At the half time of Wednesday’s Mississippi State-Alabama game, the University will honor the LaToya Thomas. The senior forward from Greenville, Mississippi is beyond setting records at Mississippi State. The records she sets now are either SEC or NCAA records. She plays the final home game of her record setting career on Thursday night against Georgia.

The 6-foot 2-inch Thomas is a three-time Kodak All-American. She is on pace to become just the fifth player in NCAA history to receive this honor all four years of her career. The Kodak All-American award is the most prestigious award for women’s basketball. Only ten players receive the award nationally every year.

ESPN and ESPN the Magazine's named Thomas their Power Forward of the Year for 2000 and 2001.

“We need to fill this place Thursday night,” said MSU coach Sharon Fanning. “LaToya Thomas made a decision to four years ago to play her college basketball in this state and come to Mississippi State. Mississippi State fans need to be in the Hump on Thursday night at 7:00 p.m.” The one unfulfilled goal Thomas has is to play in front of 10,000 fans at Humphrey Coliseum.

Thomas leads the SEC, the nation’s most competitive women’s basketball conference, in scoring for the fourth straight year. Her 25.6 points per game average is more than a point better than her nearest competitor, Jocelyn Penn of South Carolina. Thomas is on pace to be the first women's player to lead the league in scoring for four consecutive years. The 25.6 points per game is the third best in the nation.

Thomas is now tenth on the NCAA Career Scorer's Chart and third in the all-time scoring chart in the SEC. Thomas has eclipsed the all-time career scoring mark at MSU for men and women with 2,828 career points. Jeff Malone and Bailey Howell are the only other members in the MSU 2,000 point club with 2,142 and 2,030 points, respectively.

Perhaps the most impressive part of Thomas’ game is her consistency. She scored in double digits in every game of her collegiate career, 119 games. During that time she posted 43 double-doubles. First Lady Bulldog to reach the 2,000-point and 1,000-rebound mark, Thomas’ accomplishment place put her in second place in the SEC and sixth in the NCAA (ranked according to point totals). She has rewritten the record books in seven Lady Bulldog career categories.

Currently Thomas is the SEC’s top point producer, second in offensive rebounds, third in total rebounding, fifth in free throw percentage, eighth in field goal percentage and ninth in defensive rebounds.

Earlier this year, Thomas established new preseason and postseason WNIT records versus Tulsa scoring 42 points against the Golden Hurricanes. This year she is a Wade Trophy finalist, Naismith Player of the Year finalist and Senior CLASS Award finalist. On February 24th, the SEC named Thomas their Player of the Week. It marked the second time this season and seventh time in her career for receiving this award.

“I think she ’s going to be a great pro,” said Van Chancellor, the head coach of the four-time WNBA champion Houston Comets. Chancellor is a Mississippi State alumnus who coached for 19 years at the University of Mississippi. “She does everything so well. She reminds me a lot of Jennifer Gillom. They both have a knack of scoring in traffic and both can score from any part of the floor.”

Thomas plays her final game at Humphrey Coliseum on Thursday against Georgia. A lot more is on the line than just a farewell party. Both teams are trying to secure the number three seed in the SEC Women’s Tournament that begins a week from Thursday. No. 12 Mississippi State and No. 14 Georgia are the only two SEC schools that have nationally ranked men’s and women’s basketball team’s in this week’s Associated Press poll. There are just six nationally.

“We’re playing to get into third position in the SEC Tournament,” Fanning said. “Our fans are going to make a tremendous difference. We understand that we have to do our job on the floor. If we are to take the next step as a women’s basketball program, then we need to fill the Hump tomorrow night. To keep recruiting the type of players like LaToya Thomas or Tan White, we need fan support. That’s the way it works for football. It works that way for men’s basketball. It works like that for baseball. Why should women’s basketball be any different? When the crowds grow, the players play better, the wins are there, and recruits are impressed. Success breeds success. We need the fans to pay tribute to Toya for coming to Mississippi State and to help the team achieve their goals.”