Sunday, February 22, 2009

No. 13 Tennessee beats Mississippi State 82-68

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Kelley Cain scored 17 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to help No. 13 Tennessee beat Mississippi State on Sunday and avoid its first three-game losing skid since 1986.

Tennessee coach Pat Summitt refused to let her players use their locker room before the game after dropping three of their last four, including their first two-game skid since 2006.

For more than 26 minutes, it looked like the Lady Volunteers (19-8, 8-4 Southeastern Conference) might not earn their locker room privileges back.

The teams were tied at 64 when Alex Fuller’s layup launched a 15-1 run. Mississippi State (19-8, 6-6) hit only one more field goal, a 3-pointer by Mary Kathryn Govero with 31 seconds left.

Tennessee, which has won all 30 games in the series, shot a season-high 52 percent.

Alexis Rack led Mississippi State with 24 points.

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