Savannah State preview
Following a week-long trek to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, the Mississippi State women's basketball team returns home Wednesday to close the opening month of the season against Savannah State. Tip for the contest is set for 7 p.m. at Humphrey Coliseum.
The contest will be broadcast on WKBB-FM 100.9 and WXWX-FM 96.3. Live audio and video streams will be available to HailStateTV subscribers at www.hailstate.com/hstvlive.
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Vic Schaefer's squad returns home looking to bounce back from three tough setbacks at last week's Hardwood Tournament of Hope that dropped the team to 2-4 on the young season.
"We've had some good days of practice since we've been back home. We really tried to get back to working on fundamentals offensively and defensively," Schaefer said. "Hopefully being back at home will be a good remedy for what ailed us during the three games in Mexico."
The Bulldogs were paced in the three games by sophomores Martha Alwal and Kendra Grant. Alwal averaged 17.3 points and 9.7 rebounds, and was stellar from the free-throw line, hitting 18-of-20 attempts (90.0 percent).
The Worthington, Minn., native continues to lead Mississippi State with 15.7 ppg and an SEC-best 10.3 rebounds. She also tops the conference in free throws made (38) and percentage (88.4 percent) while ranking second with 2.5 blocks.
Grant also had a solid weekend in Puerto Vallarta, knocking down 12.7 points and shooting 73.3-percent from the line.
The Richland, Miss., native has scored at a 15.2 per-game clip, the 11th-highest tally in the SEC.
Grant and Alwal have drawn over half of the Bulldogs' trips to the charity stripe. State has been successful at converting its free-throw chances, knocking down a conference-best 77.4 percent.
Wednesday's game will be the fourth meeting with Savannah State, with MSU having won the first three contests.
The Bulldogs, who hold a 2-0 advantage in the series at Humphrey Coliseum, won a 56-42 decision in Savannah last season.
The Lady Tigers head to Starkville 2-3 on the season. SSU defeated Talladega College 58-56 in Hattiesburg after opening last weekend with a 51-38 setback to Southern Miss.
Andrietta Thomas scored 18 points against Talladega to raise her team-leading scoring average to 14.2 ppg. Erin Hogue tops the Lady Tigers on the boards, hauling in 8.8 per contest.