Mississippi State Women's Basketball Set for Preseason WNIT Championship Match with Western Kentucky

While everyone is focusing on the Egg Bowl Trophy Saturday, the Mississippi State Women's basketball team has a chance to pick up some hardware of its own Sunday when they host Western Kentucky in the Preseason WNIT championship game.  The contest, set for a 2pm tip, will also be aired on the CBS Sports Network.

The Bulldogs, who made an exciting quarterfinal run in the 2014 WNIT, have won their first three games in the tournament. They opened the season with a 97-66 win over Mercer, and the followed that up with a 93-83 win over Arkansas State.  In semifinal action Thursday, the Bulldogs upset No. 16 West Virginia 74-61 to advance to the title tilt.

Western Kentucky opened up their Preseason WNIT run with a 93-57 win over Central Arkansas before picking up a 79-78 overtime win over Colorado.  In the semifinal, the Lady Toppers took down Albany 63-54.

Victoria Vivians leads the team with 20.3 points-per-game, good for third in the SEC and best by a freshman in the conference. Her 26 points against West Virginia is the second most by a freshman in conference, only trailing the performance of teammate Morgan William, who dropped 29 on Arkansas State.

William is fifth in the league in scoring with 16.7 ppg, and she leads the SEC in steals with 3.3 per game.

Chastity Gooch leads Western Kentucky with 19.3 ppg, and she is one of the four starters that average double figures in scoring per contest. Kendall Noble has averaged a double-double so far this year for the Lady Toppers, pciking up 12.7 ppg and a team-high 12 rebounds per game.

The teams have met once before, a 56-53 Western Kentucky victory in the 2007 Preseason WNIT.

Fans sticking around in Starkville can get in for $5 for adults, and youth high school age and under can get in free.