Mississippi State Dominates Maryland

Well, it was a dominating performance for the Mississippi State Bulldogs and everyone will remember Alexis Rack dropping seven three-point field goals and 43 points on the Terrapins. Fortunately the Terps have a chance to turn it around rather quickly; they host Samford Tuesday night and that's an easier opponent that they have a better chance at beating. Mississippi State is a good team and they were able to bring the Terps to their style of basketball. The Bulldogs rushed out to a lead rather quickly at the beginning of the game. Maryland was simply unable to catch up.

But how did we all get there? How was the trip to Mississippi State? That's what we're getting at here. It started out Saturday morning with an early wake up call to get to the Comcast Center. We caught the bus, and after a Lynetta Kizer introduction (more on that in a minute) we were off to the airport.

The security line was short and the players checked their bags and we headed on to the Southwest flight. I slept for a lot of it and it wasn't that exciting of a flight. But this was my first trip to the Deep South, so once we landed it was really exciting. We landed in Birmingham early Saturday afternoon and hopped on the charter to Starkville. Birmingham is a small city and once we got outside of city limits, there was nothing around until we hit Mississippi. Rural Alabama and rural Mississippi is a major culture shock - seeing all the small houses because the areas are so dirt poor was really something.

Once we got into Starkville and Mississippi State (which literally came out of nowhere - we were driving and then all of the sudden it was there) the team toured the court and took to it for practice. They had just enough time before the men's team played that evening - and got in a good practice before dinner. We went to dinner at a restaurant called Harveys - and I had cajun chicken pasta. Absolutely delicious meal - and Cajun is definitely something I want to try again and would recommend to everyone!

Then it was time for a time-honored tradition. Every first road trip of the season, as coach Frese announced, the players and staff who were taking their first road trip had to perform a "special talent." That meant performances from a couple coaches (one did the hambone and another did a song and dance) and a few players. Lori Bjork showed us how she knows the 20th and 21st century presidents in order... with a few facts too! Diandra Tchatchouang, being from France, sang a song that French people sing to their kids about a mouse. Jackie Nared (after some convincing) did a song and dance too. Tianna Hawkins used to be a cheerleader so she performed that. And Dara Taylor is a former gymnast... so she did a routine with a flip and such. Then, much to Yemi Oyefuwa's delight, Lynetta Kizer (being the character that she is - she really has a unique personality) did her routine from last year, drawing laughs and cheers from the team, coaching staff, and media.

After dinner we checked in to the hotel, and received our room on the 5th floor. This was a solo journey for me, but I roomed with Ian of Under the Shell. So as we are coming back from dinner, Ian is getting film for his story for UTS when the girls decide to pack the elevator full with everyone. Yemi decides to beg Ian for his camera and he obliges, and the footage we got back was hilarious! The girls got on the elevator, and being the personalities that they are, started yelling because the elevator was moving slow (and got stuck a couple times). They were led by Lynetta Kizer - whose personality as I said before is quite eclectic. The elevator doors opened on the 5th floor and the team spilled out and Yemi hit the floor because she was laughing so hard. The team was definitely having fun.

Then Sunday morning it was time for a wake up call for breakfast. Delicious Southern pancakes and cereal for breakfast before a break... but then it was time to head over to Humphrey Coliseum at Mississippi State for the game. The game, being on tape delay, wasn't live for us, but it was recorded via computer to be replayed Monday at 4:30 pm.

You can hear the full version of the game at that time - but be aware that a couple technical difficulties cut out a few minutes of the broadcast.

Then after the game, it was a quiet but short bus ride (with a ham sandwich) to Golden Triangle airport for the charter flight back to Baltimore. The bus literally drove right up to the plane! And the plane had XM satellite radio (complimentary headphones provided just in case) and I was very surprised to get food on the plane - pretzels and usual plane snacks, but it was surprising considering it was a charter flight. Once the plane touched down in Baltimore, the University of Maryland charter bus picked us up right from the tarmac - and brought us back to the university, where our journey ends.

So it was a fun trip, not a fun game... but a learning experience nonetheless. For this reporter's first trip to the Deep South, it was definitely better than expected. Be sure to tune in to WMUCSports.com at 4:30 Monday afternoon for the full broadcast!

--Kenny Gartner