Sunday, January 8
Knoxville, Tenn.
1:00 PM
Mississippi State
at
Tennessee
No. 4 Bulldogs Set For Rocky Top Showdown At Tennessee
January 07, 2017 | Women's Basketball
STARKVILLE, Miss. – A pair of teams undefeated to begin SEC play face off Sunday as the fourth-ranked Mississippi State women's basketball team travels to Tennessee for a 1 p.m. CT tip at Thompson-Boling Arena.
Mississippi State brings a 16-0 overall record and 2-0 SEC mark into the first of two meetings between the teams this season. The Bulldogs remained one of three undefeated teams in the nation with a 59-51 road victory at Arkansas on Thursday.
Like MSU, Tennessee also started league play 2-0 with a road victory at Vanderbilt. The Lady Vols sit at 10-4 overall following Thursday's victory.
Sunday's game will be streamed online on the SEC Network +. WKBB-FM 100.9 in the Golden Triangle and WCNA-FM 95.9 in Tupelo, Corinth and Oxford will have the radio call. A live audio stream will be available on hailstate.com/plus.
SERIES VS. TENNESSEE
ABOUT THE LADY VOLS
BULLDOG BITES
Mississippi State brings a 16-0 overall record and 2-0 SEC mark into the first of two meetings between the teams this season. The Bulldogs remained one of three undefeated teams in the nation with a 59-51 road victory at Arkansas on Thursday.
Like MSU, Tennessee also started league play 2-0 with a road victory at Vanderbilt. The Lady Vols sit at 10-4 overall following Thursday's victory.
Sunday's game will be streamed online on the SEC Network +. WKBB-FM 100.9 in the Golden Triangle and WCNA-FM 95.9 in Tupelo, Corinth and Oxford will have the radio call. A live audio stream will be available on hailstate.com/plus.
SERIES VS. TENNESSEE
- Sunday will be the 39th meeting between the Bulldogs and Tennessee. It will be the first of two this season, as the Lady Vols come to Starkville for the regular-season finale.
- Tennessee had won every meeting in the series until last season when the Bulldogs won a 65-63 overtime thriller. State then made it two-straight victories in the series in the semifinals of the SEC Tournament, winning a 58-48 decision in Jacksonville, Fla.
- Victoria Vivians and Dominique Dillingham scored 14 points each in the Bulldogs' first win against UT. State rallied to tie by out-scoring the Lady Vols 15-3 in the fourth quarter.
- In the year's second matchup, Vivians sparked MSU with 30 points while Morgan William tallied 12 points to send State to the tournament title game.
ABOUT THE LADY VOLS
- Tennessee enters Sunday 10-4 overall and 2-0 in the league after defeating Kentucky 72-65 at home and winning on the road at Vanderbilt 70-57 on Thursday.
- UT averages 77.1 points and 45.4 rebounds per game. Mercedes Russell leads the Lady Vols on the season with 16.6 ppg and 9.6 rpg. In league games she is averaging 18.5 points and 11.0 rebounds. Diamond DeShields also averages 18.5 ppg in SEC play, 15.8 for the season.
BULLDOG BITES
- Mississippi State has started the season 16-0 after Thursday's win at Arkansas in the SEC road opener. MSU is two wins shy of matching the best start in program history (18, 2014-15).
- MSU's 16 wins are most in the nation. The Dawgs' seven road wins are tied for the most in the country and one shy of matching the 2008-09 team for the most in school history.
- State is the SEC's only undefeated team and one of three in the nation — UConn and Virginia Tech — without a loss.
- The Bulldogs join Tennessee and South Carolina as the only teams to open league play 2-0.
- MSU is now 24-10 in league games going back to 2014-15. That is the third-most wins in the league in that span.
- State is 34-32 in SEC play under Vic Schaefer. The Bulldogs have won five-straight and 9 of their last 11 regular-season SEC contests.
- MSU is a program-best No. 4 in both the Associated Press and USA Today polls. It's State's 45th-straight week in both. It's the eighth-longest active streak in the nation in AP.
- Thursday was the 11th time this season MSU has held its opponent to 51 or fewer points. The Bulldogs allow 52.6 ppg on the year, fewest in the SEC and eighth in the nation.
- State is fifth in the nation, second in the SEC, in 3-point defense, holding teams to 24.4%.
- MSU has shot the basketball at a 47.5% clip, a tally that is tops in the league and 13th in the nation. State is also 17th in the nation, second in the SEC, in scoring offense (80.0 ppg).
- State fell short in the turnover battle for just the second time this season. MSU forces 22.0 turnovers per game, 15th-most in the nation. It is ninth in Division I in turnover margin at +7.8.
- Senior Chinwe Okorie had her second double-double of the season with 14 points and 15 rebounds at Arkansas. Her 15 boards are a career high. Okorie is averaging 15.5 points and 10.5 rebounds through the first two league games.
- Victoria Vivians is scoring at a 21.2 clip the last five games. She is also averaging 3.7 steals in the last three games. Vivians is tied for fifth in the league with 18.5 ppg in SEC play.
- Junior Morgan William was 4 for 4 at the line in the last five minutes of Thursday's win. She is 26 of 29 (89.7%) in that span this season.
- Senior Breanna Richardson moved into 23rd on MSU's career scoring list (944 pts.). Richardson is averaging 10.0 points and shooting 71% from the field the last five games.
Players Mentioned
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