Danberry, Carter help No. 10 Mississippi State past LSU
STARKVILLE, Miss. (AP) — Jordan Danberry scored 16 points and Jessika Carter had 13 points and 11 rebounds for her sixth double-double of the season, leading No. 10 Mississippi State to a 64-60 win over LSU on Thursday night.
Mississippi State (16-2, 4-0 SEC) had its 20-point lead in the second half dwindle to three points in the fourth quarter, but MSU held on to beat the Tigers (13-4, 3-2).
Mississippi State held LSU to six points in the second quarter and led 34-22 at halftime. MSU then opened the second half on a 10-0 run and increased its lead to 20 points. The Tigers slowly worked their way back into the game and got the lead down to three points at 63-60 with 20 seconds left.
Free throws were an issue for both teams as they combined to go 12 of 33. The Tigers went 5 of 16 from the line, and MSU was 8 of 19. The teams also combined to go 1 for 8 from the 3-point line, with the Tigers making the only shot from long distance.
The Tigers had a 36-33 rebounding advantage and they out-scored MSU 18-9 in the fourth quarter, but the 20-point deficit was too much to overcome.
Ayanna Mitchell scored a game-high 22 points for LSU on 10-for-12 shooting and added 12 rebounds. The Tigers also got a double-double from Faustine Aifuwa, who had 10 points and 12 rebounds. Khayla Pointer had 14 points.
Danberry led the Bulldogs with 16 points and five rebounds, and Andra Espinoza-Hunter scored 10 points.
BIG PICTURE
Mississippi State: Since dropping two-straight games to No. 3 Stanford and No. 17 West Virginia earlier in the season, the Bulldogs have reeled off eight consecutive wins and started 4-0 in league play heading into Monday night's matchup against No. 1 South Carolina.
LSU: The Tigers couldn’t duplicate success from their win on the road against former top-10 Texas A&M and fell to 3-2 in SEC play.
UP NEXT
Mississippi State: At No. 1 South Carolina on Monday.
LSU: Hosts No. 11 Kentucky on Sunday.
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