SAVANNAH, Ga. — The Mississippi State women’s basketball team parlayed a strong defensive effort into a 56-42 victory against Savannah State on Saturday afternoon at Tiger Arena.
The Lady Bulldogs (5-1) allowed only three second-half field goals after leading 26-25 at halftime. Savannah State (3-2) didn’t convert its first field goal of the final half until 7 minutes, 26 seconds remained in the game.
The win was No. 599 for MSU coach Sharon Fanning-Otis, who is now 599-445 in 35 seasons of coaching Division I basketball. With one more victory, Fanning-Otis will become the 14th active coach in Division I women’s basketball with 600 or more victories.
The teams played a nip-and-tuck first half. Neither team led by more than six points in that half and the lead changed hands three times.
An 8-0 run in the first four minutes of play lifted MSU to an 8-2 advantage. The run was capped by a 3-pointer by Kendra Grant. The lead still remained at four before Savannah State went on a 7-0 run. A 3-point play by Jasmine Kirkland gave Savannah State a 13-12 lead. The Lady Tigers then hit 1 of 2 free throws on two possessions to run the lead to 15-12. The Lady Bulldogs went more than seven minutes between baskets before Ashley Brown hit a layup to break the drought.
A 3-pointer by Porsha Porter ran MSU back out to a 24-20 advantage, and held push the Lady Bulldogs to the halftime lead.
In the second half, Savannah State hit only 3 of 21 shots and committed six of its 10 turnovers.
A 12-1 run allowed MSU to sprint out to a 38-26 advantage with 16:37 remaining. A 3-pointer by Darriel Gaynor capped the run.
The lead stayed in the double figures range before Gaynor ran it to 14 on an old-fashioned 3-point play. The free throw make meant MSU led 45-31 with 10:19 left.
MSU built the lead to 15 twice before posting the victory.
The Lady Bulldogs were 19 of 51 from the field (37.3 percent), 4 of 18 from 3-point range (22.2 percent), and 14 of 18 from the free-throw line (77.8 percent). The Lady Tigers were 12 of 48 from the field (25 percent), 2 of 12 from 3-point range (16.7 percent), and 16 of 28 from the free-throw line (57.1 percent).
MSU held a 43-31 rebounding advantage. The Lady Bulldogs had eight assists and 13 turnovers, while the Lady Tigers had two assists and 10 turnovers.
Brown just missed a double-double, as she scored a game-high 18 points and pulled down a team-high nine rebounds. Diamber Johnson, Porter, Grant, and Gaynor each added eight points. Johnson had a team-high three assists, while Catina Bett blocked four shots.
MSU will play host to South Alabama at 7 p.m. Wednesday.
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