KNOXVILLE – The Mississippi State women’s basketball team entered Thompson-Boling Arena with a 19-0 record Sunday, having won all but two of its games by 10 or more points on the way to a No. 3 national ranking.
Tennessee was supposed to present the Bulldogs their biggest challenge yet. With the sixth-ranked Lady Volunteers playing in a game dedicated to Pat Summitt just three days after a crushing loss at Notre Dame, the stage was set for a showdown between the Southeastern Conference’s highest-ranked teams.
Instead, Tennessee became Mississippi State’s latest victim. The Lady Vols climbed out of a 17-point third-quarter deficit, narrowing it to seven points early in the fourth before going cold and falling 71-52 in front of 13,436.
“You can’t make a lot of mistakes against Mississippi State,” Lady Vols coach Holly Warlick said. “They’re solid, they’re veterans, and we’re still learning and growing.”
Tennessee center Mercedes Russell (21) takes the ball to the hoop during the first quarter of an NCAA college basketball game against Mississippi State, Sunday, Jan. 21, 2018. (Joy Kimbrough/The Daily Times via AP)Mississippi State (20-0, 6-0) became the first team in the country to reach 20 victories this season by winning for just the fourth time in the series’ 41-game history. All of the Bulldogs’ wins against the Lady Vols have come in the past three seasons as sixth-year coach Vic Schaefer has turned the program into a national power.