No. 3 Mississippi State moves closer to SEC regular-season women’s basketball title

Victoria Vivians scored 25 points and No. 3 Mississippi State avoided an upset with a 72-67 victory over No. 23 Texas A&M on Sunday.

The Aggies (19-8, 9-5 SEC) led by seven points in the fourth quarter before the Bulldogs (27-1, 13-1) charged back, highlighted by Teaira McCowan’s two field goals in the paint in the last 1:17. McCowan had 16 points for the Bulldogs

A&M had a seven-point lead with seven minutes remaining, but Vivians scored 10 points the rest of the way to key the comeback. The Aggies lost despite making all seven of their 3-point attempts, including 4 for 4 by Danni Williams and 3 for 3 by Taylor Cooper. Williams led the Aggies with 23 points.

Mississippi State’s reserves outscored their A&M counterparts 28-0, and the Bulldogs held a 34-22 advantage in the paint. Bulldogs coach Vic Schaefer spent 15 years with A&M coach Gary Blair as an assistant, the first six at Arkansas and the last nine at A&M, prior to taking the MSU job five years ago.

With the comeback victory, MSU locked up one of the top two seeds in the SEC Tournament that starts March 2 in Greenville, South Carolina.

Vanderbilt 85, Ole Miss women 67: Ole Miss outscored Vanderbilt 29-15 in the third quarter, but the Rebels fell short in Nashville.

Eric Whalen led Vanderbilt with 24 points. Kaleigh Clemons-Green had 16 points.

Madinah Muhammad led the Lady Rebels with 19 points for her 16th game in double figures this season. Shandricka Sessom added 16 points. Alissa Alston finished with 11 points.

This story was originally published February 19, 2017 at 6:54 PM with the headline "No. 3 Mississippi State moves closer to SEC regular-season women’s basketball title."