No. 23 Lady Vols Fall to No. 8 Mississippi State Without Davis
Thursday night’s contest against No. 8 Mississippi State was always going to be a tough test for 23rd-ranked Tennessee.
With star forward and leading scorer Rennia Davis inactive with the flu, the Bulldogs were too much for the Lady Vols, dominating 72-55 at Thompson-Boling Arena on Thursday.
Without Davis, Tennessee’s scoring load fell on the shoulders of Rae Burrell. The sophomore forward finished with 20 points on 8/20 shooting.
After the game, UT head coach Kellie Harper complimented Burrell, who stepped into the starting lineup tonight due to Davis’s illness.
“I liked her energy and hopefully she’ll come out of this with some confidence,” Harper said.
Mississippi State head coach Vic Schaefer commended Burrell’s performance as well, stating, “Rae came out and played extremely well early, she carried them.”
Jordan Horston added 12 points and seven rebounds for Tennessee (17-6, 7-3 SEC), while Jazmine Massengill finished with 11 points and seven boards.
Rickea Jackson led Mississippi State (21-3, 9-1 SEC) with 14 points and nine rebounds, and Chloe Bibby added 13 for the Bulldogs.
Davis missed Thursday night’s game with the flu. According to a statement released by the team just prior to tipoff, the junior forward was hoping to be ready for the game but was not cleared by team doctors. Davis has not participated in any team activities since last Sunday’s game against South Carolina.
“She wasn’t even allowed to come to the gym the last couple days,” Harper said.
The Lady Vols came out scoring early and often, and a Massengill buzzer beater gave Tennessee a 21-19 lead after the first quarter.
However, any momentum the Lady Vols had quickly ended once the second quarter began. Mississippi State started the quarter on a 19-4 run, and Tennessee had eight turnovers during the frame. At halftime, the Lady Vols were facing an eight-point deficit.
The Lady Vols ran out of steam in the second half without Davis. Mississippi State’s lead ballooned to sixteen by the end of the third quarter, and the Lady Vols would remain down by double digits for the rest of the game.
The Lady Vols finished the night with 23 turnovers, and the Bulldogs scored 20 points off of Tennessee’s miscues.
“It’s all on us, just mental breakdowns and mental mistakes,” Massengill said after the game. “We can control our turnovers, it’s just on us to take care of the basketball more.”
The win makes Mississippi State the first women’s basketballteam in SEC history to beat Tennessee in three consecutive games in Knoxville. When told about this stat, Schaefer said, “We’re trying to even things up after a long, long drought.”
Mississippi State has now won seven of the last eight meetings between the two teams after starting the series 0-36.
Tennessee will be back in action next Thursday night at LSU.
Photo courtesy of Tennessee Athletics