STARKVILLE – Mississippi State women’s basketball played a game of the year contender against the Missouri Tigers on Sunday at Humphrey Coliseum. In a contest where neither team held greater than a five-point advantage at any point and the lead changed hands 20 times, the Bulldogs fell only in the final frame of action against the Tigers in an 88-80 defeat at home.
The contest was hotly contested out of the gate, with the visiting Tigers taking a narrow advantage for much of the first half. Grace Slaughter and Shannon Dowell scored 10 points each in the first half, with the Tigers collectively shooting 5-9 from beyond the arc to keep a steady pace of points.
The Bulldogs had a strong half of scoring as well, with Kharyssa Richardson and Favour Nwaedozi both hitting double figures in the first half. Trayanna Crisp added nine points before the break as well, sneaking in a buzzer-beater three-pointer from the logo to give MSU a 44-43 halftime advantage of a hotly contested game.
Crisp’s last hit before halftime came in answer to a triple by the Tigers, and the teams came right back out of the locker room firing with another exchange to start the third quarter.
Madison Francis hit twice from distance and once on a second-chance bucket for eight points in the first three minutes of the quarter, but the Tigers wouldn’t go away. They hit 4-6 attempts from deep in the first five minutes of the third quarter to match a strong run by MSU.
Mizzou held a 68-65 advantage going into the final frame, but neither team could score for the first couple of minutes of the fourth quarter, with MSU going 0-6 from the floor and Mizzou going 0-5.
After a lineup shakeup, Francis came back into the game and tied it up with a triple to break the drought and get the crowd back into the game.
A defensive fourth quarter came down to the final minutes. Trayanna Crisp hit a career high six three-pointers to help expand the lead for MSU, but the Tigers clawed back to take an 80-78 lead going into the final minute from a Grace Slaughter triple.
A turnover led to another bucket to make it 82-78, and the Bulldogs just couldn’t make the shots to keep pace.
MSU is back on the road this week at No. 2 South Carolina. They’ll return home for a game against Georgia on Feb. 12 at 6:30 p.m.
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