Feb. 17, 2011
STARKVILLE, Miss. – It took almost 26 minutes, but Vanderbilt was finally able to rid itself of a scrappy Mississippi State team by erasing a seven-point deficit with a huge second-half run, which snapped a two-game losing streak in Starkville as the Commodores earned a 74-62 win Thursday at Humphrey Coliseum.
Trailing by six at the time, Vanderbilt (18-8, 9-4 SEC) used a 17-0 run in the second half to take command of the game with an 11-point lead, 55-44, with 8:27 to play. Mississippi State (10-15, 2-11 SEC) would get no closer than seven points from that point on.
“I got a little vocal at halftime because I didn’t like our energy, our body language and we hadn’t looked like that in a while,” Head Coach Melanie Balcomb said. “I think we might have been a little hung-over after the Tennessee game, but this shouldn’t be our recovery look.”
The win kept Vanderbilt in the thick of the SEC race for second place in the SEC and trail second-place Georgia by one game with three to play.
Vanderbilt was paced by Tiffany Clarke, who poured in 22 points and collected a career-high 14 rebounds for her third double-double of the season. Jasmine Lister added 16 points, 14 of which came in the second half.
After shooting just 33.3% from the floor in the first half, Vanderbilt shot 50% in the second half, while holding Mississippi State to just 33.3% shooting for the game.
With the win, Vanderbilt swept the season series with the Bulldogs and earned their fifth win in its last six games. It was Vanderbilt’s first win of the season when trailing at the half (1-5).
Vanderbilt trailed 31-29 at the half and Mississippi State scored the first five points of the second half to take its largest lead of the game, 36-29, with 18:59 to play. The Bulldogs would maintain a sizeable cushion until the 13:48 mark when the Commodores would go on their run.
Vanderbilt held a five-point lead early in the game, but was unable to extend its advantage as the Bulldogs went to the locker room with a 31-29 lead. The first half featured 12 lead changes. There was just one lead change in the second half.
Both teams started cold from the floor. MSU began just 4-of-24, while Vanderbilt began 6-of-17. Neither team finished the half much better, MSU making 11-of-35 attempts (31.4%) and Vanderbilt making 9-of-27 (33.3%). Vanderbilt shot just 34.5% from the floor in its win earlier this season against the Bulldogs.
Vanderbilt trailed by two at the half, but it could have been worse if not for Tiffany Clarke, who scored 15 of Vanderbilt’s first 20 points, while making 6-of-8 field goals to start the game. Clarke also had seven rebounds at the half.
Vanderbilt will host No. 19 Kentucky in its annual Pink Out game Sunday at Memorial Gym. The game tips at 1 p.m. CT and will be shown on the SEC Network. Fans are encouraged to wear pink to the game to show their support for breast cancer research.
Notes
– Jence Rhoads finished with seven rebounds and became just the second player in school history with 1,000 points, 500 assists and 400 rebounds in her career.
– Tiffany Clarke had her fourth career double-double and third of the season … Clarke posted a career-high 14 rebounds.
– Vanderbilt freshman Christina Foggie returned to the court for the first time since Jan. 23 at Kentucky … Foggie checked into the game with 14:56 to play in the first half.
– Vanderbilt was 0-5 when trailing at the half.
