Vivians, Williams Lead No. 5 Bulldogs Past Alabama State

Tuesday, December 20

Starkville

7:00 PM

Mississippi State

13-0

Alabama State

1-8

Alabama St.

Mississippi State

Victoria Vivians drives to the basket for two of her 28 points in the No. 5 Bulldogs' win against Alabama State.

Vivians, Williams Lead No. 5 Bulldogs Past Alabama State

December 20, 2016 | Women's Basketball

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STARKVILLE, Miss. – No. 5 Mississippi State celebrated its long-awaited return home with a 90-47 victory over Alabama State in women's college basketball action Tuesday night before a crowd of 5,786 at Humphrey Coliseum.

Victoria Vivians led the attack with a season-high 28 points. Ameshya Williams had her best showing as a Bulldog with 12 points. Williams and Teaira McCowan led the way with six rebounds each. Morgan William and Jazzmun Holmes each had five assists. Williams and Roshunda Johnson each had three steals.

MSU improved to 13-0 for the second time in program history. The Bulldogs played only their second home game of the season, returning to the Hump exactly one month after a Top-10 win against Texas.

"I can't remember the last time we won by 43 points, scored 90 points and I didn't think we played very well," MSU head coach Vic Schaefer said. "We were lethargic to start the game. The benched played well. We got a really good lift from Jazzmun (Holmes) and Ameshya (Williams).

"Ameshya has been working hard. She had a 3.3 GPA in her first semester as a student here. She has a great work ethic. It's good to see a player that works that hard have some success."

The Bulldogs took the lead for good at 11-5 after a 6-0 run. The Hornets closed within one point three times and only trailed 15-14 after one quarter.

In the second quarter, the Bulldogs shook out of the early doldrums by shooting 46.7 percent from the field and holding the Hornets to eight points.

Vivians hit a 3-pointer for an 18-14 lead. Teaira McCowan capped a 6-0 run with two free throws to give the team a 29-19 lead with 4:14 left in the half. The Bulldogs later used a 7-0 run to build a 16-point halftime lead at 38-22.

"It was great to back at the Hump," Vivians said "We had a great crowd and they got into the game. We hadn't played here in a while, so it felt really good to be able to go out and play before our fans and not have a road game."

In the third quarter, the Bulldogs blew open the contest, thanks in large to part to three straight 3-pointers by Vivians. The final trey pushed the lead to 62-35 with 1:47 left in the third quarter.

A layup by Roshunda Johnson capped a 15-0 run in the fourth quarter for the Bulldogs.

For the contest, the Bulldogs hit 27 of 61 shots from the field (44.3 percent), 8 of 23 shots from 3-point range (34.8 percent) and 28 of 40 shots from the foul line (70.0 percent). The Hornets hit 16 of 44 shots from the field (36.4 percent), 3 of 10 shots from 3-point range (30.0 percent) and 12 of 15 shots from the foul line (80.0 percent).

Tuesday was the 10th-straight game MSU has shot better than 40 percent from the field. The Bulldogs entered the contest tops in the SEC and 17^th in the country in field goal percentage.

MSU held a 40-30 rebounding advantage. The Bulldogs had 19 assists and 12 turnovers, while the Hornets had 10 assists and 29 turnovers. State scored a season-high 40 points off those miscues.

Alabama State (1-8) received 13 points from Daniele Ewert, 12 points from Britney Wright and 11 points from Damya Toney. Wright and Miracle Mayo each had a team-high five rebounds.

MSU will take several days off for Christmas before returning to action for a 7 p.m. start against Northwestern State Dec. 28 in Humphrey Coliseum. That contest will available on SEC Network + and will also close the non-conference portion of the MSU schedule.