Mississippi State's Debreasha Powe shoots the basketball against California on Saturday.
LOS ANGELES — Madina Okot had 14 points and 13 rebounds before fouling out late and ninth-seeded Mississippi State beat California 59-46 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday.
Eniya Russell added 14 points for the Bulldogs (22-11), who are back in March Madness for the first time in two years. They lost in the national title game in 2017 and 2018.
“I think what everyone just witnessed was our best defensive effort of the season,” MSU coach Sam Purcell said.
The Bulldogs improved their shooting to 50% in the second half when they outscored the Bears 15-10 in the third and 18-17 in the fourth. They had 15 steals.
“Physicality and rebounding wins us games,” Russell said. “I don’t think they were used to that. I definitely think our defense disrupted them.”
Michelle Onyiah led the eighth-seeded Golden Bears with 17 points and 15 rebounds despite four fouls. Lulu Twidale added 13 points before fouling out in the final seconds
The Bears were just 3 of 21 from 3-point range, with Twidale missing 6 of 7 and Ioanna Krimili missing 8 of 10.
“There were just too many people who couldn’t get into a groove and that meant we couldn’t survive the turnovers and missed shots,” Bears coach Charmin Smith said.
Cal’s only lead was by one point in the first quarter, when the Bears managed just five points. They recovered to play the Bulldogs evenly in the second but trailed 26-19 at halftime.
