Nov. 26, 2016
Honolulu, Hawai'i - The #7/7 Mississippi State Bulldogs took advantage its height advantage and deep bench in defeating the San José State women's basketball team 88-51 on Saturday afternoon in game three of the Rainbow Wahine Showdown.
Mississippi State (6-0), which started a front line with two players 6'1"another at 6'5" and had four more over 6'0", outscored SJSU (2-4) 50-18 in the paint. They outrebounded the Spartans 58-to-28, including 29-to-6 on offensive glass which they used to outscore SJSU 25-5 in second-chance points.
"It was just so hard to rebound all the misses against a team that just keeps coming at you with height," head coach Jamie Craighead said, "but I though we moved pretty well and competed all night. The players did what we asked them to do; compete and work their hardest."
Jasmine Smith's 11 points, four rebounds and two steals led the Spartans. Myzhanique Ladd also had four rebounds and chipped in nine points. Taylor Turney also had nine points.
The Bulldogs scored the first five points of the game in just over a minute. Dezz Ramos got the Spartans going with a layup at the 7:23 mark and a minute later Ladd completed a three-point play to get the Spartans to within a bucket at 7-5.
Unfortunately, that would be as close as the Spartans would get. Mississippi State scored the next 12 points and took a 19-5 lead with 2:47 to play in the first. Smith stopped the Bulldogs run on a layup and then closed the period with another five points to make the score 21-12 after 10 minutes.
A Hallie Gennett three cut the lead to six-points on the first possession of the second quarter and after a Ramos jumper and a second Gennett trey, the Spartans were again within six points 26-20 with 5:37 to go before intermission.
But, over the final 5:37 of the second quarter and the first 5:50 of the third, the Bulldogs outscored San José State 29-13. By the end of three quarters the lead was 25 points, 61-36 and the final score was 88-51 in favor of Mississippi State.
"We pulled our starters out with six minutes to go and let the rest of the players get some time out there to get into the flow," Craighead said. "We were within six in the second (period) and they went on that run and pushed to push it out before the half. We came out a little bit flat in the third quarter, but, for the most part, we competed for 36 of the 40 minutes."
The Spartans shot 37 percent to the Bulldogs 45 percent, but Mississippi State took 30 more shots than SJSU (84-to-54) and they turned 24 turnovers into 35 points.
"From the way we played the first weekend, I think we have improved quite a bit," Craighead said. "Mississippi State is a far superior to the Arizona State team we faced. I think our starting five and the first couple of players off the bench are looking better and better and this weekend has been good for the rest of our team, too. I was happy with their performance and now we have to try to get the same effort against Oregon tomorrow.
The Spartans wrap up play in the Rainbow Wahine Showdown on Sunday against Oregon. SJSU and the Ducks tipoff at 2:00 p.m. (HT).
San Jose State vs Mississippi State
11/26/16 3:00 PM at Honolulu, Hawai'i (Stan Sheriff Center)
At Honolulu, Hawai'i (Stan Sheriff Center)
MISSISSIPPI STATE 88, SAN JOSE STATE 51
SAN JOSE STATE (2-4)
Smith, Jasmine 5-7 1-4 11; Turney, Taylor 3-6 3-3 9; Ladd, Myzhanique 3-5
3-4 9; Ramos, Dezz 3-10 0-0 6; Gennett, Hallie 2-8 0-0 6; Harris, Alexis 2-3
0-0 4; Baird, Paris 1-8 0-0 3; Kohlhaas, Andrea 1-2 0-0 3; West, Rachol 0-2
0-0 0; HAFOKA, Fieme'a 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 20-54 7-11 51.
MISSISSIPPI STATE (6-0)
Jacaira Allen 7-9 0-0 14; Breanna Richardson 5-7 0-1 10; Teaira McCowan 4-11
1-2 9; Blair Schaefer 2-4 2-2 8; Victoria Vivians 3-14 0-0 8; Chinwe Okorie
3-7 1-6 7; Dominique Dillingham 3-8 0-0 7; Ameshya Williams 2-8 2-2 6;
Roshunda Johnson 2-6 0-0 5; Morgan William 2-3 0-0 4; Jazzmun Holmes 2-3 0-0
4; Ketara Chapel 2-3 0-0 4; Zion Campbell 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 38-84 6-13 88.
San Jose State................ 12 10 14 15 - 51
Mississippi State............. 21 17 23 27 - 88
3-point goals--San Jose State 4-16 (Gennett, Hallie 2-5; Kohlhaas, Andrea
1-1; Baird, Paris 1-5; West, Rachol 0-2; HAFOKA, Fieme'a 0-1; LADD,
Myzhanique 0-1; Turney, Taylor 0-1), Mississippi State 6-16 (Blair Schaefer
2-4; Victoria Vivians 2-6; Roshunda Johnson 1-4; Dominique Dillingham 1-2).
Fouled out--San Jose State-None, Mississippi State-None. Rebounds--San Jose
State 28 (Smith, Jasmine 4; Ladd, Myzhanique 4), Mississippi State 58
(Teaira McCowan 16). Assists--San Jose State 6 (Ramos, Dezz 2), Mississippi
State 19 (Jazzmun Holmes 8). Total fouls--San Jose State 18, Mississippi
State 11. Technical fouls--San Jose State-None, Mississippi State-None.