WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL NO. 13 MISS. STATE 65, ARKANSAS

Arkansas’ lucky 13 routine unravels

Arkansas' Jordan Danberry goes up for a shot against Mississippi State's Ketara Chapel Sunday, Jan. 31, 2016, at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville. The Razorbacks lost to the Lady Bulldogs 65-55.

FAYETTEVILLE -- Visits to Bud Walton Arena didn't end well for the first three ranked teams Arkansas hosted this season, including two schools -- Texas A&M and Tennessee -- that came to town ranked 13th in the nation.

Mississippi State put a firm end to that trend Sunday.

NO. 13 MISSISSIPPI STATE 65,

ARKANSAS 55

MISSISSIPPI STATE (19-4, 6-3)

Vivians 5-12 6-6 17; William 1-6 9-12 11; Dillingham 5-12 0-0 11; Richardson 4-5 2-2 10; Chapel 3-6 0-0 6; Okorie 2-3 2-2 6; Holmes 1-3 0-0 2; Williams 0-0 2-2 2; Nevitt 0-0 0-0 0; McCowan 0-0 0-0 0; Schaefer 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 21-48 21-24 65.

ARKANSAS (9-13, 4-5)

Jackson 3-14 3-4 12; Danberry 4-8 4-4 12; Wolff 2-6 3-4 7; Cooley 3-4 0-0 6; Brooks 1-5 3-3 5; Cosper 2-10 0-0 4; Swenson 2-6 0-0 4; Monk 1-4 1-2 3; Freeman 1-6 0-0 2; West 0-0 0-0 0; Zimmerman 0-0 0-2 0. Totals 19-63 14-19 55.

Mississippi State;16 11 19 19 — 65

Arkansas;8 10 14 23 — 55

3-point goals— Mississippi State 2-7 (Vivians 1-2; Dillingham 1-1; Holmes 0-1; Schaefer 0-1; William 0-2; Arkansas 3-11 (Jackson 3-5; Danberry 0-1; Brooks 0-3; Cosper 0-1; Swenson 0-1). Fouled out— Mississippi State-William, Arkansas-Jackson, Monk, Danberry. Rebounds—Mississippi State 38 (Okorie 7), Arkansas 33 (Wolff 9). Assists — Mississippi State 11 (William 4), Arkansas 8 (Monk, Danberry 2). Total fouls — Mississippi State 20, Arkansas 24. Estimated Actual Attendance 4,011

Victoria Vivians, the SEC's leading scorer, scored a game-high 17 points to lead the 13th-ranked Bulldogs to a 65-55 victory over the Razorbacks and a sweep in the season series.

Mississippi State (19-4, 6-3) held Arkansas to 27 percent shooting in the first half and extended a nine-point halftime to as much as 16 with Arkansas shooting 30 percent for the game.

The game was closer than the Bulldogs' 80-55 victory on Jan. 10 in Starkville, but the outcome was the same because of Mississippi State's dominant defense.

"Feel like we beat a really good basketball team today, a team that's been playing really well since they left us three weeks ago," Mississippi State Coach Vic Schaefer said. "They pretty much haven't been the same since they left us and so to come in here and play like we did, I thought we did defended well."

Arkansas (9-13, 4-5) has now lost three consecutive after starting SEC play 4-2, including three victories over top-25 foes. The recent skid started with back-to-back overtime losses to Auburn and Florida. Victories in those games would have had Arkansas in second place in the conference. Instead, the youthful roster is stuck in a logjam in the middle of the conference standings with three games against ranked foes in their next five.

"We're so dadgum close to being 7-2 or whatever it is, but we're not and it is what it is," Arkansas Coach Jimmy Dykes said. "I know our record's not great, but we're going to fix that down the line. I'm not worried about that. We are going to win big here. It's not going to come as quick as I want it to, but I know it's going to happen."

Sunday, Arkansas missed eight consecutive shots in the first quarter and Mississippi State outscored Arkansas 10-0 to take a commanding lead. The Razorbacks never got closer than eight the remainder of the game. Dominique Dillingham and Morgan William each added 11 and Breanna Richardson chipped in 10 for Mississippi State, which had lost two of three games before picking up the win.

The Bulldogs held Jessica Jackson, Arkansas' leading scorer, to 12 points on 3 of 14 shooting after she scored 20 on 9-of-18 shooting in the teams' first meeting. She didn't score in the first half as Mississippi State built its lead.

"We're athletic at that position, too, which helps," Schaefer said. "Got two really good players there that can match up with her and stay fresh. ... And we've had some success against her, but she certainly brought it at our place, so that got our kid's attention and we're smart enough to know if we're going to deal with Arkansas, we've got to deal with her."

Mississippi State scored 28 points off 23 Razorbacks turnovers in the first meeting. The Razorbacks turned it over 16 times leading to 13 points on Sunday, but the struggle to get good looks nearly resulted in a season-low for points scored in a home game, edging out a 69-54 December loss to Missouri State in the final minute.

"I asked them at one of the timeouts, what offense is this?" Dykes said. "I've never seen this before. We're standing. We're not moving. We're not setting screens. We were a little better in the second half because we started getting in our quick-hitting attack stuff."

Freshman Jordan Danberry scored 10 of her 12 points after halftime and finishing 4 of 8 shooting, one of two Razorbacks to shoot at least 50 percent from the floor. She was also effective as Arkansas' primary ballhandler, committing three turnovers in 21 minutes against pressure defense.

"The more I play in this league, the more comfortable it is and easy it is to penetrate and push and kick out to my teammates," Danberry said.

Arkansas will play Thursday at No. 19 Tennessee. The Razorbacks beat the Lady Vols 64-59 at home on Jan. 14.

Sports on 02/01/2016