Bulldogs secure third-straight win on the road over Lady Volunteers
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – It wasn’t until 2016 that the Mississippi State women’s basketball program enjoyed the sweet taste of victory against the mighty Tennessee Lady Volunteers and in 2017, it won for the first time at Knoxville’s Thompson-boling Arena.
History continued for the No. 8 Bulldogs on Thursday night as the Bulldogs continued recent success over one of college sports’ most successful programs.
After losing the first 36 games in the series, MSU has now won seven of the last eight in the series against the Lady Vols. The latest was a 72-55 victory on Thursday where the Bulldogs had to grind things out against a tough defensive Tennessee club and finished strong in the second half.
The victory was the thirdstraight in Knoxville for MSU and it made the Bulldogs the first team in the history of Southeastern Conference basketball to win three-straight at Tennessee.
“It’s still hard to win (in Knoxville),” Schaefer said. “I guess we’re trying to even things up after a long, long drought. I give credit to my players. Once we broke through, it’s like my dad always said, ‘they put their pants on just like we do.’”
The No. 23 Lady Vols (17-6, 7-3) contended with the Bulldogs defensively for most of the game but couldn’t overcome the loss of All-southeastern Conference guard Rennia Davis who was out. Davis was still recovering from the flu and did not play in the game leaving a void over 18 points and eight rebounds a game.
In her absence, MSU held Tennessee to just 36% shooting and forced 23 turnovers. State also stayed within striking distance on the boards losing that stat 40-39 against the SEC’S best rebounding team.
There was adversity to overcome for the Bulldogs in the game as well as starting center Jessika Carter was getting in foul trouble. She picked up two fouls in the first quarter and had three in the first half. Junior college transfer Yemiyah Morris had to step in and provided 20 minutes with 11 points and six rebounds.
Her four fouls kept her from getting any more production and was something she feels she should improve.
“That gave me a lot more confidence,” Morris said of her performance. “I just have to be ready to play next time and stay ready.”
With Carter’s foul trouble came a few lapses in the first quarter. Even without Davis on the floor, the Lady Vols were able to jump out to a 21-19 lead in the opening quarter. State came out in the second quarter with a much different intensity surrendering just four points in the first nine minutes of the quarter and taking a 13-point lead.
“When we first came out in the first quarter, we weren’t aggressive on defense,” Bulldog point guard Myah Taylor said. “We picked it up the rest of the way. If we can start out aggressive, this team can go really far.”
MSU led 38-30 at halftime and the lead never got closer than six points the rest of the game. The close to the game was even more impressive to Schaefer as the Bulldogs pushed the lead out to as much as 22 points in the final minute as Morris played in the final 8 minutes.
Schaefer continued to put more trust in players like Morris and freshmen Jamya-mingo Young and Aliyah Matharu. Rickea Jackson also played the most minutes in the game at 34 and scored 14 points and pulled down five rebounds though she struggled from the field at 5-for-18.
“I’m playing so many young kids so many minutes in big minutes,” Schaefer said. “They’re not scared and they’re good players. We’re really young and there’s days I want to throw the crayons and coloring books out because we’re so young, inexperienced and mature, but they can play.”
Chloe Bibby put together a 13-point night and shot 6-for-12 as she kept MSU afloat in the first quarter with her nine points. Jordan Danberry had 11 points and had five steals in the win.
With the victory, the Bulldogs continue to at least stay within striking distance for the SEC title behind No. 1 South Carolina, which remains undefeated in the conference. MSU (21-3, 9-1) will have another test on Sunday at noon when it takes on No. 16 Texas A&M at Humphrey Coliseum.