MSU Women’s Basketball Beats Tennessee, Advances To SEC Title Game

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Victoria Vivians scored 30 points, her most since mid-December, and No. 16 Mississippi State beat Tennessee 58-48 in the semifinals of the Southeastern Conference women’s tournament Saturday.

The Bulldogs (26-6) won their fifth in a row and advanced to the title game against top-seeded and league-unbeaten South Carolina. The third-ranked Gamecocks beat No. 13 Kentucky 93-63 in the other semifinal.

This one was considerably closer until late.

Although Vivians single-handily turned a tight game into a double-digit lead in the third quarter, No. 7 seed Tennessee (19-13) rallied in the fourth and made it 43-41 with about 8 minutes to play.

But Mississippi State — mostly Vivians — responded.

After Morgan William and Dominique Dillingham hit baskets, Vivians scored five straight points to push the lead to 52-43 with 3:16 remaining.

Diamond DeShields led Tennessee with 22 points on 8-of-20 shooting. Jaime Nared added 12 points before fouling out with 2:07 to play.

Vivians finished 11-of-20 shooting, including 5 of 10 from behind the arc, and had nine rebounds. The rest of the Bulldogs were 6 of 33 from the field.

William had 12 points on 2-of-12 shooting. She was 7-of-8 shooting from the free-throw line, including all four in the final two-plus minutes of the game.

What Vivians did to start the third quarter was impressive and imperative to the victory.

With the Bulldogs leading 25-22 to start the third, Vivians made her first five shots of the frame. She hit two jump shots, a layup, a 3-pointer and another jumper to put the Bulldogs ahead 36-26.

It didn’t last, but it was key to keeping the Bulldogs ahead down the stretch.

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TIP-INS

Tennessee: Failed to reach 20 wins and will need to win a game in the NCAA Tournament to extend its impressive streak to 40-consecutive seasons with at least 20 wins. … Had advanced to the SEC title game in each of the previous two seasons. … DeShields left the game briefly in the second half after hard contact in the lane. She got some padding wrapped around her left shin and returned.

Mississippi State: Advanced to the SEC final for the first time since 2000. Lost to Tennessee that year. … Improved to 3-0 in Jacksonville this season. The Bulldogs beat South Florida at Veterans Memorial Arena in late December.

UP NEXT:

Tennessee awaits its NCAA Tournament seeding and pairing.

Mississippi State plays South Carolina in the SEC final Sunday.