Mississippi State
1-0
Samford
0-1
No. 11 Bulldogs Open Season With 68-47 Win Against Samford
November 14, 2015 | Women's Basketball
STARKVILLE, Miss. – Dominique Dillingham recorded her first double-double with 13 points, 11 rebounds, and Jazzmun Holmes added 12 points in her debut as No. 11 Mississippi State downed Samford 68-47 Friday night at Humphrey Coliseum.
Mississippi State (1-0) won its 12th-straight season opener and 30th-consecutive home opener in front of a crowd of 6,463, the second-largest crowd in program history. Going back to last season, MSU has now averaged nearly 4,000 per contest.
The Bulldogs also claimed their 18th win in their last 19 home games going back to last season.
“Hats off to Samford. They played very poised, especially in the second half. They are well-coached and are always in the top three in their league,” Vic Schaefer, the reigning SEC Coach of the Year, said. “We are extremely young right now. (Jazzmun Holmes) played her heart out tonight. I got on her a little, and she responded how you'd like to see a pro respond. Dominique was solid. She didn't shoot it great, but she took 11 shots, which I like, and 2 of 3 from 3-point range is not a bad number, but she got 11 rebound for a double-double. I'm glad she's on my team. We are feeling fortunate to get out of there with a W.”
Schaefer's squad jumped out to the quick lead to open the contest, getting an old-fashioned 3-point play for the 3-0 lead. Samford (0-1), however, answered with an 11-1 run to take a seven-point advantage.
Jumpers from Dillingham, who was voted a team captain along with Morgan William Thursday night, and Blair Schaefer trimmed the lead to three, and moments later a Chinwe Okorie layup made it a 12-10 contest. Dillingham tied it with two free throws, and Holmes put the Bulldogs in front for good with a driving layup with 2:21 left in the opening quarter.
Ketara Chapel capped the 8-0 run with a basket that gave MSU a 16-12 lead at the end of the quarter.
State's run continued into the second quarter, where Schaefer's squad turned up the defensive intensity and put together an 18-2 run to take a 34-14 lead to the intermission. The rookie Holmes was instrumental in the run, scoring six of the team's points.
MSU pushed the lead to 21, 37-16, two minutes into the third period, but Samford responded with an 11-0 run to cut the advantage to 10 at 37-27. After seeing the advantage dwindle to nine on a 3-pointer from Amara Mayers with 2:06 left in the quarter, Dillingham answered with a triple of her own and Breanna Richardson added a layup to push the advantage back out to 14 at 44-30 with 1:25 left.
“I was just trying to give us a spark,” Dillingham said. “We were missing a lot, so I was just trying to get as many rebounds as I could.”
State entered the final period with a 46-34 lead, and sophomore Preseason All-SEC selection Victoria Vivians, who was limited to three first-half minutes with foul trouble, responded with six of her eight points.
Samford trimmed the lead to 11, 54-43, with 5:12 left, but State, behind four points each from Holmes and Vivians, went on a 10-0 run to extend the lead to 64-43 with 2:27 left.
The Bulldogs pulled out the 21-point win despite shooting only 32.5 percent (25 of 77) from the field and 2 of 20 (10 percent) from 3-point range.
State used intense defensive pressure, however, forcing 28 turnovers and scoring 34 of its 68 points off those Samford miscues.
A 22-3 edge in second-chance points also proved the difference, with the Bulldogs winning the rebounding battle 48-31, including 28 on the offensive glass.
All 11 Bulldogs who logged minutes scored points. Richardson, William, Chapel and Okorie added six points each. Schaefer added five and Teaira McCowan, Sherise Williams and LaKaris Salter added two points apiece.
Samford knocked down 42.1 percent (16 of 38) from the floor, including 7 of 18 (38.9 percent) from 3-point range.
Both teams knocked down 72.7 percent from the free-throw line, with MSU going 16 of 22 and Samford 8 of 11.
Brittany Stevens paced Samford with 13 points, while Taylor Reece and Mayers added nine points each.
The 11th-ranked Bulldogs return to action Saturday, Nov. 21, hosting Grambling in a 1 p.m. tip at Humphrey Coliseum that will be broadcast on SEC Network +.
