Well we figured it would come eventually. The Lady Bulldogs went into Nashville with a spotless 18-0 record, but ended up leaving with their first loss of the season. The Vanderbilt Commodores were determined to play their style of basketball, and it payed off. Vanderbilt utilized quick passes and good transition offense to defeat a Bulldog squad that was tops in the SEC defensively. Vanderbilt shot an amazing 62.9% from the floor, the highest percentage given up by this Mississippi State squad all year.

The loss marks the end to the best start in Mississippi State history, and squashes any chance for an undefeated season. Thus far, this season hasn’t been anything to scoff at. Though Vanderbilt is 9-7 on the year, they are a very tough squad who finally figured out their identity. The bad part is that they figured it out against our Lady Bulldogs. The Lady Dores dominated from the charity stripe as they shot 33-42 (78.6%).

Give Vanderbilt credit for disrupting everything that went positive for Mississippi State in the past. Also, any time the Lady Bulldogs were starting to go on a run, Vanderbilt would answer right back. The momentum started with Vanderbilt and never looked back. To start off the game, Vanderbilt was assessed an “Administrative Technical Foul” for not turning in the lineup in time. This violates NCAA Rule 10, Section 2, Article 2. a.

Before the 10-minute mark is reached on the game clock that is counting down the time before the start of the game, each team shall supply the scorers with names and uniform numbers of squad members who may participate, and those of the five starting players.

Victoria Vivians went to the line to take the shots and missed both. It got worse from there as the Commodores generated a 13 point lead in the first half. Vanderbilt ended up leading 34-24 at halftime and further extended the lead in the second half. All in all, Vanderbilt never trailed in this game. Vic Schaefer, the Secretary of Defense, was livid throughout the game, and cannot be happy with the team’s performance on the court today.

The 18-1 (3-1 SEC) Lady Bulldogs will return to the Hump on Thursday to face off against LSU. Tip off is slated for 7:00 PM CST and can be seen on SECN+ (online).