STARKVILLE — The color orange doesn’t faze Kendra Grant.
That’s the good news, especially considering Grant is a freshman at Mississippi State University and has plenty of matchups remaining against the University of Tennessee women’s basketball team.
The bad news is Grant’s hard work Thursday night couldn’t end a streak that dates back to before she was born.
Shekinna Stricklen had a game-high 22 points and 12 rebounds, and Cierra Burdick added 10 points off the bench to lead No. 13 Tennessee to a 57-41 victory against MSU before a crowd of 1,845 at Humphrey Coliseum.
“Tennessee is a team I grew up watching, so I just felt I had to do something,” said Grant, who had a career-high 17 points. “I didn’t want the nerves and anxiety to get to me, so I just put all the nerves another way so it came out positive tonight and I was able to knock down shots.”
Glory Johnson had seven points and 15 rebounds, and Kamiko Williams added eight points to help Tennessee (19-7, 10-3 Southeastern Conference) overcome 19 turnovers and a 38.7-percent (24 of 62) shooting effort) to run its winning streak against MSU to 33. The run dates back to a 72-51 victory on Feb. 22, 1986. MSU is the only SEC team that has never beaten Tennessee.
MSU (14-12, 4-9) did their best on defensive end to end that claim. The Lady Bulldogs held the Lady Volunteers to less than 40-percent shooting for only the eighth time this season, and fourth time in a SEC game. Tennessee entered the game tied with the University of Kentucky for the league lead points per game (76.2).
Unfortunately, Grant was the only one who had a hot hand for MSU. The 5-foot-11 guard from Richland had a career-high 17 points on 6-of-13 shooting, including a 4-of-7 effort from 3-point range. Porsha Porter added 15 points, but it came on 6-of-18 shooting. Diamber Johnson, MSU’s leading scorer entering the game at 16 ppg., had only three points (seven assists) on 1-of-15 shooting.
“A couple of times I have played them we have had chances (to win),” Johnson said. “Even tonight, as huge an underdog as we were, Tennessee has always been known as the top team in the SEC. … I know that even where we are in the standings (ninth), tonight they escaped with a win. They just hit the shots and we didn’t. This was our game from the get-go, and they hit and we didn’t. I don’t want to go, ‘We should have beaten them,’ (because then people will say), ‘Why didn’t you?’ Playing like that against a good team just proves we are a good team and that we are tough enough to play against a team like that.”
MSU was 5 of 34 in the first half (14.7 percent) and still trailed only 22-13 at halftime. The percentage improved to only 31.4 percent (well below the team’s 37.1-percent mark for the season) in the second half.
MSU also didn’t help itself by going 3 of 5 from the free-throw line and getting outrebounded 59-39. The Lady Bulldogs committed only 13 turnovers and had 10 assists.
Still, there weren’t enough positives or scorers to offset Tennessee’s advantages in size, strength, and quickness.
MSU still had a chance to rally after senior center Catina Bett left the game after fainting with 6 minutes, 56 seconds remaining. Bett was wobbly as she lined up in rebounding position on the right block for a free throw. But her legs buckled and she fell to the floor. She opened her eyes immediately and was helped from the court.
MSU coach Sharon Fanning-Otis said Bett was taken to a local hospital and likely was suffering from dehydration. She said Bett has suffered from those symptoms earlier in the season and that she has recovered after past incidents.
MSU trailed 44-28 when Bett left and then used a 12-4 run to cut the deficit to 48-38 on a three-point play by Porter. But Grant came up short on a 3-pointer from the left wing that could have fueled the comeback. The Lady Bulldogs then missed their next three shots and then failed to box on two free throws that allowed Stricklen to score five easy points to help seal the deal.
Grant didn’t look like she was “star struck” playing against a program that has won a record eight national championships. She agreed with Johnson that MSU helped beat itself by failing to knock down shots. Nearly all of the shots were from the perimeter as Tennessee held a 28-12 advantage in points in the paint. The Lady Volunteers also held a 20-0 edge in bench points.
Despite experiencing some of the same problems and lamenting they played a big part in the loss, Johnson said the team remains positive.
“We know we are right here and we feel we are going through this for a reason,” Johnson said. “We believe we are going to be a contender for the SEC championship. The only team that has really kicked our tail is Kentucky, and they lost to Alabama tonight. These games that we are playing people over and over, we are just right there. We are probably playing at our best with our consistency, and we are going to try to get some momentum going into the SEC tournament. When we do, watch out because when we get it on a run, we’re going to be a team to watch there.”
Fanning-Otis also liked the way her team competed, forced turnovers, and executed its sets on offense, particularly in the first half. But she, too, lamented the fact her team didn’t do the little things well enough for extended periods to stay with Tennessee.
“I think we are getting better and the players are seeing that and very seriously feeling that and understand they can win games,” Fanning-Otis said. “Hopefully we learn enough, and we have three games to finish before we go into the tournament. We want to finish playing as hard as we played, but trying to eliminate some of the mental mistakes we had.”
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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