#6 Bulldogs Stay On Fire Against Furman
STARKVILLE, Miss. (MSU Athletics) – Teaira McCowan scored 24 points on a perfect 11-for-11 afternoon from the floor, and Chloe Bibby knocked in a career-best 21 points as the No. 6 Mississippi State women’s basketball team rolled past Furman 106-41 Wednesday in the Humphrey Coliseum.
The Bulldogs (5-0) ushered in the Thanksgiving break with a fifth straight win while shooting 62.7 percent from the floor. The Bulldogs also forced 26 turnovers and scored 41 points off those takeaways.
The victory was MSU’s 50th-straight win against non-conference foes in the months of November and December. It was also the Bulldogs’ 24th consecutive home victory, the fifth-longest streak in the country.
Mississippi State reached the 100-point mark for the third straight game, another program first for this year’s squad.
“I’m very proud of our team today,” Bulldog head coach Vic Schaefer said. “I thought, again, they came out and were ready to play. I was impressed with Furman. I thought those kids competed hard. They came out, attacked us right away and created a little bit of a soft spot that we had to adjust to, and we did. I was proud of our kids for adjusting to that, but I just thought we played really hard and made it hard for them to get into anything they wanted to do.”
McCowan finished with her third double-double of the season and 43rd of her career as she also had 10 rebounds. The Brenham, Texas, native became the first Bulldog in program history to go perfect from the field on 10 or more attempts.
Bibby notched her fifth straight game in double figures as she eclipsed 20 points for the first time in her young career. The Warracknabeal, Australia, native hit 8 of her 10 field goal attempts, including 5-of-6 from the 3-point arc.
“It’s great when you have someone like Chloe who comes out and shoots it as well as she did tonight – 8 out of 10, 5-of-6 from three, five rebounds, three assists, zero turnovers in 25 minutes. That’s a great job,” Schaefer said. “We obviously shot the ball well from three again. We’re getting better and better out there, and it always helps to have that third person. Jazz (Holmes) made one out there today so that gives us a fourth.”
The duo led five Bulldogs in double figures on the afternoon. Andra Espinoza-Hunter tallied 14 points, Anriel Howard 12 and Myah Taylor 10.
Jordan Danberry, Jazzmun Holmes and Taylor each had six assists. Jessika Carter finished with four blocked shots.
The Bulldogs built an early 16-5 lead after a jumper by Howard. After the Paladins scored on the next possession, the Bulldogs reeled off the final 15 points of the first quarter for a 31-7 lead.
Bre’Amber Scott scored in the final seconds of the quarter to round out the scoring.
From there, the run extended to 30-0 as the Bulldogs held the Paladins without points for better than 10 minutes.
A layup by Bibby capped the run.
The Bulldogs shot 63.2 percent from the floor in the second quarter to build a 60-18 halftime lead.
For the contest, the Bulldogs shot better than 60 percent from the field for the second game in a row, hitting 42 of 67 shots (62.7 percent). State also made 12 of 20 shots from 3-point range (60.0 percent) and 10 of 19 shots from the foul line (52.0 percent).
The Paladins hit 17 of 53 shots from the field (32.1 percent), 7 of 24 shots from 3-point range (29.2 percent) and hit no free throws.
MSU held a 45-24 rebounding advantage. The Bulldogs had 28 assists and 11 turnovers, while the Paladins had eight assists and 26 turnovers.
Furman (2-3) received 17 points from Le’Jzae Davidson.
MSU caps a four-game homestand at 2 p.m. Saturday against Jackson State. MSU hosts its annual Teddy Bear Toss that day, with free admission for fans who bring a Teddy Bear.
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