The 6-2 forward from Greenville, Miss., led the Southeastern Conference in scoring for the second consecutive season. Her 24.3 points per game also ranked fourth nationally. She finished the season ranked third in the conference in rebounding with an 8.8 rebounds per contest.
Last year, Thomas became only the eighth freshman awarded Kodak All-American status. Of the 10 members this season, there are eight seniors and one junior, once again making Thomas the youngest honoree.
"Once again, this is a tremendous honor for Mississippi State and the Lady Bulldog basketball program," said head coach Sharon Fanning. "As individuals are recognized, it's always a reflection of people around them and a team effort that creates the success of the individual to be recognized."
This award comes on the heels of 14 other awards she received this season, including four separate all-America honors. Thomas broke six school records in her initial season in the Maroon and White. She followed that setting eight new MSU standards this season and tying two other records.
Midway through the season, she became the second-fastest player in the SEC to reach the 1,000-point plateau. She finished her sophomore season ranked fourth on MSU's all-time scoring leaders list with 1,424 points in 63 games.
Thomas added another piece of hardware to her already crowded trophy case by winning Women's Power Forward of the Year at the inaugural ESPN The Magazine's College Basketball Awards Show Wednesday night. The event was televised live to a national cable audience on ESPN from Minneapolis, Minn., where the men's Final Four is taking place.
Thomas beat out two other finalists, Swin Cash of Connecticut and Schuye LaRue of Virginia, to win the award. The nominees for the various awards were determined through a vote by the 40-member USA Today/ESPN Board of Coaches. An ESPN and ESPN The Magazine blue-ribbon panel utilized the list of nominees to determine the winners.
"We expect that Toya will continue to improve and that there will be many other honors in store for her as she continues to work hard," said Fanning. "I am very proud of Toya and her success."
Other members of the 2001 Kodak All-American team include: junior Stacey Dales (Oklahoma) and seniors Kelly Miller (Georgia), Tamika Catchings (Tennessee), Marie Ferdinand (LSU), Svetlana Abrosimova (Connecticut), Georgia Schweitzer (Duke), Katie Douglas (Purdue), Jackie Stiles (Southwest Missouri State), and Ruth Riley (Notre Dame).
Reprinted with the permission of the MSU Athletic Department
03/29/01 - Mississippi recruiting analyst Kevin Henderson will begin writing a recruiting column for Gene's Page premium site. The first column will appear next Monday. Here is a very small tidbit of what you can look forward to from Kevin.
Listed below are Kevin's evaluations of the top underclassmen high school basketball players in Mississippi prior to the summer basketball camps.
1. Jackie Butler - Sophomore, 6'9", 240-lbs, C, McComb High School. This big cat could grow even more. Without a doubt he is a true center with baseball mitts for hands.
2. Travis Outlaw - Sophomore, 6'9", 210-lbs, F/C, Starkville High School. Another one who is expected to grow more because his dad is huge and about 6'8" himself. Travis tends to be soft at times but his athletic skills and offensive rebounding are tremendous.
3. Al Jefferson - Freshman, 6'10", 215-lbs, C, Prentiss High School. Big Al lurks around the paint and dares you to try to shoot over him. He has work to do but could grow more and has plenty of time to develop.
4. Kenny Hooks - Sophomore, 6'8", 210-lbs, F, East Central High School. Probably should be rated 2A with Outlaw because of his aggressive play and super raw athletic ability but is still playing out of control too much. He can play small forward at the next level if he can tone down his turnovers and silly fouls because he slashes to the glass with the best of them with no fear.
5. Byron Sanders - Junior, 6'10", 245-lbs, C, Harrison Central High School. Another true center prospect without a doubt. Has improved the past four months into a true division-1 prospect. Is receiving invitations to national camps which would not have happened if he had not changed his motivation to making himself a basketball player. The tools were there all along and you can't teach 6'10".
03/28/01
Women's Basketball - Mississippi State's LaToya Thomas will appear on the inaugural ESPN the Magazine's College Basketball Awards show Wednesday, March 28th, from 6-8 p.m. CST on the cable network ESPN. Thomas, a finalist for Women's Power Forward of the Year, is joined by two other finalists, Swin Cash of Connecticut and Schuye LaRue of Virginia.
Thomas led the SEC in scoring for the second-straight season, with 24.4 points per game. She was chosen as a first team all-American by the Women's Basketball Journal. She was selected to the second squad by the Associated Press, gballmag.com and Sports Illustrated for Women. The Greenville, Miss., native was honored as first team all-SEC for the second season and is a finalist for Naismith Player of the Year.
The awards show will honor the top performers in men's and women's college basketball from Williams Arena on the campus of the University of Minnesota, which is playing host to the NCAA Men's Final Four this weekend. A total of 15 awards will be presented. In an effort to capture a college basketball environment, the event will include many elements from a typical college game such as pep bands, cheerleaders and a P.A. announcer.
The nominees for the various awards were determined through a vote by the 40-member USA Today/ESPN Board of Coaches. An ESPN and ESPN The Magazine blue-ribbon panel will utilize the list of nominees to determine the winners.
Fans are encouraged to provide their insight on who should win the awards by participating in an online poll located at http://espn.go.com/magazine. (To vote for LaToya, click on I just want to vote which can be found below the ESPN Mag.com heading to the right. Then click on Power Forwards under the heading Women. Then cast your vote for our LaToya, THE top power forward and player in women's basketball. - Gene)
Reprinted with the permission of the MSU Athletic Department
If you would like to read a Tupelo Daily Journal article about Tan, click here.
03/22/01
Men's Basketball - Greg Harrington was just in time. Derrick Zimmerman was a split-second late.
Harrington floated in a 5-footer from the baseline with 2.6 seconds left as Tulsa beat Mississippi State 77-75 in the quarterfinals of the National Invitation Tournament on Wednesday night.
Zimmerman drained a 3-pointer as the clock expired that would have sent the Bulldogs to the semifinals in New York, but the shot left his hands just after the buzzer sounded.
Mississippi State coach Rick Stansbury immediately ran to the referees after Zimmerman's shot was waved off and requested they check a courtside replay. The replay confirmed the call on the floor and the Golden Hurricane (24-11) celebrated.
Tulsa used some quick passing on its last possession to get Harrington free on the baseline. He said he wasn't sure how much time was left or how far away from the basket he was, so he just turned and pushed up a semi-hook shot.
"I didn't know Greg had a jump hook," Tulsa coach Buzz Peterson said.
"There was no time think about it," said Harrington, who scored 14 points. "It's sweet to make that shot to go to New York."
Harrington said he didn't see Zimmerman's shot go in because he turned away when the buzzer sounded.
"When I heard the crowd, I knew it went in," he said. But he also said he was positive it was after the buzzer.
Zimmerman wasn't so sure.
"I couldn't hear nothing," he said.
Antonio Reed led Tulsa with 17 points and Kevin Johnson had 16. The Golden Hurricane were 10-for-20 from 3-point range and shot 53 percent overall.
The Bulldogs made up for 40 percent shooting by outrebounding Tulsa 42-29, including 19 offensive boards. Mississippi State, which never led in the second half, tied it at 75 with 21 seconds left on a layup by Mario Austin, who finished with 12.
Marckell Patterson led the Bulldogs (18-13) with 20 points and Zimmerman had 14, including 11 in the second half.
Tulsa advanced to the NIT semifinals at Madison Square Garden for the second time.
"We are fortunate to get out of here with a victory, and we are looking forward to New York City," Peterson said.
On that point, Zimmerman concurred.
"A couple of plays here and there down the stretch and it could have been a different ballgame," he said.
Both teams played road games Monday, Tulsa in Minnesota and Mississippi in Pittsburgh, but the quick turnaround didn't seem to have an affect on the play, as both sides kept the pace brisk throughout.
Tulsa held Mississippi State without a field goal for an 8-minute stretch of the first half and were up by 18 with 4:46 left in the first half. Reed, who averages 7.4 points, had 12 in the first half for the Golden Hurricane.
But Mississippi State closed the half with a 14-3 run, highlighted by Zimmerman's crowd-pleasing dunk over two Tulsa defenders, and cut the Golden Hurricane's lead to 38-31 at half.
Reprinted with the permission of the MSU Athletic Department
Post-game press conference.
MSU Coach Rick Stansbury:
First off, give Tulsa a lot of credit. They came in here and played exceptionally well. They came out and got the big lead early in the first half. We were able to battle back. The key is they jumped up and made some key shots in this basketball game.
We has some very good looks in the second half but did not make some baskets. Everytime we had the chance to take the lead, we missed free throws or missed wide open shots. We never could go over the hump.
The big play of the game was when the Johnson kid jumps up and makes a three-pointer with the game tied. I think it is his second three-pointer of the season. That was a huge play.
I thought we fought hard, but we didn't step up and make some key baskets in timely situations.
You tried the ally-opp a couple of times. Talk about that.
Coach Stansbury: That is a judgement play that you hope Mario will make. We made it at Pittsburgh. This time Mario did not make a very good pass.
Talk about Derrick Zimmerman's play the last few games.
Coach Stansbury: I think that Derrick has played exceptionally well for us the last two weeks. He had a great game against Southern. He went to Pittsburgh and had a great game against them. I thought he played awfully well tonight. His offense is coming. He is really responsible for us getting on this roll at the end of the season.
03/21/01
Women's Basketball - Even with a valiant second-half effort put together by Mississippi State, James Madison defeated the Lady Bulldogs 63-61 in front of 2,224 fans at Humphrey Coliseum on Tuesday night.
"I am very proud of our effort in the second half, but I am equally as disappointed in our effort in the first half," head coach Sharon Fanning said. "But we still put ourselves in a position to win a ballgame down the stretch, and it takes a lot of character to do that."
After senior Meadow Overstreet connected on two free throws to tie the game with 14 seconds left, James Madison's Jess Cihowicz hit a running five-footer to put the Dukes up by a basket with 1.3 seconds remaining, and MSU's desperation heave at the end of the contest came up short.
"We have been in that situation so many times," said JMU coach Bud Childers. "The most dangerous player on the floor in that situation is a guard who can penetrate. That was the only option that we looked at. We had our two best wing players flanked out. I just told Jess to take it as deep as she could and try to get a shot. If she couldn't then get it to one of our good wing players. We weren't going to take anything but a drive to the basket in that situation."
Sophomore LaToya Thomas, playing with an injured thumb, finished with a game-high 21 points, which was her 12th consecutive 20+ point contest and the 24th time in 31 games this season. She has also scored in double digits in all 63 games of her college career.
"I hurt (my thumb) in practice yesterday," said Thomas. "It was very sore but I still played. I had to play. I knew that I had to play. I had to keep ice on it at the timeouts."
Even with the sore thumb Thomas was in the thoughts of JMU coach Bud Childers.
"Thomas gave me nightmares for 72 hours while I tried to figure out how to defend her," said Coach Childers. "I have to say the key to the victory was the defense that Nadine Morgan played on LaToya Thomas."
The Lady Bulldogs opened the second half with an 11-0 run to cut the Dukes lead to four at 31-27 with 16:40 remaining. Junior Jennifer Fambrough, who finished with 15 points, poured in seven during the stretch and senior Cynthia Hall led the charge defensively, picking up five of her game-high seven steals in the first 10 minutes of the second period. Hall finished the game with 12 points.
"I think we came out with more focus and played with more intensity (in the second half)," said Jennifer Fambrough.
After a Cihowicz layup extended JMU's lead to seven with 11:47 left in the game, State went on a 13-5 run capped by a Thomas jumper with 5:20 to take its first lead of the contest, 49-48.
The game went back and forth throughout the last three minutes, and MSU trailed by five with 27 seconds remaining before Hall connected on two free throws to cut the lead to 61-58. Hall then came up with a steal and was quickly fouled by JMU's Shanna Price. Hall missed the front end of the one-and-one, but Fambrough came up with the rebound. Fambrough was fouled and made the first of two free throws, and Overstreet grabbed the rebound. Overstreet, too, was fouled and connected on both of her shots from the charity stripe to tie the contest with 14 seconds remaining.
"Cynthia Hall wanted to make things happen. She came up with seven steals and hit some timely threes," Fanning said. "She and Meadow Overstreet played as hard as they could possibly play."
The Dukes outrebounded State 34-26, and outshot the Lady Bulldogs 46 percent to 42 percent. MSU did win the turnover battle, committing just 10 while forcing 17.
MSU did not get on the scoreboard until the 16:40 mark in the first half, and went into the lockerroom down 31-16. The Lady Bulldogs shot just 26 percent in the opening period compared to JMU's 48 percent. The Dukes outrebounded MSU 20-10, and State pulled down only one offensive board in the half.
"We just didn't come out focused and ready to play," said MSU forward Jennifer Fambrough. "I thought we were kind of stagnant on defense. When you play that way your offense will never come.
"I was as surprised as most of you in the first half," said Coach Childers. "We were ready to play. I could see it in our eyes.
"We were walking around town today visiting people. Most people were asking us where is James Madison. We were kind of hoping the team had never heard of us either."
James Madison was led by Nadine Morgan's 17 points and Price's nine rebounds. Cihowicz added 16 points and Price poured in 15. The Dukes will face Ohio State in the semifinals at a site and time to be determined.
Portions of this article was provided by the MSU Athletic Department
Talk about getting back home so late Tuesday afternoon because of bad weather.
Coach Rick Stansbury: We got back here today at 5:30 and have not been able to do much. We are now just getting the chance to watch film. We, basically, have twenty-four hours to get everything together. You have to have a fast recovery.
The difference in Tulsa is they chartered last night and got back home last night. It is a little bit of an advantage for them. But the advantage for us is we are at home. I wouldn't trade that for anything.
Do you know much about Tulsa?
Coach Rick Stansbury: I know a lot about them from last year. They lost two players from last year's team, a team that went to the final eight in the NCAA Tournament. They were a basket away from going to the Final Four. They have five guys who shoot 40% or better from the three-point range. One of them shoots 52% and one shoots 48%. They are an excellent shooting basketball team. The guy on the inside, Johnson, is not tall but he is big. He is about 6-7 and 230, and one of those athletic basketball players. They are a very good basketball team. They have won 23 games right now. When you go to Minnesota and have Minnesota down by 18 you are doing something right. They will play man to man.
I like our team's chances. We have play, for the most part, pretty good here at the Hump. I expect nothing but a great crowd tomorrow night. Because both teams have so little time to prepare for this game, emotion and energy will play a large part in this game. Being at home gives this team an advantage.
What was the difference in the Pitt game during the first half and the latter part of the first half?
Coach Rick Stansbury: Pittsburgh came out and played with a lot of emotion. It showed in their quickness and transition baskets. They made some threes early on in the game. I didn't think that we responded to that emotion early on. Once the emotion left them and we settled in, I thought we got the advantage.
At the end of the interview Coach Stansbury talked about how important the home crowd is and how he hoped we would have a sellout. He said that the Southern Miss crowd was a great crowd and gave the team a lot of energy.
03/20/01 (10:15 a.m.) Men's Basketball - Mississippi State, fresh from its thrilling 66-61 win at Pittsburgh Monday in the second round of the TiVo National Invitation Tournament, will play host to the Tulsa Golden Hurricane in quarterfinal-round action at Humphrey Coliseum on the MSU campus, Wednesday, March 21. Tip-off is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. (CT) and the game will be televised by national cable outlet ESPN2.
Tickets are available over the counter at MSU's Bryan Athletic Administration ticket office, may be ordered by phone, 662-325-2600 or 888-GO-DAWGS (46-32947), or may be purchased via the internet on MSU's athletic website (http://www.mstateathletics.com). Reserved seat tickets are priced at $10 apiece, while MSU students may purchase a $4 general admission ticket. A specially priced $5 ticket for high school-aged students and younger will also be available.
Reprinted with the permission of the MSU Athletic Department
(Most likely reason the game is being played Wednesday instead of Thursday or Friday is due to ESPN having a Wednesday television package and not a Thursday package. - Gene)
03/20/01
Men's Basketball - Mississippi State hadn't played a basketball game in Pennsylvania since the 1937-38 season. After Monday's success against Pittsburgh, the Bulldogs may not want to wait so long to visit again.
Michael Gholar and Derrick Zimmerman made 3-point shots in the final 1:10 to help Mississippi State beat Pittsburgh 66-61 March 19 in a second round game of the National Invitation Tournament.
"When you go on the road and win it's always huge," Mississippi State coach Rick Stansbury said. "Pittsburgh has been playing as well as anybody in the Big East down the stretch."
Mississippi State (18-12) advances to the quarterfinals against Tulsa and Pitt ends its season 19-14.
Pitt took a 59-58 lead with 1:34 left when Jaron Brown made two free throws. On the next possession, Gholar, an 18 percent 3-point shooter this season, found himself unguarded on the right wing and calmly made the shot for a 61-59 lead.
"That was the key play of the game," Pitt coach Ben Howland said. "We left the guy wide open and he had so much time ... I think some of that was fatigue on our part."
Pitt's Brandin Knight missed a 3-point try and Antonio Jackson of Mississippi State grabbed the rebound. As the shot clock was about to expire on Mississippi State's possession, Zimmerman launched a successful one-handed shot with 12 seconds remaining in the half.
Isaac Hawkins scored an uncontested field goal for the Panthers with three seconds remaining before Roy Goffer sealed the game with two free throws, his only points of the game.
Pitt senior forward Ricardo Greer had his least productive game of the season, scoring just three points in 38 minutes. He made only one of eight shots.
Shutting down Greer was the key to beating Pitt, Stansbury said.
"He's really explosive but when he goes, the team goes," he said. "We kept him off the free throw line and limited his touches.
Greer shot two free throws, making one.
"It's real hard when our leader isn't playing good," Brown said.
Zimmerman came off the bench to score 15 for the Bulldogs. He had been averaging just under four points per game. Marckell Patterson scored 11 while Quentin Smith and Jackson each had 10.
Julius Page led the Panthers with 13 and Knight had 12.
Pitt led 27-13 with 7:36 left in the first half before Mississippi State went on a 14-0 run for a halftime tie. Neither team led by more than six points in the second half.
Reprinted with the permission of the MSU Athletic Department
Women's Basketball - Sharon Fanning's Mississippi State Lady Bulldogs continue WNIT play, hosting James Madison University of the Colonial Athletic Conference in a quarterfinal matchup Tuesday night at 7 p.m. MSU (17-13) advanced to the third round by defeating Georgia Tech at home, 77-73, and Illinois on the road, 86-77. JMU ousted Temple, 59-57, and Georgetown, 78-74, both on the Dukes' home floor.
In MSU's win over Illinois, LaToya Thomas led the Lady Bulldogs with 23 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the field. Jennifer Fambrough added 21 points and seven rebounds as State shot a school-record 64 percent from the field. State shot 67 percent in the first half while racing to a 41-33 halftime lead. MSU shot 9-of-16 from behind the three-point line, with Meadow Overstreet shooting 4-of-6 from behind the arc.
Thomas continues to lead the SEC in scoring, averaging 24.4 points per game to go along with a team-best 8.6 rebounds per game. She was recently named as a District 3 Finalist for Kodak all-America honors. Fambrough is second on the team in scoring, pouring in 14.5 points per game and pulling down 5.9 rebounds per contest. Overstreet, who has averaged 11.7 points per outing in the last nine games, is shooting 41 percent (58-of-143) from behind the arc.
The Lady Bulldogs, who have won seven of their last nine games, are averaging 72 points per game while allowing 69. State is shooting 45 percent from the field while holding its opponents to 42 percent. MSU is shooting 34 percent from three-point range and 70.5 percent from the free-throw line.
James Madison is led by three players in double-figures. Nadine Morgan leads the team in scoring (13.1 ppg) and rebounding (7.0 rpg). Shanna Price is averaging nearly 12 points per game while pulling down five rebounds per contest. Allyson Keener is averaging 11.5 points per game.
The Dukes have won 15 of their last 18 games. JMU is averaging 69.5 points per game while giving up 64. They are shooting 42 percent from the floor while allowing their opponents to shoot 39 percent. They are outrebounding their opponents by nearly six boards per game.
This is the first meeting between the two schools, although Fanning is 0-1 against JMU having lost to the Dukes during her tenure at Kentucky.
This is the farthest Mississippi State has ever advanced in the WNIT. State was ousted by Baylor in the first round in 1998 after being sent out to Waco. In its only other appearance in the postseason tournament, MSU went 1-2 in Amarillo, Texas, at the end of the 1987-88 season. WNIT success is nothing new for Sharon Fanning as she won the championships title in 1990 while at Kentucky, and took her Chattanooga team to the finals in 1984.
The winner of Tuesday night's contest will advance to the WNIT semifinals and meet the winner of the Ohio State-Western Kentucky match-up. The site will be determined at a later date.
Reprinted with the permission of the MSU Athletic Department
03/18/01 (10:00 p.m.)
Women's Basketball - The Mississippi State athletic department will begin selling tickets Monday at 8:30 a.m. through the Bryan Athletic Administration Ticket Office for the Lady Bulldogs' Tuesday quarterfinal WNIT game versus James Madison.
Tickets to Tuesday's 7 p.m. contest are priced at $10 for reserved seats and $5 for MSU students.
Tickets can be purchased via phone order (662-325-2600 or 1-888-GO-DAWGS [1-888-46-32947]) or over the counter at the Bryan Building.
Prior to watching MSU and James Madison battle in quarterfinal WNIT action, fans can watch head coach Pat McMahon's Diamond Dogs take on Tennessee Tech in a game slated for a 3 p.m. first pitch.
The Lady Bulldogs won their opening-round WNIT contest 77-73 over Georgia Tech in front of 1,315 fans, and then defeated Illinois 86-77 in Champaign Saturday night. Since all WNIT games are played at on-campus sites, solid attendances could give head coach Sharon Fanning's MSU team home court through the championship game.
Reprinted with the permission of the MSU Athletic Department
03/18/01
Women's Basketball - The Lady Bulldogs celebrated St. Patrick's Day for the second straight year with a postseason tournament victory. Mississippi State (17-13) defeated Illinois (17-16), 86-77, on the road Saturday in the second round of the WNIT.
"We are very pleased with this win," said head coach Sharon Fanning. "Anytime you can get a win on the road is huge and a postseason win on the road is even better.
"We maintained our composure and kept our patience. It takes a team to win and we had everyone stepping up tonight."
Although MSU led by as many as 17 points in the second half, Illinois kept gunning for the Lady Bulldogs. The Fighting Illini pushed to within seven several times in the last two minutes of the game, but Mississippi State made 9-of-12 free throws down the stretch to preserve the victory.
Mississippi State used a 67 percent shooting effort in the first half to take a 41-33 halftime lead. MSU's biggest lead of the first half was 10 points, 41-31 with just under three minutes remaining. Meadow Overstreet, who scored 16 points in the opening half, scored eight straight points during the seven-minute mark to give MSU its second and final lead of the game.
State set a school record in shooting percentage for the second time this season finishing the night with a 63.8 percent effort. MSU had shot 62.7 against Vanderbilt earlier this season. The Lady Bulldogs held Illinois to 46.6 percent shooting.
"Our percentages were important tonight," said Fanning. "We had a number of players on the line down the stretch and we hit the buckets we needed to."
With 23 points against the Fighting Illini, LaToya Thomas pushed her double-digit scoring streak to 62 games and upped her record-setting season total to 731. She has scored 20+ points in the last 11 games.
Jennifer Fambrough's 21 points moved her into fifth place on MSU's all-time scoring leaders list. She now has 1,346 career points. Fambrough led the team with seven rebounds. Cynthia Hall, who had 12 points, sunk three buckets from long-range to gain sole possession of the school record for career three-pointers, now with 145.
Hall and Overstreet are the only Lady Bulldogs in MSU history to play in four straight postseason tournaments. Hall holds the school mark for games played in a career with 119, while Overstreet is seventh with 111.
Mississippi State will host James Madison in the third round of the WNIT on Tuesday in Starkville. James Madison defeated Georgetown, 78-74, in Harrisonburg, Va.
Reprinted with the permission of the MSU Athletic Department
Making their seventh postseason tournament appearance since 1990 (ninth overall and fifth NIT showing in school history), coach Rick Stansbury's 17-12 Bulldogs have won five of their last seven decisions, including a 75-68 home triumph over in-state foe Southern Miss last Wednesday in first-round NIT play. Monday's road contest against Pittsburgh will also mark MSU's first visit to the state of Pennsylvania for a basketball game since the 1937-38 season.
Individually, Bulldog seniors Antonio Jackson and Tang Hamilton continue to rank among the SEC's top 20 statistical leaders in scoring at 13.1 and 12.5 points per game, respectively. With 1,294 career points in his 121-game MSU career, Hamilton needs a dozen points to move past Rich Knarr (1,305 points) and into 10th place on the school's all-time scoring list. Having collected 658 career rebounds during his four-year Starkville stint, the Jackson native is also four rebounds shy of moving into 11th place on MSU's all-time rebounding chart.
One of the hottest teams in the country after claiming seven of their last nine decisions, the Pittsburgh Panthers currently sport a 19-13 overall record (7-9 in BIG EAST play) after posting an 84-75 home victory over St. Bonaventure last Wednesday in the opening round of this year's TiVo NIT. Guided by second-year head coach Ben Howland, the Panthers recently advanced to their first-ever BIG EAST Conference Tournament championship game with wins over Miami (Fla.), Notre Dame and Syracuse before falling to Boston College in the finals.
The University of Pittsburgh is paced by second-team all-BIG EAST pick Ricardo Greer, who ranks among the school's all-time top 10 career leaders in scoring, rebounding, assists and steals. The senior forward from New York was named to this year's BIG EAST All-Tournament Team after averaging 18.5 points through the four tourney games. Led by Greer's team-high 17.0 points-per-game scoring average, all five of the Panthers' projected starters average 7.8 points or better on the season.
The winner of Monday's Mississippi State-Pittsburgh second-round NIT contest will advance into the TiVo NIT quarterfinals and take on the winner of Monday's Minnesota-Tulsa matchup on March 21, 22 or 23 at a site to be determined. The Minnesota-Tulsa contest is being played in Minneapolis.
Reprinted with the permission of the MSU Athletic Department
03/17/01
Women's Basketball - Sharon Fanning's Mississippi State Lady Bulldogs, fresh off an opening-round victory over Georgia Tech, hit the road for the second round of the WNIT, meeting Illinois Saturday night at 7 p.m. (CST). The Lady Bulldogs (16-13) defeated Georgia Tech, 77-73, Thursday night in Starkville. State has won six of its last eight games. Illinois (17-15) advanced by knocking off Wisconsin-Green Bay, 96-79, in Champaign.
LaToya Thomas led Mississippi State with 34 points and 11 rebounds versus Georgia Tech. She is averaging a conference-best 24.4 points per game while grabbing 8.8 rebounds per contest. She leads the team in blocks (32) and is tied for the lead in steals (37). The sophomore forward has already been tabbed first-team, all-SEC as well as Associated Press second-team, all-America. Jennifer Fambrough (14.3 ppg, 5.9 rpg) chipped in 13 points and seven rebounds in the winning effort.
Three players average in double-figures for the Fighting Illini. Junior guard Allison Curtin leads the team in scoring (15.6 ppg) and rebounding (5.7 rpg). Freshman forward Iveta Marcauskaite is averaging 11.7 points and 5.3 rebounds while freshman guard Anne O'Neil is chipping in 11.2 points.
MSU is averaging 72 points per game, while allowing 68.6. State shoots 45 percent from the field while allowing its opponents to shoot 42 percent. Illinois is also averaging 72 points per contest and gives up 73 per game. The Fighting Illini shoot 46 percent from the field, and allows its opponents to shoot 44 percent.
Mississippi State and Illinois have never met. Sharon Fanning is 0-1 versus the Fighting Illini, having faced them during her stint at Kentucky. MSU is now 2-3 in WNIT contests, 1-1 under Fanning. This is State's third appearance in the WNIT, and its fourth-straight post-season berth.
The winner of Saturday night's contest will move on to face the winner of Georgetown and James Madison in the third round, March 20-22, at a site to be determined.
Reprinted with the permission of the MSU Athletic Department
03/16/01
Women's Basketball - Mississippi State's women's basketball team kept its postseason hopes alive with a 77-73 victory over Georgia Tech in Humphrey Coliseum Thursday night.
"We found a way to win," said MSU Coach Sharon Fanning. "The free-throw line was a key for us. Forcing turnovers was a key." For the game, MSU shot 19-of-27 from the free-throw line.
"It was a great game," said MSU sophomore All-American LaToya Thomas. "I knew that they would come in and play us hard."
The Lady Bulldogs led by as much as six in the first half, but went into the locker room with a five-point lead, 38-33, at halftime. MSU gained its largest lead, an 11-point spread, five minutes into the second half at 53-42. Georgia Tech worked its way back and tied the game up at 59-59 with 8:12 remaining. State remained on top throughout the game, allowing Tech to come with one, 68-67, with two minutes left.
"They never stopped coming even when we had them down by 11 points," said MSU's Keisha Stringfellow.
Mississippi State shot 47 percent from the floor, while Georgia Tech shot 44 percent. The Lady Bulldogs outrebounded the Yellow Jackets 41-34.
Georgia Tech and Mississippi State played earlier in the year with State coming out on top 86-66. Georgia Tech showed a lot of improvement this time around.
"Their guards were rebounding the ball really well," said MSU junior Jennifer Fambrough. "They were getting second and third shots.
"Niesha Butler coming back after being out with an ACL (injury) last year was a situation, mentally, where they weren't sure of themselves" earlier in the season, said Coach Fanning. "Butler was freshman of the year a couple of years ago. Sonja Mallory hadn't played in any games prior to playing us, so our game was her first game."
After scoring 34 points against the Yellow Jackets, LaToya Thomas set another school record. In 29 games this season, she has scored 708 points, which broke the previous record of 698 set by Mary Boatwright in 1980. She now has a 61-game double-digit scoring streak and a 10-game 20+-point streak.
Thomas' 11 rebounds vs. Georgia Tech marked her 12th double-double of the season. She now has 256 rebound this season, which places her sixth on the single-season chart.
Jennifer Fambrough scored 13 points and grabbed seven rebounds, while Keisha Stringfellow chipped in nine points and seven boards.
Coach Fanning noted Fambrough and Stingfellow's contributions to the win. "I thought that Keisha played with composure and made a couple of big buckets. Whether it was Keisha's offensive board and a putback or Jen's three up top.....we found a way to win."
Senior guard Cynthia Hall played in her 118th career game as a Lady Bulldog, which also set a school record. Despite chipping in seven points against Georgia Tech, Hall did not hit a three-pointer and is still tied for the MSU mark in career threes with 142.
The Lady Bulldogs play the second round of the WNIT at Illinois on Saturday at 7 p.m.
"Illinois will be a very physical team," said Coach Fanning. "They have beaten come good teams.
"We win this game on the road maybe we can bring it back to the Hump and finish out," said Coach Fanning referring to the possibility of hosting more games if MSU can defeat Illinois at Illinois.
Portions of this article was supplied by the MSU Athletic Department
03/15/01
Men's Basketball - Marckell Patterson scored 21 points, 18 in the first half, as Mississippi State beat Southern Mississippi 75-68 in the first round of the National Invitation Tournament on Wednesday night.
Freshman center Mario Austin added 12 points and had three nifty assists, showing off his excellent vision and passing skills from the low post.
Austin's hook shot over Vandarel Jones, Conference USA's defensive player of the year, gave Mississippi State (17-12) a 54-46 lead with just under 10 minutes to play.
Jones, the Eagles' leading rebounder and second-leading scorer, was hampered by foul trouble and hounded by double-teams all game. He finished with seven points, four rebounds and four blocks, and fouled out with 5:08 left right after missing a layup.
Mario Myles scored 20 points to lead the Golden Eagles (22-9), including eight straight in a little more than a minute that cut Mississippi State's lead to 67-63 with 1:40 to play.
Brad Richardson hit a 3 for Southern Miss that made the score 70-66 with 58 seconds left, and the Golden Eagles had a chance to pull even closer on their next possession but missed four shots in one chaotic series.
David Wall scored 13 points for Southern Miss, the regular season C-USA co-champs that felt it was badly slighted by the NCAA tournament selection committee. It was the 18th meeting between the in-state rivals, but the first since 1996 and the first in postseason play. The Bulldogs hold a 14-4 lead in the series and have won all six games in Starkville.
Playing an up-tempo pace better suited to Mississippi State's quicker athletes, the Bulldogs held 41-27 after a first half in which they shot nearly 55 percent and forced 16 turnovers.
Mississippi State outscored Southern Miss 23-9 over the final 8:06 of the first half, including a 12-0 run in which Patterson scored seven straight points.
The Bulldogs will play Pittsburgh in the second round. The Panthers beat St. Bonaventure 84-75.
MSU will know by 10 a.m. Thursday morning if they will host the second round NIT game.
Reprinted with the permission of the MSU Athletic Department
Post-game interviews:
MSU Coach Rick Stansbury:
Comments: I am very proud of not just the win but the way we won it. I thought that it was a gutsy, determined effort this season. We had chances throughout the ballgame to let Southern back in it but we didn't fold against a very good Southern Miss basketball team. James Green has done an excellent job with that team. They wouldn't have won their conference and be 22-8 if they weren't a very good basketball team. That makes it even more special for our basketball team. It was a total team effort. We played hard. We made all the effort plays when it counted. I thought that we took their two best players, Jones and Wall, out of the game. I didn't think that they were a factor in the game the way that they have been.
Q&A:
Talk about the first half player substitution pattern.
Coach Stansbury: We were trying to double the post. I thought that Michael Gholar was quick enough to contest it in the perimeter and also quick enough to double it in the post. We made our run when Mike was in the basketball game. He gave us great effort on the inside. His defense was a big factor to get us going.
Talk about your looks down the lane.
Coach Stansbury: We were ball-screening. Southern Miss is a very good basketball team that really gets up into you. We knew that we needed to relieve that pressure somehow. If not, then we weren't going to be able to dribble or pass the ball. Our intentions was to do a lot of ball-screening to relieve that pressure. We did a good job of that.
I thought that Derrick Zimmerman, particularly in the first half, was able to get the basketball in the hole on several different occasions.
Marckell had a very good first half.
Coach Stansbury: I was really concerned about Marckell because he hasn't been able to practice the last two days because of a sprained ankle. Marckell is an energy player. If his feet are not 100%, that affects his energy level. To his credit, he came out and had great energy. He was everywhere.
Talk about the play of Mario Austin.
Coach Stansbury: We wanted to post them up a little bit off the lane because we knew that they got into you so much off the perimeter. We posted Mario off the lane on occasions. It allowed a lot of open areas in the middle. We were able to take advantage of that in the first half. We were going to put the ball in Mario's hands and cut people through the lane. Mario has the ability to make that pass. Tonight he was picking out the cutters and made several fine plays in the first half.
Were you doing anything in particular to take Southern Miss' Jones out of the game?
Coach Stansbury: We were double-posting. Everytime he caught it, we double-posted him. We frustrated him early. I never thought that he got into the rhythm of the game. We had a lot of respect for Vandarel. He came into this tournament playing great. He was a concern for us. Quentin Smith did a great job defensively for us. He kept him from getting those baskets. He contested shots. He didn't get many easy looks at the basket.
Talk about Antonio Jackson's play.
Coach Stansbury: He got into foul trouble in the first half. He played five minutes in the first half. For us to go into halftime up fourteen and with AJ only playing five minutes was huge for us. We were playing so hard defensively that we were creating our offense off of our defense.
He came back in the second half but I didn't think that he got into the flow of the game. He did make a huge shot when the shot-clock was running down. I think it was a four-point game and his shot made it a seven-point game. That was huge for us.
Talk about the possibility of renewing the rivalry.
Coach Stansbury: The rivalry is more for you and the fans to talk about. Beating Southern Miss was a big game because we respect their program and their team. The media makes it a bigger game for the fans and the alumni than it is for us and the players.
Talk about the focus your team seem to have tonight.
Coach Stansbury: For the most part, our kids have practiced good all season long. We've had a great attitude, great effort and great focus. I really think during the last three weeks our guys have become even closer due to some things that have happened to our team. Our players have used it as a positive and we have gotten better.
Your team saw the first half lead dwindle in the second half.
Coach Stansbury: I thought Derrick Zimmerman played a tremendous game. He took the basketball to the hole all game long. That dunk early in the game kind of set the tone on how we were going to play this game. During the second half, he turned the ball over three times in a row but to his credit, and this is where he has made progress, he came back and finished the game without another turnover. That was huge for him.
USM Coach James Green:
Comments: We had a lot of fun other than the last ten minutes of the first half. Obviously, they did a great job of getting out in transition and making some easy baskets in the first half. We didn't do a very good job of getting back on defense. We talked about getting back with three guys but failed to do that. We became a little rattled and committed a lot of turnovers. We had 16 turnovers at halftime. We came out in the second half and played more like we wanted to play. I thought that the basket where the shot-clock got down and they made the three really stretched us out. All in all I thought it was a very good basketball game. You had a lot of guys on both teams playing really hard. It was a good, friendly hard-fought competition. We wish them the best of luck in the tournament. They are a very good team. They are a team from Mississippi. If they have an opportunity to win the NIT, then we want them to do it. We wish them the best.
What was the adjustment that you made to get back into the game in the second half?
Coach Green: The adjustment we made was to play harder and not give them the easy transition basket in the second half. For the most part, we did a good job of that in the second half. I thought that we did a better job, when they fed the post, of taking that pass away from them. Mario Austin is one of the best passers in the country for a big guy.
We started out the game fine. Then we started to turn the ball over, started to get into foul trouble. We got totally away from our game. Halftime couldn't come too soon. We needed to rethink what we were supposed to be doing.
Mississippi State (15-13) finished the regular season on a three-game win streak before losing a first round SEC Tournament game to Arkansas. Georgia Tech (14-14) won its last two regular season games before being eliminated by North Carolina in the ACC Tournament.
The Lady Bulldogs and Georgia Tech have become familiar opponents lately, with this being the third meeting between the two schools in the past two seasons. In December, MSU defeated the Yellow Jackets, 88-68, in Starkville behind the efforts of Jennifer Fambrough (21 points) and LaToya Thomas (19 points, 15 rebounds). State also won last year's game in Atlanta, 71-56. Fanning is 3-2 versus Georgia Tech.
Sophomore forward LaToya Thomas leads MSU and the SEC in scoring by averaging 24.1 points per game. She leads the team and is third in the conference in rebounding (8.8 rpg). Thomas has already garnered a variety of all-SEC honors, and was just named to the Associated Press Second-Team All-America squad. Junior forward Jennifer Fambrough is second on the team in scoring (14.4 ppg) and rebounding (5.9 rpg). MSU is averaging 71.4 points per game while holding its opponents to 68.4. State shoots 44 percent from the field as a team, while holding opponents to 42.2 percent.
Georgia Tech is led in double-figures by Niesha Butler (15.6 ppg), Milli Martinez (13.0 ppg, 7.0 rpg), Jaime Kruppa (12.0 ppg, 7.4 rpg) and Sonja Mallory (10.2 ppg, 6.7 rpg). Tech averages 73.0 points per game while giving up 71.5. The Yellow Jackets shoot 42.4 percent from the field, while its opponents shoot 43 percent. Georgia Tech outrebounds its opponents by 5.2 boards per contest.
This is the third WNIT appearance for MSU, with its most recent showing coming at the end of the 1997-98 season under Sharon Fanning. The Lady Bulldogs were sent to Waco, Texas, to meet Baylor. MSU fell 75-65 to the Lady Bears, ending the campaign with a 14-15 record. State's other appearance was a three-game showing at the end of the 1987-88 season in Amarillo, Texas, under coach Brenda Paul. There, MSU lost to DePaul, 73-57, before knocking off Montana State, 67-61. Mississippi State then fell to South Alabama, 73-51, to end the season with a 19-13 mark.
This appearance is the fourth in Sharon Fanning's career. She has a successful history in the event, having coached Chattanooga to the 1984 WNIT finals and by winning the championship in 1990, while at Kentucky. The WNIT is played at on-campus sites throughout the duration of the tournament, and Fanning believes it is possible for MSU to host the event for as long as the Lady Bulldogs stay alive in the tournament.
"We really need our community, our state and our regional support in order to continue to host this event," Fanning said. "We definitely need to put people in the stands because we would love to host this out.
"Postseason play is a positive opportunity for any program. We are in a position where if our fan support and our success come together we could host this tournament. This is the first time our program has hosted postseason play. If we don't step up, we may not get a chance to do this again."
The winner of Thursday's contest will face the winner of Illinois and Wisconsin-Green Bay, March 17, 18, or 19. The host school for that contest will be determined later.
Reprinted with the permission of the MSU Athletic Department
03/14/01
Men's Basketball - Making their seventh postseason tournament appearance since 1990, and second under Coach Stansbury, the Mississippi State Bulldogs play host to the Southern Miss Golden Eagles Wednesday evening in first-round action of the 2001 TiVo National Invitation Tournament. The Bulldogs are the highest RPI-ranked team in the NIT with a ranking of 40th. Southern Miss is ranked 53rd. Tip-off time for MSU's first postseason tournament home action since 1990 is set for 7 p.m. at Humphrey Coliseum.
Reserved seat tickets for Wednesday's NIT contest are available through the Bryan Athletic Administration Ticket Office at $10 for adults and $4 for MSU students. Tickets may be purchased via phone order (662-325-2600 or 1-888-GO-DAWGS) or over the counter at the Bryan Building until 4:30 p.m. Wednesday. Tickets may then be purchased beginning at 5 p.m. prior to the game Wednesday at the Humphrey Coliseum Athletic Ticket Office. As of late Monday, MSU had sold over 2,000 tickets.
Coach Rick Stansbury's Bulldogs enter this year's TiVo NIT with a 16-12 overall record after dropping a 69-62 decision to South Carolina last Thursday in the first round of the SEC Tournament in Nashville. MSU closed out the regular season winning four of its last five games. After guiding his first Bulldog squad to the 1999 NIT, Stansbury becomes just the second Mississippi State men's basketball coach (joining his predecessor Richard Williams) to take more than one MSU hoops contingent to postseason tournament play. Stansbury, who became the fastest MSU hoops coach in more than 60 years to reach the 30 career win mark during his second season, is now 50-41 (20-28 SEC) overall during his 3-year career. The 50 victories, which puts Stansbury in 9th place in all-time victories by an MSU head coach, are the most by an MSU coach during his first three seasons. Number two on the list is Coach Babe McCarthy with 49 victories.
The winner of Wednesday's State-Southern Miss contest will meet the St. Bonaventure-Pittsburgh winner either next Monday or Tuesday (March 19 or 20) in second-round NIT action at a site to be determined.
The Bulldogs continue to be led in scoring by seniors Antonio Jackson and Tang Hamilton, who both rank among the top 20 scorers in the SEC at 13.2 and 12.7 points per game, respectively. Jackson also stands among the league leaders in assists (3.3 apg; 9th) and made three-pointers per game (2.00/gm; 8th). Also of note is true freshman Mario Austin's play during the past four games. During that span, he has averaged 11.5 points per game while averaging 22 minutes.
Having won their last five home games with recent SEC homecourt victories over South Carolina, Vanderbilt, Auburn, Alabama and Mississippi, the Bulldogs, currently 12-3 at home on the season, will be looking to set a new single-season Humphrey Coliseum record for most home victories. The 1998-99 and 1990-91 MSU squads both registered a dozen home wins previously.
Mississippi State has also had great success at home against Southern Miss, having won all five of their home games during their series with Southern. Overall, MSU is 13-4 against Southern Miss. The two teams last met during MSU's 1995-96 Final Four season with MSU prevailing 72-69 at Hattiesburg.
Finishing the 2000-01 regular season with a Conference USA-best overall record, Southern Miss, now 22-8 on the year, recently had a six-game winning streak snapped with a 75-63 setback to Conference USA Tournament champion Charlotte last Friday in the semifinals of the OCG C-USA Tournament in Louisville. Guided by fifth-year head coach James Green, the Golden Eagles are led in scoring by 6-5 senior guard David Wall at 14.1 points per outing. 6-9 senior center Vandarel Jones, a second-team all-Conference USA performer and the league's defensive player of the year, averages 12.9 points, 7.5 rebounds and 2.4 blocked shots per game as the team's lone 30-game starter this season. Southern Miss, which is a veteran team, is also expected to start one other senior (6-7 forward Kilavorus Thompson, 6.7 ppg/5.3 rpg), a junior (6-0 guard Mel Cauthen, 5.9 ppg/2.2 rpg) and a sophomore (6-5 forward Mario Myles, 5.6 ppg/3.9 rpg). 6-6 junior forward/guard Elvin Mims is averaging 10.1 ppg coming off the bench.
In an interesting matchup, Mississippi State's Quentin Smith, a player who transferred to USM, them transferred back to MSU, will be matched against Jones. "I am pretty confident in Vandarel Jones down in the post," said Southern Miss coach James Green. Coach Green however took note of the difficulties USM will have against MSU's Quentin Smith. "Quentin is a good basketball play, particularly defensively he is a guy that can intimidate shots. Just his size alone makes it tough to turn and score over him. I think offensively if he catches the ball in certain spots he is going to score. Keeping him away from the basket could be a key."
Coach Green also discussed MSU's possible strategy against his Golden Eagles and how he will counter it. "I think that they are more talented than us and they will probably spread us out. I think that our style of play will be the thing that will help us guard in the post. We are going to try and take time off the clock. If we control the tempo, then I think that helps us with our matchups in the post. It is going to be tough for us to score around the basket because of their size."
MSU and USM have shared five common opponents this season, (Arkansas, Auburn, Louisiana-Lafayette, Louisiana Tech and Tulane). The Bulldogs claim a 5-2 record against those teams while the Golden Eagles are 4-2.
Portions of this article was provided by the MSU Athletic Department
03/13/01
Men's Basketball - Signees updates.
MSU basketball signee 7-2 center Wesley Morgan helped his Gallatin High School team advance to the Class AAA state tournament by blocking a shot with 52 seconds to go in overtime with his team leading 41 to 40. Gallatin went on to win the game 44-41.
Gallatin will now play Lebanon HS this Thursday at 7:15 p.m. in the Class AAA Boys Basketball Tournament at Middle Tennessee State University's Murphy Center which is located in Murfreesboro, TN. If Gallatin wins, they will play the winner of the Greenville / Red Bank game Friday night at 8:45 p.m.
BTW, Morgan is rated the 7th best prospect in Tennessee, according to the Chattanooga Times-Free Press.
Another of MSU's signees, highly recruited 7-0 center Marcus Campbell (58th best prospect in the nation per Recruiting USA), led his Westover HS team to the Georgia State Championship in the Class AAA classification. During the Class AAA tournament, his team defeated Central HS (Macon) 95-36, Tattnall County HS 81-41, Richmond Academy 77-56, Gainesville HS 75-44 and Mitchell-Baker 78-44 in the championship game. In their tournament games leading up to the championship game, Mitchell-Baker averaged 91 points per game.
The last of MSU's men's basketball signees, 6-3 wing guard Winsome Frazier (82nd best prospect in the nation per Recruiting USA), helped lead his team to the semi-finals of the class 6A bracket, the highest classification in Florida, before losing out to Boone HS 51-49. Boone went on to lose to Dillard HS 78-57 in the championship game.
During the semi-final game, Frazier scored 15 points on a 6-16 shooting night (3-of-11 from 3-pt. range). He also grabbed 6 rebounds, passed out 6 assists and had 9 steals.
03/11/01 (10:45 p.m.) - Basketball News.
The Mississippi State athletic department will begin selling tickets Monday at 8:30 a.m. through the Bryan Athletic Administration Ticket Office for its men's and womenıs postseason basketball tournament games.
Reserved seat tickets for the men's NIT game against Southern Mississippi on Wednesday are priced at $10 for adults and $4 for MSU students. General admission tickets for the Lady Bulldogs' WNIT game versus Georgia Tech are $7 for adults and $3 for MSU students.
Tickets may be purchased via phone order (662-325-2600 or 1-888-GO-DAWGS [1-888-46-32947]) or over the counter at the Bryan Building.
Making their seventh postseason tournament appearance since 1990, the Mississippi State Bulldogs will play host to Southern Mississippi Wednesday evening in the opening round of the 2001 National Invitation Tournament. Tip-off is set 7 p.m. at MSU's Humphrey Coliseum.
Coach Rick Stansbury's Bulldogs enter this year's NIT with a 16-12 overall record after falling to South Carolina, 69-62, in last Thursday's first round of the SEC Tournament in Nashville. Guided by James Green, the Golden Eagles of Southern Miss own a 22-8 overall record and 11-5 league mark after advancing to the semifinals of the Conference USA Tournament in Louisville.
The Bulldogs own a 13-4 all-time series lead over Southern Mississippi, including a 72-69 overtime win in Hattiesburg during their 1995-96 NCAA Final Four campaign. The two in-state foes last met in Starkville during the 1993-94 season, with MSU taking a 62-58 decision.
Mississippi State's women's basketball team accepted a bid to the Women's National Invitation Tournament Sunday night. MSU will host Georgia Tech Thursday, March 15, at 7 p.m., in Humphrey Coliseum.
"Postseason play is always a positive opportunity for any program," said head coach Sharon Fanning. "We are in a position now where if fan support and our success come together, we could host this entire tournament."
Fanning led the Lady Bulldogs to postseason play for the first time three years ago when MSU was sent to Baylor for the WNIT. State's first WNIT invite came at the end of the 1987-88 season when MSU was sent to Amarillo, Texas.
"This is the first time MSU women's basketball has hosted postseason play," said Fanning. "If we don't step up, we may not get a chance to do this again."
The Lady Bulldogs hosted Georgia Tech earlier this season, winning 88-68 in December. Jennifer Fambrough led the team with 21 points while LaToya Thomas tallied 19 points to go along with 15 rebounds.
Reprinted with the permission of the MSU Athletic Department
03/09/01
Men's Basketball - Tony Kitchings scored 14 points and grabbed 10 rebounds as South Carolina beat Mississippi State 69-62 Thursday in the opening round of the Southeastern Conference tournament.
The victory allowed the Gamecocks (15-13) a measure of revenge after losing the regular season finale in Starkville last weekend with starting point guard Aaron Lucas on the bench due to a sprained toe.
Lucas' numbers weren't that impressive Thursday with five points and two assists. But he played most of the game in helping South Carolina, losers of five of its previous six games, advance to play No. 15 Kentucky, the East's No. 1 seed, Friday afternoon.
Mississippi State (16-12) needed a victory to enhance its NCAA tournament hopes despite playing the eighth-toughest schedule in the country.
Jamel Bradley and Rolando Howell each added 11 points for South Carolina, which outshot the Bulldogs 18-of-23 at the free throw line compared to 7-of-12.
The Gamecocks led by as much as eight points in the second half.
The No. 4 seed from the West, Mississippi State got back into the game thanks to freshman Mario Austin. He scored eight straight points in a 14-4 spurt that ended with two free throws from Antonio Jackson for a 45-43 lead with 9:35 to go.
The teams swapped the lead back and forth before Kitchings helped the Gamecocks take it back for good.
He scored back-to-back baskets and then grabbed a rebound. Antonio Grant hit a 3-pointer, and Bradley's floating jumper left South Carolina up 56-49 with 4:51 left.
Mississippi State got within 62-59 inside of a minute, but that was as close as the Bulldogs would get.
Marckell Patterson and Antonio Jackson led Mississippi State with 15 points each, and Austin finished with 12.
Reprinted with the permission of the MSU Athletic Department
03/08/01
Women's Basketball - Mississippi State's LaToya Thomas has been named first-team all-American by The Women's Basketball Journal. Thomas has also been named to the Associated Press All-Southeastern Conference First Team for the second season. These honors come just after her being a surprise selection to the SEC All-Tournament team.
This marks the second time Thomas has been named an all-American by the WBJ, as last season she was a member of the fourth-team squad. Other members of the first team squad include Katie Douglas of Purdue, Ruth Riley of Notre Dame, Stacey Dales of Oklahoma, and Kelly Miller of Georgia. Riley was tabbed as the WBJ's Player of the Year.
The Greenville, Miss., native, who was named to the coaches all-SEC first team last week, was one of two sophomores on the AP all-SEC first team. Vanderbilt's Chantelle Anderson, who was named the SEC Tournament's MVP, was the other sophomore. Seniors Marie Ferdinand, of LSU, and Georgia's Kelly Miller, along with junior Brandi McCain of Florida rounded out the AP All-SEC First Team.
Miller was named SEC Player of the Year by the AP while Florida's Carol Ross was tabbed as SEC Coach of the Year and Georgia's Christi Thomas was named SEC Freshman of the Year.
Thomas earned the all-tournament honors after scoring a tournament record 44 points in MSU's first-round loss to Arkansas in Memphis last week. The 6-2 sophomore forward, who opened the 2000-01 campaign with a school-record 48 points in Memphis against the Lady Tigers, has been named all-tournament for every tournament Mississippi State has played in over the last two seasons (five straight).
Thomas has led her team and the SEC in scoring all season, marking the second straight year. Along with her 24.1 points per game, she has contributed 8.8 rebounds per contest, which leads MSU and ranks third in the league. She has notched 36 steals and 32 blocks during the season as well.
She has scored in double digits in every game she has played in for the Lady Bulldogs (60 games) and has a nine-game streak of scoring 20+ points. She is currently fourth on MSU's all-time chart with 1,346 points. She has scored 674 points in 28 games this season, which is two more than she scored in 32 games last season. The 674 mark ranks second on State's single-season chart and is the most points scored by a sophomore.
If the season ended right now, her 24.1 points per game would break the school record of 23.0 points per outing set in 1980 by Mary Boatwright. Thomas averaged 21.0 points per contest last season.
The Lady Bulldogs are waiting on an invitation to the WNIT which should come Sunday night.
Reprinted with the permission of the MSU Athletic Department
03/06/01 (5:10 p.m.)
Men's Basketball (Part 1) - Having concluded the regular season by winning four of their last five games, the Mississippi State Bulldogs take on the South Carolina Gamecocks Thursday afternoon in the opening round of the 2001 SEC Men's Basketball Tournament in Nashville, Tenn. Tip-off time for the rematch of the regular-season finale for both teams is set for 2:15 p.m. CT at the Gaylord Entertainment Center. The contest, as will every SEC Tournament game leading up to Sunday's CBS-televised championship tilt, will be regionally televised live by Jefferson Pilot Sports.
The Bulldogs closed out their regular-season slate this past Saturday with a 77-73 home triumph over the same South Carolina squad. With the recent win over USC, third-year MSU head coach Rick Stansbury tied former State head man Kermit Davis in becoming the fourth-fastest basketball coach in school history to reach 50 career victories (in 90 games).
Assured of a winning season with a 16-11 overall record, the Bulldogs, seeded fourth in the SEC West with a 7-9 league mark, are bidding to earn their seventh postseason tournament berth since 1990. Currently rated with the eighth-toughest schedule in the country, Mississippi State enters this week's SEC Tournament ranked 31st and 32nd, respectively, in the CollegeRPI.com and Collegiate Basketball News Co. Rating Percentage Index (RPI) national polls.
Involved in the closest MSU individual scoring race since 1987-88, seniors Antonio Jackson and Tang Hamilton continue to pace the Bulldogs in scoring with nearly identical averages of 13.1 points per contest. Leading the way by percentage points over his veteran teammate, Jackson (13.15 ppg) leads State with seven 20-point efforts on the year after Saturday's 23-point outing against the Gamecocks. Having scored 1,285 points during his 119-game Mississippi State career, Hamilton (13.11 ppg) needs 21 more points to break into the school's all-time Top 10 scoring list. The Jackson native enters postseason play having averaged 14.1 points and 7.1 rebounds over his last 15 outings.
With the No. 5 seed in the SEC's Eastern Division, South Carolina owns a 14-13 overall record and 6-10 conference mark after Saturday's four-point setback in Starkville. Having dropped five of their last six decisions by a collective total of only 18 points, the Gamecocks' last eight contests (3-5 record) have been decided by an average margin of just 4.1 points per game.
Guided by eighth-year head coach Eddie Fogler, South Carolina is paced by junior guard Jamel Bradley, who leads the team in scoring (11.4 ppg), three-point field goal percentage (34.5%) and free-throw percentage (74.0%). Junior backcourt teammate Aaron Lucas, still nursing a sprained toe, averages 10.6 points and a team-leading 4.0 assists per contest. On the frontline, sophomore center Tony Kitchings averages 9.7 points and a team-high 6.5 rebounds a game.
Thursday's MSU-USC first-round winner will advance to take on the 15th-ranked Kentucky Wildcats, the top seed in the SEC's Eastern Division, during Friday afternoon's quarterfinal-round action. Tip-off is set for 2:15 p.m.
Men's Basketball (Part 2) - For the sixth time in the last seven years, Mississippi State has placed at least three players on the SEC Men's Basketball Academic Honor Roll. The league's 2001 academic roster was announced Tuesday by SEC Commissioner Roy Kramer.
With all three MSU recipients being first-time honorees, the Bulldogs are represented this year by senior co-captain T.J. Billups, senior walk-on Ward Griffith and junior Robert Jackson. Mississippi State is tied with Florida for the third-most recipients on this year's 24-man honor roll listing, trailing only Alabama and LSU with five and four honorees, respectively.
A two-time team co-captain for coach Rick Stansbury's Bulldogs, Billups will graduate this May with a degree in sports communication and a minor in business. All three of MSU's honor roll selections compiled identical 3.00 grade point averages for the 1999-2000 academic year. Both Griffith and Jackson are majoring in teaching/coaching.
To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must: 1) have a 3.0 grade point average for either the past year (two semesters or three quarters) or a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher for their career; 2) be a sophomore or higher in terms of academic classification; and 3) have 24 semester or 36 quarter hours toward a degree. The 2001 SEC Men's Basketball Academic Honor Roll is based on grades from the 1999-2000 academic calendar.
The fourth-seeded Bulldogs out of the SEC's Western Division will meet the SEC East's fifth-seeded South Carolina Gamecocks Thursday afternoon in first-round action of the SEC Basketball Tournament in Nashville. Tip-off time is set for 2:15 p.m. CT at the Gaylord Entertainment Center.
Reprinted with the permission of the MSU Athletic Department
(According to Coach Stansbury, all of the seniors on this year's team have previously graduated and are in graduate school or will graduate at the end of the spring semester. - Gene)
03/04/01
Men's Basketball - Seniors Tang Hamilton and Antonio Jackson combined for 39 points Saturday in their last regular-season home game at Humphrey Coliseum, helping lead Mississippi State (16-11, 7-9) to a 77-73 win over South Carolina (14-13, 6-10).
The two teams will return to the court with a rematch in first-round SEC Tournament action held next week (March 8-11) at the Gaylord Entertainment Center in Nashville, Tenn. MSU, the SEC West's fourth seed, and South Carolina, the fifth seed from the East, will tip off at 2:15 p.m. next Thursday.
Energized from the start, Mississippi State jumped to an early 7-0 advantage in the game's opening minutes, as Hamilton knocked down two jumpers with Jackson recording his first of six three-pointers on the afternoon. However, the Gamecocks answered strongly with a 19-4 run to hold a 19-11 lead with 12:15 remaining in the first half.
Both teams continued to have success on the offensive end, as the lead was exchanged several times down the stretch of the opening half. However, USC was to grab its last lead of the afternoon at 39-38 following a Rolando Howell bucket with under a minute left before the break. But MSU responded as freshman Timmy Bowers recorded his only basket of the game, a three-pointer, giving the Bulldogs a 41-39 lead at the intermission.
MSU's Jackson controlled the second half for head coach Rick Stansbury's ballclub, scoring 18 of his 23 points in the second stanza. Jackson's third trey of the game gave State a 53-48 advantage with 15:00 minutes left in regulation. MSU's Hamilton would also deliver from behind the arc to give State its largest lead of the game at 70-62.
But USC would not go down quietly, coming back with a 7-0 run, including five points by senior Antonio Grant, slicing the Bulldog lead to only a single point, 70-69, with five minutes left. But that would be as close as the Gamecocks would get, as Hamilton and freshman Roy Goffer delivered free throws down the stretch to give MSU its fourth win in the last five outings.
Jackson led all scorers on the day with 23 points, highlighted by his 6-of-8 showing from beyond the arc. The Huntsville native also enjoyed "Senior Day" last season with a career-high 29 points against Alabama. Hamilton finished with 16 points and a game-high seven rebounds, while Marckell Patterson also finished in double digits for State, scoring 11 points. State's Derrick Zimmerman also tied a career best with seven assists to go along with a pair of steals.
USC was led by Grant's 15 points while Howell and Jamel Bradley also tallied double figures with 13 and 12 points, respectively.
State and South Carolina both made 27-of-49 field goals (55%). The Bulldogs were a red-hot 13-of-20 from beyond the arc for a season-best 65 percent and one triple shy of tying the school's single-game mark of 14 treys.
Reprinted with the permission of the MSU Athletic Department
03/02/01 (3:45 p.m.) Men's Basketball - Aiming to secure the No. 4 seed in the SEC's Western Division for next week's SEC Basketball Tournament in Nashville, the Mississippi State Bulldogs play host to the South Carolina Gamecocks Saturday afternoon on the MSU campus in the regular-season finale for both teams. Tip-off time on "Senior Day" at Humphrey Coliseum is set for 2 p.m.
Prior to Saturday's MSU-USC contest, the Bulldog basketball family will recognize senior players Tang Hamilton, Antonio Jackson, T.J. Billups, Quentin Smith and Ward Griffith, along with senior manager Jacob Norton.
Readying for the 2001 SEC Basketball Tournament, to be held March 8-11 at Nashville's Gaylord Entertainment Center, coach Rick Stansbury's 15-11 Bulldogs would secure the No. 4 seed in the SEC's Western Division with either a win over South Carolina Saturday or by virtue of an Auburn home loss to Vanderbilt. Should MSU and Auburn conclude the regular season with identical league marks, the Bulldogs would win the two-team tiebreaker because of their split with top-seeded Mississippi this season. Heading into this weekend's action with 6-9 league marks, State and Auburn split their head-to-head season series, while both teams posted identical 5-5 divisional records on the year.
Guaranteed of a winning season, Mississippi State most recently had its three-game SEC winning streak snapped with Wednesday's 94-73 road loss to Georgia. Owners of a current four-game SEC home winning streak and 11-3 home record on the year, the MSU Bulldogs are looking to match the school's single-season Humphrey Coliseum standard of 12 home wins previously set by the 1990-91 and 1998-99 State contingents.
Individually, senior all-SEC candidates Tang Hamilton (13.0 ppg) and Antonio Jackson (12.8 ppg) are presently involved in MSU's closest scoring race since the 1987-88 campaign when Greg Lockhart edged out teammate Reginald Boykin for the team's individual scoring title. A three-year starter for the Bulldogs, Hamilton ranks among this year's SEC leaders in scoring (17th) and rebounding (6.7 rpg; 13th) for all games, as well as standing fourth in field-goal percentage (51.9%) for SEC games only. In conference play, Jackson rates among the league leaders in scoring (12.9 ppg; 19th), assists (3.1 apg; T-9th) and three-point field goals per game (1.93/gm; T-7th).
Having already secured the SEC Eastern Division's No. 5 seed in the upcoming SEC Tournament, the South Carolina Gamecocks are 14-12 overall and 6-9 in league play. Having dropped four of their last five decisions by a collective total of only 14 points, coach Eddie Fogler's Gamecocks are paced by junior guard Jamel Bradley, who leads USC in scoring (11.4 ppg), three-point field goal percentage (34.4%) and free-throw percentage (74.0%).
With the Bulldogs owning a 5-4 edge over the Gamecocks in this series history that dates back to USC's first year in the SEC (1991-92), Mississippi State and South Carolina would meet again in next Thursday's first round of the SEC Tournament in Nashville if MSU gets the fourth seed in the Western Division.
Reprinted with the permission of the MSU Athletic Department
03/01/01 (10:30 p.m.)
Women's Basketball - Mississippi State's appearance in the 2001 Southeastern Conference Tournament was cut short with a first-round 94-76 loss to Arkansas. The Lady Bulldogs finished the season with a 15-13 record. Arkansas is now 18-11.
"I would like to give Arkansas credit," head coach Sharon Fanning said. "They came into this game ready to win. They had great balance. They had 21 assists and only five turnovers."
Sophomore LaToya Thomas, who was named first-team all-SEC on Wednesday, broke the SEC Tournament record for points in a game with 44 points. The previous high was 40 points by Shelia Collins of Tennessee in 1985. This marked the second time Thomas scored 40 or more points in her career. She opened the 2000-01 campaign by pouring in a school-record 48 points at Memphis.
Thomas has now scored at least 20 points in each of her last nine games, and has scored in double-digits in 60 consecutive games. Thomas also pulled down 11 rebounds to record her 11th double-double this season. Thomas moved to fourth on the all-time chart with 1,346 points and fifth on the field goals made list with 509.
State fell behind early, trailing by as many as nine in the fist half. The Lady Bulldogs would battle back, closing the gap to five on a three-pointer at the buzzer by sophomore Keisha Stringfellow to make the halftime score 42-37. MSU shot 43 percent in the opening period compared to Arkansas' 42 percent, but State made just 9-of-16 (.563) from the free-throw line in that half.
After senior Meadow Oveerstreet hit a three to pull MSU to within four with 17:49 remaining in the game, Arkansas went on a 21-6 run, highlighted by two Wendi Willits three-pointers and four MSU turnovers, to push its lead to 19 with 12 minutes remaining. After Thomas hit a jumper to make the score 68-51, the Lady Razorbacks went on a 13-2 spurt to claim their largest lead of the game at 81-53 with just over seven minutes remaining.
Stringfellow was the only other Lady Bulldog to score in double figures, pouring in 10 on 3-of-5 shooting from the field. Freshman Dana Benemon led MSU with a career-high 12 rebounds.
Senior Cynthia Hall tied two school records during the contest by playing in her 117th game as a Lady Bulldog and with one three-pointer against Arkansas, she tallied 142 career buckets from behind the arc to tie LaCharlotte Smith's record set four years ago. She is ranked 18th in career points with 860.
Arkansas had five players in double digits, led by center Celia Anderson's 22. Dana Cherry scored 16, and India Lewis, Willits, and Shameka Christon added 12, 11, and 10, respectively. Point guard Amy Wright dished out a game-high 12 assists.
Mississippi State awaits word about possible postseason play in the WNIT. The official announcement will be made on March 11th.
Reprinted with the permission of the MSU Athletic Department
03/01/01
Men's Basketball - Ezra Williams scored 25 points, including 18 in the first half when Georgia shot an amazing 79 percent from the field, and the Bulldogs kept their slim NCAA tournament hopes alive Wednesday night with a 94-73 victory over Mississippi State.
Georgia (16-12, 9-6 Southeastern Conference) connected on 22-of-28 shots in the opening half, building a 25-point margin at 53-28 before Mississippi State scored seven straight points to cut the deficit to 53-35 at intermission.
Williams hit on 7-of-8 shots, including 3-of-3 from 3-point land and added a free throw for his 18 first-half points. He finished with 10-of-12 shooting from the field.
D.A. Layne, Georgia's leading scorer at 16.9 per game, added 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting and Shon Coleman had (6-of-7) 12 points during the home team's torrid opening 20 minutes.
Layne wound up with 19 points and Coleman 17.
For the game, Georgia wound up hitting 40-of-57 shots (70 percent), second highest percentage in school history. The Bulldogs made 32-of-42 shots (76 percent) in a 77-68 win over Chattanooga on Dec. 19, 1980.
Mississippi State (15-11, 6-9 SEC) shot 47 percent (15-for-32) to keep the first-half deficit at 18 points, but the loss damaged their NCAA chances after winning three in a row. State ends the regular season at home on Saturday against South Carolina.
Mississippi State, which never got closer than 16 points (58-42) in the second half, was led by Mario Austin, who had 17 points. Tang Hamilton added 13 points.
Georgia, which had lost five of its last seven, closes the regular SEC season on Saturday at Arkansas and has already clinched third place in the East heading into the conference tournament next week in Nashville, Tenn.
Reprinted with the permission of the MSU Athletic Department
The Lady Razorbacks (17-11, 6-8) closed out a tough stretch that saw them drop four-of-six games by defeating Mississippi 82-64 on Sunday.
Sophomore forward LaToya Thomas continues to lead Mississippi State and the conference, averaging 23.3 points per game to go along with 8.7 rebounds per contest. She is shooting 54 percent from the field while averaging 31 minutes per contest.
Jennifer Fambrough, another low-post player for the Lady Bulldogs, is also averaging double-figures with 14.7 points per game. She is pulling down 5.8 boards per game.
Thursday's game will mark the 117th career game for MSU senior guard Cynthia Hall, which will tie the school record currently held by Sophie Ratliff (1987 90) and Laura Springer (1978-81).
Gary Blair's Lady Razorbacks are led by Wendi Willits (13.2 ppg) and Lonniya Bragg (11.2 ppg, 6.7 rpg). Joining them in double-figures is Dana Cherry (10.5 ppg) and Shameka Christon (10.1 ppg).
Arkansas defeated then-No. 21 Mississippi State on January 18th in Fayetteville, 72-45. State's 45 points were the lowest offensive showing of the season. Thomas scored 20 points and grabbed seven boards to lead MSU. Arkansas led 30-16 at the half after closing the stanza with a 12-0 run.
Last season Mississippi State made the longest SEC Tournament run in school history before falling to top-seeded Tennessee in the championship contest. Fifth-seeded MSU defeated Mississippi, fourth-seeded Auburn and top-seeded Georgia before reaching the title game. LaToya Thomas was named tournament MVP after scoring 25 points in the tournament finale.
The winner of Thursday's game will meet Florida, who drew the second seed, at 2:30 p.m.
Reprinted with the permission of the MSU Athletic Department