Jan. 3, 2002
Lexington, KY – Mississippi State’s Tan White nailed a three-pointer with 32.8 seconds left in the game to break a 54-54 tie, pushing the Lady Bulldogs to a 59-54 win over Kentucky in the teams’ conference-opener at Memorial Coliseum on Thursday.
A Rita Adams jumper with 8:27 left in the game pushed the Wildcats’ lead up to 12 points, 48-36, and looked to give the Cats a comfortable cushion. However, the Lady Bulldogs refused to go away quietly, closing out the game on a 23-6 run which included two three-pointers by White and another by senior Jennifer Fambrough.
“We fought hard tonight, but you can’t get outscored 23-6 and expect to win in the SEC,” UK Coach Bernadette Mattox said. “You just can’t give up a “three” in that situation. It really hurt us.”
Kentucky, which took the lead at the 8:36 mark of the first half, held onto its advantage until junior LaToya Thomas’ open shot off from White with 5:48 left pushed MSU ahead, 49-48. UK sophomore SeSe Helm hit two free-throws to reclaim the lead for the Cats. An Adams layup with 4:08 left then pushed the UK lead to three, 52-49. A jumper by Thomas brought it back to a one-point game and then Fambrough’s three-pointer gave the Bulldogs a two-point lead, 54-52. Helm responded with a putback to tie the score at 54 apiece before White’s shot gave MSU the lead for good.
“We just stopped making smart decisions on the offensive end and that cost us the game. I think we did a good job defensively, but offensively we made poor decisions, which kept us from winning. I’ve got to give it to MSU, they scrapped out there tonight.”
UK (7-6) falls to 3-4 in SEC openers under Mattox and 13-10 all-time against the Lady Bulldogs. MSU’s win was its fifth straight over the Cats. The Bulldogs improve to 10-4 overall, 1-0 in the SEC.
Adams finished the game with 20 points on 9-of-11 shooting from the field to go along with five assists and four steals. Senior LaTonya McDole, who had nine points and seven rebounds at the break, finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds, her first double-double of the season and the 10th of her career.
Thomas, who leads the conference in scoring, poured in 21 points for the Lady Bulldogs while Fambrough added 16. White finished the game with 10.
MSU marginally won the battle of the boards, 45-41. UK shot 37.7 percent from the floor compared to MSU’s 36.4 percent.
Kentucky returns to SEC action on Sunday, Jan. 6 when it travels to Tuscaloosa, Ala., for a 3 p.m. ET tip-off against the Crimson Tide.
