Video: HailState Hoops Uses Historic Night to Win Top Ten Showdown vs. No. 9 Oregon

STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI/MSU Athletics) – Teaira McCowan and Victoria Vivians led the way as the No. 5/3 Mississippi State women’s basketball team knocked off No. 9/9 Oregon 90-79 in a Top-10 battle played before a national television audience and a Humphrey Coliseum holiday crowd of 5,445.

MSU (10-0) shot 53.8 percent from the field and led the final 38 minutes of the game. The Bulldogs only committed eight turnovers and held a slight rebounding advantage.

McCowan barely missed her second 30-point, 20-rebound night on the season with a career-high 35 points and 19 rebounds. Vivians scored 26 second-half points to finish with a season-high 30 points.

McCowan hit 15 of 18 shots from the field, while Vivians hit 10 of 15 shots from the field. Roshunda Johnson had five assists, while McCowan had five blocks. The Bulldogs had pair of 30-point scorers in a game for the first time since 1992.

“Very proud of the resiliency of this team,” MSU head coach Vic Schaefer said. “The resiliency and the effort were tremendous. Oregon has a great basketball team. They have so many weapons. Scoring 90 points against their defense is impressive. On offense, our execution was great.”

MSU used a 13-2 run to open a 17-8 advantage with 4:17 left in the first quarter. The Bulldogs led 23-19 after one quarter.

In the second quarter, the Ducks were back within a point at 25-24. McCowan then capped a 5-0 run for a 30-24 lead. Again the Ducks were within one at 32-31. The Bulldogs would follow with 11 straight points to eventually lead 45-33 at halftime.

McCowan had a double-double (21 points, 10 rebounds) by halftime.

“A big key to the game were the minutes provided by Jazzmun (Holmes),” Schaefer said. “She really came in there late in the first half and gave us a lot of energy. That is when we got our separation in the game. Teaira really came out and gave us a great first half. Victoria took things over in the second half.”

A 12-0 run midway through the third quarter would allow the Bulldogs to push the advantage to 64-44. MSU held a 70-55 lead after three quarters. In the fourth quarter, the lead would remain double-digits the rest of the way.

For the contest, MSU hit 35 of 65 shots from the field (53.8 percent), 7 of 16 shots from 3-point range (43.8 percent) and 13 of 15 shots from the foul line (86.7 percent). Oregon hit 32 of 58 shots from the field (55.2 percent), 7 of 14 shots from 3-point range (50.0 percent) and 8 of 9 shots from the foul line (88.9 percent).

MSU held a 29-27 rebounding advantage. The Bulldogs had 15 assists and eight turnovers, while the Ducks had 15 assists and 15 turnovers.

Oregon (8-2) received 25 points from Ruthy Hebard, 17 points from Satou Sabally, 15 points from Sabrina Ionescu and 10 points from Maite Carzola. Hebard had a team-high seven rebounds.

MSU will host Maine at 2 p.m. Sunday. The contest will be televised nationally on SEC Network +.

Sunday’s game will be the second installment of “Christmas at The Hump,” where fans can take pictures with Santa and enjoy a holiday reading at halftime.

Also during halftime, State will host its second Teddy Bear Toss. Fans who bring a stuffed bear will receive a free ticket at the gate and the opportunity to toss the bear onto the court to be donated to a child in need.