Sunday, December 18
Los Angeles, Calif.
3:00 PM
Mississippi State
at
USC
No. 5 MSU, USC Meet Sunday For Women Of Troy Classic Title
December 17, 2016 | Women's Basketball
STARKVILLE, Miss. – No. 5 Mississippi State women's basketball vies for its third tournament title of the season as it faces host Southern California for the Women of Troy Classic Championship Sunday afternoon.
The contest tips at 3 p.m. CT from the Galen Center. A live video stream of the game can be found at pac-12.com/live, while WKBB-FM 100.9 will have the radio broadcast in the Golden Triangle and surrounding areas.
An audio stream of the contest will be available at hailstate.com/plus and the TuneIn app by searching for Mississippi State.
The Bulldogs seek to add another tournament title after winning the Maine Tipoff Tournament and Rainbow Wahine Showdown earlier this season.
MSU earned the championship opportunity after an impressive 91-42 win against SMU in Friday's opener in Los Angeles.
That victory improved the Bulldogs to 11-0 on the season, the third-best start to a campaign in program history. USC moved to 8-1 after defeating Grambling 75-64 in Friday's opening game.
Blair Schaefer paced five Bulldogs in double figures with a career-high 18 points. Victoria Vivians and Roshunda Johnson tallied 13 points each, while Morgan William added 11 and Chinwe Okorie 10.
Sunday's game caps an eight-game, month-long road trip. The Bulldogs return home Tuesday to wrap the pre-Christmas slate against Alabama State at 7 p.m.
SERIES vs. USC
ABOUT USC
NEXT UP FOR THE DAWGS
BULLDOG BITES
The contest tips at 3 p.m. CT from the Galen Center. A live video stream of the game can be found at pac-12.com/live, while WKBB-FM 100.9 will have the radio broadcast in the Golden Triangle and surrounding areas.
An audio stream of the contest will be available at hailstate.com/plus and the TuneIn app by searching for Mississippi State.
The Bulldogs seek to add another tournament title after winning the Maine Tipoff Tournament and Rainbow Wahine Showdown earlier this season.
MSU earned the championship opportunity after an impressive 91-42 win against SMU in Friday's opener in Los Angeles.
That victory improved the Bulldogs to 11-0 on the season, the third-best start to a campaign in program history. USC moved to 8-1 after defeating Grambling 75-64 in Friday's opening game.
Blair Schaefer paced five Bulldogs in double figures with a career-high 18 points. Victoria Vivians and Roshunda Johnson tallied 13 points each, while Morgan William added 11 and Chinwe Okorie 10.
Sunday's game caps an eight-game, month-long road trip. The Bulldogs return home Tuesday to wrap the pre-Christmas slate against Alabama State at 7 p.m.
SERIES vs. USC
- Sunday's meeting will be just the second time the two teams have faced off.
- The only other meeting came in the 2009 Paradise Jam, a game the Trojans won 64-60.
ABOUT USC
- USC enters Sunday's game 8-1 on the season with a 75-64 win against Grambling on Friday. That victory improved the Trojans to 4-0 on the year in the Galen Center.
- The Trojans shoot 47.4% from the field and 39.3% from 3-point range. USC shoots 67.8% from the free-throw line.
- Kristen Simon leads the Trojans in scoring and rebounding with 16.1 ppg and 10.2 rpg. Simon had 15 points and 12 rebounds against Grambling.
- Minyon Moore also averages double figures with 12.7 ppg.
NEXT UP FOR THE DAWGS
- The Bulldogs return home to wrap the non-conference slate, hosting Alabama State Dec. 20 and Northwestern State Dec. 28.
BULLDOG BITES
- Mississippi State seeks its third tournament title of the season when it faces host USC in the Women of Troy Classic championship game.
- State opened with a 91-42 win against SMU, improving to 11-0 on the season. The 11-straight wins to begin the year is tied for third-most in school history.
- The Bulldogs are the only undefeated team in the SEC and one of 11 nationally. State is one of only three teams in the Top 10 of the NCAA RPI (UConn and Utah) without a loss.
- Mississippi State has won 39 of its last 40 regular-season non-conference games going back to 2014-15. That tally includes 19-straight victories. The only loss came last season at Texas.
- Mississippi State remained No. 5 in both the Associated Press and USA Today polls. The No. 5 ranking is the highest in school history. State in No. 4 in the NCAA RPI following Friday.
- State allowed its second-fewest points this season on Friday. MSU has held five opponents below 50 points and 10 below 60 this season. State is fourth in the SEC and 26th nationally in scoring defense, allowing 54.0 ppg.
- Friday's 91 points was MSU's second-most this season. State is third in the SEC and 27th in Division I in scoring, tallying 79.5 ppg on the year.
- MSU shot 50% or better for the second-straight game and fifth time this season. The Bulldogs have made better than 45% nine times and finished below 40% just once. MSU makes 48% from the field this year, tops in the SEC and 14th in the nation.
- The Bulldogs made 11 of 21 (52.4%) from 3-point range for the second time this season. MSU moved up to second in the SEC and 19th in the nation, making 39.2% for the year. It is third in the league and 17th in the country in 3-point defense, holding foes to 25% for the year.
- State forced its second-most turnovers of the year with 29 Friday. MSU owns a +8.4 turnover margin, third-best in the SEC and 10th in D-I. MSU forces 22.1 tpg, 20th in the nation.
- Blair Schaefer scored a career-high 18 points against SMU. It came a game after she matched her previous personal best with 12 at Little Rock. In addition to averaging 15 points her last two games, she is 7 of 11 (63.6%) from 3-point range in that stretch.
- Victoria Vivians reached double figures for the fifth-straight game with 13 against SMU. She leads the team with 14.4 ppg.
Players Mentioned
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