Mississippi State makes the most of its top four.
The 11th-seeded Bulldogs beat No. 6 Creighton 81–66 on Friday, one of the biggest first-day losses of the NCAA Women’s Tournament. They took control early with a 25-16 lead in the first quarter and then took a 18-8 win in the third quarter.
The win is Mississippi State’s second in a row after beating Illinois 70-56 in the first four to advance to the Round of 16. These victories justify the selection of the Bulldogs as one of the last four teams at large. This was the first time a team from the top four had won a round of 16 game.
Mississippi State controlled both sides of the court on Friday, shooting at the light from three-point range. Five Bulldogs players scored in double figures, with young guard JerKyle Jordan scoring 20 points. She led the 3-point onslaught, connecting 4 of 5 attempts from range. In the Moscow State University team, he shot 11 out of 19 (57.9%) from behind the arc and 49.1% from the field.
The shooting effort was simply too much for Creighton, as he made fewer three-pointers on nearly twice as many attempts. The Bluejays finished 9 of 34 (26.5%) from long range and 37.3% from the field. All-Big East defenseman Lauren Jensen led Creighton’s efforts with 22 points and five assists, while All-Big East defenseman Morgan Mali struggled to get 4 points and five rebounds, shooting 1 of 11 from the field. She missed all eight of her three-point attempts.
Mississippi State advances to the second round on Sunday, where it faces number 3 Notre Dame. Earlier on Friday, the Fighting Irish beat Southern Utah 82–56. They play without All-American quarterback Olivia Miles, who is out of the tournament with a knee injury.
Source: sports.yahoo.com
