KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — In more than three decades as a head coach or assistant, Mississippi State’s Vic Schaefer says he’s never worked with a better offense than the one he has now.

But the Bulldogs showed Sunday they also can still play the championship-caliber defense that’s become so important in the program’s recent emergence as a national contender.

Victoria Vivians had 24 points and nine rebounds as No. 3 Mississippi State defeated No. 6 Tennessee 71-52 to remain unbeaten and match its best start in school history. Tennessee posted its lowest point total of the season, missed its last 10 shots and had no baskets in the game’s final 7 minutes and 54 seconds.

“Tonight’s a step,” Schaefer said. “I hope like heck we’re really making progress and we’re going to carry these on now to the last 10 (games) because we’ve got some monsters in front of us, but boy, today, was really special defensively.”

Mississippi State (20-0, 6-0 Southeastern Conference) also had a 20-0 start last season and went on to finish 34-5 with a loss to South Carolina in the NCAA Tournament championship game.

“I have been on them about defense,” Schaefer said. “That’s the difference between this year’s team and last year’s team. We’re not very good defensively. And today we managed to find a way to really play well defensively.”

Mississippi State also showed its toughness on the glass. The Bulldogs outrebounded Tennessee 44-33 and outscored the Lady Vols 20-11 in second-chance points. Tennessee (16-3, 4-2) entered the day with a plus-11.4 rebound margin that ranked fifth among all Division I teams.

Mississippi State’s Teaira McCowan had 12 points and 18 rebounds, with 10 of her boards coming on the offensive end. Roshunda Johnson scored 16 points and Blair Schaefer added 12 for Mississippi State.

“We just didn’t play hard as a team for 40 minutes, period,” Tennessee guard Evina Westbrook said. “That can’t happen.”

Tennessee’s Mercedes Russell scored 16 points and shot 7-of-9, but the 6-foot-6 center didn’t get much help. Russell’s teammates shot a combined 12-of-44 from the floor and scored 36 points.
Jaime Nared had 12 points for Tennessee, but shot just 3-of-14.

Mississippi State outscored Tennessee 21-0 on 3-pointers, as the Bulldogs shot 7-of-18 from distance and the Lady Vols went 0-for-8.

Tennessee has lost three of its last four, with all four of those games coming against Top 25 foes.
The Lady Vols lost 79-76 in overtime at No. 16 Texas A&M, won 86-70 at No. 10 South Carolina and lost 84-70 at No. 5 Notre Dame before returning home to face Mississippi State. They led Texas A&M by four points in overtime and squandered a 23-point advantage at Notre Dame.

“I’m disappointed our kids weren’t more tough,” Tennessee coach Holly Warlick said. “I’ll just be honest with you. I thought we gave up too many loose balls. We didn’t get on the floor as much. We’ve done that. It just didn’t appear that we had that today. We’ve got to make sure we instill that in our kids.”

Florida 61, Ole Miss 60

Haley Lorenzen’s putback layup with 27 seconds left gave Florida a victory over Ole Miss.

Lorenzen’s basket capped Florida’s comeback from a 13-point deficit at the start of the fourth quarter. They started the period with a 14-0 run to lead 59-56 with 2:50 to go. After Ole Miss (11-8, 1-5 Southeastern Conference) scored two baskets to regain the lead, Lorenzen’s layup turned out to be the game-winner.

Ole Miss had a chance to win it with 9.1 seconds to play, but Lorenzen blocked Alissa Alston’s layup and Dyandria Anderson grabbed the rebound with one second remaining. The Gators (10-10, 2-5) inbounded the ball and secured their second consecutive SEC victory after dropping their first five.

Ole Miss lost its third straight game, and for the fifth time in six games. Its lone victory in that stretch came in double overtime against Florida on Jan. 7 in Oxford.

Alston led the Rebels with 17 points, while Madinah Muhammad and Promise Taylor each scored 12. Muhammad also had seven assists.

Lorenzen had a game-high 18 points and 13 rebounds for Florida. Delicia Washington also had a double-double, with 15 points and 10 rebounds.