Mississippi State women’s basketball picked up its first SEC road win of the season on Thursday, beating No. 15 Tennessee 77-62 in Knoxville. It was the second ranked win of the season for the Bulldogs after beating No. 7 Kentucky at The Hump 11 days ago, and it closes out a run of seven straight games against ranked opposition for the group.
The Bulldogs (16-5, 3-5 SEC) trailed 12-9 after an ugly opening quarter from both teams, which included 11 MSU turnovers, but the defensive approach was slowing down a Tennessee offense that scored 90 in Starkville three weeks ago.
The second quarter is where MSU came to life on the attack winning the frame 26-14 with a 9-0 run to end the half. Destiney McPhaul, Trayanna Crisp and Jaylah Lampley were the regular scorers for the visitors, but the work in the paint on both ends by Favour Nwaedozi and Madison Francis was not going unnoticed. The pair had seven and five rebounds, respectively, in the first half and helped the team as a whole force five steals and score nine off of turnovers.
The momentum carried over into the second half as the Bulldogs won the third quarter 24-16, leading by as much as 20 points against the Vols. Talaysia Cooper scored 19 as the hosts pushed for an unlikely comeback, but the Bulldog offense didn’t slow down enough. Kharyssa Richardson took over the game, scoring 21 points on 9-11 shooting, and Crisp added 15 with three makes from beyond the arc to help fuel the team to victory.
Francis and Nwaedozi both finished with double-doubles, combining for 24 of MSU’s 50 rebounds on the night.
MSU is back at home for its next game against Missouri on Sunday at 2 p.m. The game will be abialable to stream on SEC Network+.
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