LSU LSU/Mississippi State Miss. St Women's College Basketball recap on ESPN

Tardy scored 17 points and hit a jumper during a 10-3 run late in the second half that lifted No. 11 LSU to a 70-63 win over the Lady Bulldogs (No. 18 ESPN/USA Today; No. 17 Associated Press) on Sunday.

Tardy, who played high school basketball at Murrah in Jackson, had 10 first-half points and Marie Ferdinand scored 19 in LSU's seventh straight victory over Mississippi State.

"Ke-Ke Tardy was the difference in the game today," LSU coach Sue Gunter said. "I cannot think of a mistake that she made. She did a great job defending, rebounded extremely well, shot the ball well, and did not force anything."

The Lady Bulldogs' last win against the Tigers came during the 1994-95 season.

But Mississippi State (9-4, 0-2 Southeastern Conference) gave LSU (10-4, 1-1) a battle.

The Lady Bulldogs went on an 8-2 run in the second half that ended with a layup by Jennifer Fambrough to cut LSU's lead to 54-51 at the 6:33 mark. Seneca Anderson cut it to one, 56-55, minutes later on a layup off a miss by Cynthia Hall.

Hall hit a 3-pointer to tie it at 58 with 3:18 remaining, but she fouled out on the next play and LSU went on the run to pull away.

"We felt like LSU was giving us opportunities to stay in the ballgame because we could have been down 15 or 20 points if they had connected on everything," said Mississippi State coach Sharon Fanning. "We just have to get more consistent on the fundamentals."

The Tigers pounded the ball inside the entire game and Tardy led the way. She made a jumper near the top of the key to give LSU a 62-58 lead, and later hit three straight free throws to seal the win.

LSU led 31-25 at the half.

LaToya Thomas, who averages 23.9 points, was double-teamed most of the game but kept Mississippi State in it by scoring 10 points in the first nine minutes of the second half.

Thomas finished with 28 points and 13 rebounds.

"I don't know if there is a better combination in the conference than Fambrough and Thomas," Gunter said. "When you add Hall in there they are a tough team."

But it was Ferdinand who gave LSU a big boost. She got a steal and started a fast break that ended with a layup by Doneeka Hodges to give LSU a 17-12 lead.

Ferdinand helped the Tigers extend its lead in the second half by finishing a fast break with a layup with 16:35 remaining to make it 40-31.

DeTrina White scored 12 points for LSU.

ALSO SEE
Women's College Basketball Scoreboard

LSU Clubhouse

Mississippi State Clubhouse