STARKVILLE, Miss. --- The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women's basketball team took control early, but couldn't hold on, falling 60-50 to No. 15 Mississippi State Friday afternoon at Humphrey Coliseum in Starkville, Miss., in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
 
Chattanooga (24-8) came out shooting hot and took a 16-11 lead in the first quarter. State (27-7) used a strong second quarter offensive push to outscore the Mocs 18-5 and led 29-21 at the break.
 
Junior Jasmine Joyner (Southaven, Miss.) only saw three minutes of action in the first half after picking up two quick fouls. She would respond with 11 straight points in the third quarter to lead Chattanooga with 17 points before fouling out with 2:11 to play.
 
"I thought they were legit fouls, so Jasmine has to adjust," Chattanooga head coach Jim Foster said. "Shot blockers have a mentality that you're not going to block a player that is bigger then you, you're objective should be to get into position. I think she'll learn from that."
 
Redshirt sophomore Aryanna Gilbert (Pulaski, Tenn.) played all 40 minutes, along with her sister sophomore Keiana Gilbert (Pulaski, Tenn.) the duo each dropped in 10 points and combined for 10 rebounds and three steals.
 
Senior Alicia "Red" Payne (Memphis, Tenn.), playing in her 130^th and final game with Chattanooga, finished with five points and five assists.
 
The Mocs started the game making its first three jumpers to take a 7-1 lead at the 7:56 mark. Payne converted a 3-point play to give Chattanooga its largest lead of the game, 14-7, with 3:44 to play in the first quarter.
 
The second quarter belonged to the Bulldogs who outscored UTC 18-5. Teaira McCowan tied the game with a short jumper in the paint at the 3:39 mark of the frame and a 3-pointer from LaKaris Salter put Mississippi State out front for good, 24-21 with 2:55 until half. MSU added five more points for a 29-21 halftime lead.
 
In the third quarter, MSU stretched its lead to 33-21 to start the second half, but the Mocs stepped up its offense with Joyner back in the game to cut it to 37-35.
 
Aryanna Gilbert hit a short jumper to spark a 14-4 UTC run over the next 3:50. In the stretch, Joyner scored eight of her team-high 17 points. After MSU added another five points to get back out front 42-35, Joyner drained a 3-pointer from the top of the arc to make it 42-38.
 
The Mocs would make it a three-point game with 5:57 to play in the game on a pair of Joyner free throws, but the Bulldogs put it into overdrive and outscored the Mocs 11-4 over the final 3:21 to take the win and advance to the next round.
 
Chattanooga shot 53.3 percent in the opening period and 57.1 percent in the third while hitting for 20-of-51 (39.2%) for the game. The Mocs had just two 3-pointers for the game while holding the Bulldogs to just 3-of-12. At the line, UTC was 8-of-9 and Mississippi State converted 15-of-20.
 
The Bulldogs outrebounded UTC 44-29 and outscored the Mocs 34-24 in the paint. The Mocs held MSU to 17 percent shooting in the opening quarter but the Bulldogs were 50 percent from the field over each of the next two quarters, making 33.3 percent of their efforts for the game.
 
Victoria Vivians led all scorers with 19 points with seven rebounds. Okorie had 12 points and a game-high nine rebounds. Ketara Chapel had seven boards and dished out five assists and McCowan grabbed seven rebounds.
 
The loss snapped an 11-game UTC win streak.
 
Mississippi State, seeded fifth, with take on fourth-seeded Michigan State Sunday.