Mississippi State
18-4 (5-3SEC)
#19 Tennessee
12-8 (3-4SEC)
No. 13 Bulldogs Rally For Program's First Win Against Tennessee
January 29, 2016 | Women's Basketball
STARKVILLE, Miss. – Mississippi State saved its best for last Thursday night and added another piece of history.
Rallying from a 12-point second-half deficit, No. 13 MSU knocked off No. 19 Tennessee 65-63 in overtime in a Southeastern Conference women's basketball thriller.
MSU knocked off Tennessee for the first time in 37 series meetings, four days removed from setting a program record with 10,626 fans against No. 2 South Carolina on Sunday.
With the win, MSU moved into a two-way tie for third place in the conference standings at 18-4 overall and 5-3 in league play. Tennessee fell to 12-8 and 3-4. The Bulldogs officially completed the first-half of their league schedule Thursday night, with five of their final eight league games on the road.
“What a tremendous basketball game,” MSU head coach Vic Schaefer said. “It was a tremendous game, tremendous effort, tremendous atmosphere. In the third quarter, we were awful. In the fourth quarter, you saw us play 10 minutes of match-up (zone). We stopped the dribble penetration and they made one basket in that quarter.
“Very proud of the kids. Everything they shot (in the fourth quarter) was contested. Tennessee is a monster rebounding team. They had six live ball rebounds. Two games in a row we have done a great job of rebounding against teams with really good size.”
MSU followed Sunday's record attendance with another strong crowd of 5,710 helped the Maroon and White continue to build one of the nation's best home-court advantages.
MSU placed four players in double figures. Dominique Dillingham and Victoria Vivians each had 14 points to pace the Bulldogs. Morgan William added 11 points, while Chinwe Okorie added 10 points. Okorie also had a team-high eight rebounds, while William dished out a game-best seven assists – matching her most in a conference game this season.
“We are realizing that we are never out of a game,” Dillingham said. “It does a lot of confidence for this team to be able to beat Tennessee. It means a lot to win the game in overtime because we lost some of those games last season.”
In the overtime period, the Bulldogs took a 61-58 lead on an old-fashioned 3-point play by Vivians. Tennessee battled back for a one-point lead before a jumper from Okorie gave the Bulldogs the lead for good a 63-62 with 1:53 left. A basket by William stretched the lead. Still, MSU held off Tennessee when a last-second shot fell short.
In an entertaining and competitive first half, Tennessee built an early 10-4 lead. The Bulldogs followed with six straight points as Dillingham tied the contest with a basket. The Bulldogs then took the lead and held that lead at 17-16 after one quarter.
Tennessee pulled even at halftime at 33 apiece when Jordan Reynolds rammed home a 3-point basket as time expired.
In the third quarter, MSU was held to 15 percent shooting from the field (3 of 20). Tennessee used an 8-0 run to build a 12-point lead.
In the final quarter, the matchup-zone did the trick as Tennessee was held to a season-low three points. The Lady Volunteers hit 1 of 8 shots from the field and turned the ball over five times.
Vivians brought the Bulldogs within 57-51 with 5:41 left. William then rammed home a critical 3-point basket to bring the hosts within two with 3:14 left.
Vivians capped the rally with a pair of free throws to tie the contest with 1:54 left. She would then miss an off-balanced 3-point shot attempt as regulation time expired.
For the contest, MSU hit 24 of 73 shots from the field (32.9 percent), 3 of 16 shots from 3-point range (18.8 percent) and 14 of 20 shots from the foul line (70.0 percent). Tennessee hit 24 of 55 shots from the field (43.6 percent), 3 of 8 shots from 3-point range (37.5 percent) and 12 of 20 shots from the foul line (60.0 percent).
MSU held a 46-42 rebounding advantage. The Bulldogs had 12 assists and a season-low five turnovers, while the Lady Volunteers had nine assists and 14 turnovers.
“It was tremendous toughness by our team,” Schaefer said. “They kept battling. They found a way to win. We didn't worry about the history (of the series) because we haven't been here (for those games). We just focused on the task at hand and found a way to win.”
Tennessee received 15 points from Reynolds, 11 points from Andraya Carter and 11 points from Te'a Cooper. Reynolds had a double-double as she pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds. Mercedes Russell added 10 rebounds.
Mississippi State held Tennessee's leading scorer, Diamond DeShields, to just three points on 1 of 4 shooting.
MSU kicks off the second half of its conference schedule by playing at Arkansas Sunday. The Bulldogs and Razorbacks tip at 2 p.m. from Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The game will be available nationally on SEC Network +.
MSU is back in the Humphrey Coliseum Feb. 7 for a 2 p.m. tip against Missouri.
