While the men’s NCAA tournament has been turned upside down by upsets and Cinderella stories, the women’s tournament has gone according to the script so far.
The Mississippi State women are hoping that doesn’t change tonight as they attempt to take their next step toward avenging last year’s loss in the title game as they take on #4 seed NC State. The Bulldogs’ second-round victory over Oklahoma State was closer than some may have thought it would be for a while, as MSU led by just one at the half.
In the second half, the Bulldogs tightened up on defense and were able to put the Cowgirls away, but as the tournament rolls on they may not have the luxury of waiting till the later stages of the game to turn it on. Look for an energized and focused Bulldog squad right from the jump. When teams can begin to visualize a trip to the Elite Eight and beyond anything can happen, so MSU cannot rest on their prior success to get past the Wolfpack.
If the MSU stars can replicate their second-round performances, they should be in a good spot. In the win, Victoria Vivians led the way with 23 points, but it was Tearia McCowan’s presence down low that gave MSU an edge. The junior finished with 21 points and 12 rebounds against OSU, and at 6’7 there’s no reason to think that she can’t do it again.
The challenge for MSU will be defending the Wolfpack’s starting five, which all scored in double figures in their victory over Maryland in round two. The good news for MSU is that NC State has not beat a top-5 opponent all season long as they have fallen to #5 Notre Dame and #4 Louisville twice. The Wolfpack were picked to finish 10th in the ACC and now find themselves in the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2007, so they’ll be playing with house money and nothing to lose which is always dangerous.
While NC State hasn’t been to this stage in 11 years, this is MSU’s third trip to the Sweet 16 in four years. The experience factor favors the Bulldogs, and that could come into play if this is a close game late in the fourth quarter.
For the first two rounds, MSU enjoyed home-court advantage in front of 10,000 fans for both games, but now they hit the road with Kansas City as the host for this matchup.
Tip-off tonight is set for 6 p.m.
