No. 15 Mississippi St. on to finals of Woman of Troy Classic (Dec 17, 2016)
LOS ANGELES (AP) Mississippi State barely broke a sweat getting to 11-0 on Friday night.
Lost a little blood, though.
Blair Schaefer scored a career-high 18 points before leaving to get stitches on her face, and No. 5 Mississippi State beat SMU 91-42 on Friday night at the Woman of Troy Classic.
The Bulldogs advanced to Sunday's tournament championship game against Southern California.
Schaefer made 6 of 11 shots, including four 3-pointers, and MSU remained the only undefeated team in the SEC.
''It was cool that my teammates were getting me open looks,'' said Schaefer, who is the daughter of head coach Vic Schaefer. ''They kept me telling me to shoot, and when a few went in, all of our confidence increased.''
Schaefer exited after getting a cut over her the left eye with 4:31 remaining in the third quarter and did not return. She got four stitches and is expected to play Sunday.
''I got elbowed in the eye on defense while posting up, and I didn't know if it was bleeding, but I couldn't see out of my eye and came out of the game,'' she said.
Victoria Vivians and Roshunda Johnson scored 13 points each, Morgan Williams added 11 and Chinwe Okorie 10 for the Bulldogs.
Kiar Perry led SMU (6-4) with 17 points.
Mississippi State shot 51.5 percent and held the Mustangs to 29.8 percent shooting. It marked the ninth time the Bulldogs have shot over 45 percent in a game.
Mississippi State led 19-8 after one quarter and 44-18 at the break.
''I am pleased with the way we came out tonight,'' Vic Schaefer said. ''I was concerned that we might be lethargic, but you could see right from the beginning we weren't. We've been on the road forever, and so I'm really proud how these kids come out and are focused.''
BIG PICTURE
Mississippi State: The Bulldogs' No. 5 ranking is the highest in the school's history and they've been doing it on the road. They've played 10 games away from home, most in the country.
SMU: After an 11-day layoff, the Mustangs were beginning a string of four games in six days. SMU's last action was a win over No. 25 Texas A&M, its first victory over a ranked opponent since March 2008.
UP NEXT
SMU: Plays Grambling State, which lost to Southern California on Friday, in the consolation game of the tournament on Sunday. The Mustangs then return home for two games on Monday and Wednesday.
Mississippi State: Takes on Southern California on Sunday in the championship game and to complete an eight-game road trip.
