HONOLULU — The No. 7 Mississippi State women’s basketball team shot 51.9 percent from the field Friday night in a 75-63 victory against Oregon in the opening round of the Rainbow Wahine Classic at the Stan Sheriff Center.
Victoria Vivians led the way with 17 points, while Morgan William added 14 and Chinwe Okorie had 11. Okorie added six rebounds to help the Bulldogs (5-0) earn their fourth victory away from the Humphrey Coliseum.
Vivians moved past the 1,200-point mark for her career and moved into 11th place in the MSU record book.
“Oregon has some really great players,” MSU coach Vic Schaefer said. “They have a bunch of competitors. I knew this would be a knock-down drag-out. I was disappointed in some of our mental mistakes. Sometimes, we didn’t follow the scouting report and didn’t switch out.
“This game was not a letdown. You have to give credit to the opponents. We are now the hunted. We are learning about the role. In the third quarter, we took their best shot and responded. I am really proud of that.”
The Bulldogs held a 13-9 lead with back-to-back baskets from Dominique Dillingham and Ketara Chapel. After Oregon (4-1) tied the game at 13, MSU used a 7-0 run, capped by an old-fashioned 3-point play from Vivians, to seize control.
Oregon cut the deficit to a point twice early in the second quarter. The Bulldogs pushed the lead to 30-23 on a 6-0 run. Roshunda Johnson capped the run with two free throws.
The Bulldogs took a 39-30 halftime lead on a basket by Okorie with 42 seconds left.
In the opening half, the Bulldogs shot 62.5 percent from the field (15 of 24).
Oregon closed to 44-42 with six minutes left in the third quarter. Vivians followed with back-to-baskets for a 49-42 lead. Oregon was held to one field goal in the final 4 minutes, 14 seconds of the quarter, as MSU led 53-47 entering the final quarter.
In the fourth quarter, the Bulldogs stretched the lead to a game-best 10 points at 67-57 on a 3-pointer by Dillingham.
“We will see a ton of zone this year,” Schaefer said. “We made some bad decisions in the second half, but we will work at it and get better at it. Playing on consecutive nights will help this team.”
MSU was 27 of 52 from the field (51.9 percent), 4 of 11 from 3-point range (36.4), and 17 of 22 from the free-throw line (77.3). The Ducks were 23 of 52 from the field (44.2), 5 of 18 from 3-point range (27.8), and 12 of 16 from the free-throw line (75).
MSU held a 28-24 rebounding advantage. The Bulldogs had 13 assists and 14 turnovers, while the Ducks had 12 assists and 16 turnovers.
Lexi Bando and Sabrina Ionescu led Oregon with 14 points. Matie Cazorla had 11. Bando had a team-high six rebounds.
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