.

Vivians said she wasn't surprised that some of the team's best moments on Sunday came when backups were on the floor.

"We feel like the starters can take a break, other people can come in and make the game better," Vivians said.

Alabama was led by Cook, who scored 25 points on 8 of 10 shooting from the field, including 5 of 5 from 3-point range. Jasmine Walker added 10 points. The Crimson Tide was hurt by 26 turnovers.

"There are no moral victories, but our kids fought their butts off," Alabama coach Kristy Curry said.

Associated Press Alabama forward Quanetria Bolton (1) tries to keep the ball away from Mississippi State guard Victoria Vivians (35) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Sunday in Starkville, Miss.