Mississippi State women fall to Tennessee, 75-64
Credit: Mississippi State Athletics
Mississippi State women’s basketball fell to Tennessee 75-64 inside Humphrey Coliseum on Thursday, Jan. 18.
Graduate student forward Erynn Barnum led the team in points and rebounds to finish with her eighth career double-double on 15 points and 12 rebounds in 34 minutes, while graduate student guard Lauren Park-Lane added 10 points and a team-high five assists.
The 12 rebounds for Barnum surpassed her previous SEC-high and marked her seventh game this season with a team-high rebound total. Park-Lane has led the team in assists in 18 of 20 games and all five SEC contests this season. Mississippi State is now 15-5 on the season and 2-3 in the SEC.
Mississippi State converted on 7-12 from the field and all five starters scored before the first stoppage of play to take a 14-7 lead at the first media timeout with 4:16 left in the first quarter. Mississippi converted on 52.4 percent from the field and held its visitors to 22.2 percent to secure a 23-12 lead after the initial 10 minutes.
A pair of free throws from Barnum off a steal and fastbreak foul secured the Bulldogs their largest lead of the contest at 25-12 nearly a minute into the second quarter. Tennessee responded to the early deficit with a 7-0 run to cut the margin to 25-19.
Mississippi State headed into the locker room with a 37-30 lead after Barnum knocked down a jumper with 1:42 left in the first half.
Tennessee opened the second half on an 8-2 run to cut the deficit to one possession at 39-38 and force a Mississippi State timeout with 6:35 minutes left in the third quarter. The Volunteers took its first lead of the contest on a transition three with 5:05 left in the third quarter and never relinquished the lead. Tennessee outscored Mississippi State 21-5 in the period to take a 51-42 lead into the final quarter.
The margin never got closer than eight for the remainder of the contest as Mississippi State could not mount the late comeback attempt.
Mississippi State will be back in action on the road at Florida on Monday at 6:00 p.m. CT on SEC Network.
