STARKVILLE — During a record-setting season, Mississippi State women’s basketball coach Vic Schaefer had said numerous times he didn’t see one-sided victories coming.
Schaefer felt the same way Sunday afternoon at Humphrey Coliseum, but they were for all of the wrong reasons.
With a chance to win a share of the program’s first Southeastern Conference regular-season championship, No. 3 MSU fell flat and was beaten in “every phase of the game” by Tennessee in an 82-64 loss.
The second-largest crowd to attend a women’s basketball game (10,500) showed up and looked on helplessly. A line circled the Hump outside twice and was formed more than two hours before the game and more than 30 minutes before the coliseum opened.
“I wish I had a chance to shake everyone of those 10,500 people’s hands and apologize,” Schaefer said. “This is not what this program is about. This is not what I expected.”
MSU hit only four of its first 21 shots and fell behind 26-9. The Bulldogs had four first-quarter field goals and went better than seven minutes in between baskets in the first half. The problems were just as bad on the other side.
MSU held nine conference opponents to 54 points or fewer. Tennessee went for 82, four days after Kentucky earned a 78-75 overtime win in Lexington, Kentucky.
MSU still will be the No. 2 seed in the SEC tournament and will face No. 7 LSU or No. 10 Ole Miss at 5 p.m. Friday in Greenville, South Carolina. The Bulldogs head to the tournament following back-to-back losses for the first time this season.
“If you are asking, if we are trending downwards, then yes we are,” Schaefer said. “We can fix that. It will be fixed. It will be addressed in practice. We were out-toughed, outplayed physically. They played more aggressively than we did. They played harder than we did. That is not what this program is about.”
MSU defeated Tennessee in Humphrey Coliseum for the first time in program history a year ago. The Bulldogs followed that up with an SEC tournament victory against the Lady Volunteers. This season, MSU took an earlier meeting in Knoxville, Tennessee. In that 74-64 victory, Teaira McCowan had 14 points and nine rebounds. The Bulldogs fed the post with consistency and got good results.
“That was not going to happen again,” Tennessee forward Jaime Nared said. “Our whole focus was on stopping the inside game. Mississippi State has a great team. We wanted to make them make shots from the outside to beat us.”
McCowan and Chinwe Okorie combined for one point and six rebounds. On top of that, the Bulldogs weren’t able to make outside shots on a consistent basis.
Tennessee shot 44.8 percent from the field and led 36-20 at halftime.
The lead grew to 20 in the opening minutes of the third quarter. Typically, the Bulldogs can turn games back in their favor with steals, loose balls, and by drawing charging fouls. Tennessee was only called for one charge and committed 13 turnovers.
“We forced nine turnovers (at Kentucky) and 13 in this game,” Schaefer said. “That is not us at our best. That tells you something is missing.”
Still, the Bulldogs had one chance. Roshunda Johnson hit back-to-back 3-pointers in the final 64 seconds of the third quarter to cut Tennessee’s lead to 14. MSU had it within 10 on two Morgan William free throws with 8 minutes, 24 seconds remaining. Tennessee then hit its next six shots from the field.
“It was a helpless feeling because we couldn’t get a defensive stop,” MSU senior Dominique Dillingham said. “We know we didn’t play well enough to win the game, and that is disappointing. Winning can sometimes mask your weaknesses. It did some of that with this team.”
Victoria Vivians led the Bulldogs with 18 points, while Johnson had 16 and William had 10.
Those numbers paled in comparison to the career-high 30 points for Nared or the career-high 17 points from Jordan Reynolds. Diamond DeShields had 20.
“They had nine offensive rebounds, it felt more like 19,” Schaefer said. “We were beaten in points off turnovers, second-chance points, and fast-break points. It’s hard to find an effort stat that we were even in competitive in.”
Tennessee (19-10, 10-6) nailed down the No. 5 seed in the conference tournament. A bizarre season for the Lady Vols includes road wins over top-10 foes South Carolina and MSU but also road losses at Ole Miss and Alabama.
This was Tennessee’s first road win against a top-three opponent since 2004. Coach Holly Warlick said she quit trying to analyze her team earlier in the season. Instead, it is on to the conference tournament with a three-game winning streak.
“So much respect for Vic, his staff, and his program,” Warlick said. “They are worthy of their ranking. This was the most complete game we have played all season. There are no excuses now for this team. We have on tape what we can do when everybody plays together. That is the biggest thing. The confidence is high because everybody is playing together.”
MSU enjoyed four months of confidence before coming crashing back to reality Sunday. Projected as one of the nation’s four No. 1 seeds for the NCAA tournament earlier this week, Schaefer was in campaign mode after the game for the right to play host the first two rounds for a second-straight season.
“You never know what the committee will do,” Schaefer said. “Twenty-seven and three overall, 13-3 in the best conference in the nation,” Schaefer said. “That number should make you feel really good at the end of the season. Today, it doesn’t, though. Maybe, tomorrow it will. We just had so much more to play for.”
Follow Dispatch sports writer Scott Walters on Twitter @dispatchscott
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
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