Box Score VICTORIA, B.C. (GreenBayPhoenix.com) --- Green Bay took the floor against its first ranked opponent on the 2019-20 season in undefeated No. 10/8 Mississippi State on Saturday evening in the Greater Victoria Invitational, falling to the Bulldogs 83-58.
 
The matchup paired the Phoenix with Mississippi State for only the second time in program history, with the first bout taking place in the Cancun Challenge on Nov. 25, 2017 and once again favoring the Bulldogs 67-46.
 
Green Bay held the high-powered SEC offense to only 83 points, 11 lower than the season average for a program who has made back-to-back Final Four appearance. The Bulldogs had previously surpassed 120 points in two games this season, scoring 124 against Murray State and 122 versus Troy.
 
Green Bay held an advantage in rebounds through the first quarter at 10-7 but surrendered seven turnovers which led to 10 points for the Bulldogs. The Phoenix only trailed 21-17 after the first, due largely to shooting 54% from the floor and holding MSU to 34%.
 
Eight points from Anna Brecht and a triple from Patricia Gallasova provided a spark off the GB bench in the second frame, with the Phoenix at one point taking a two-point lead, 36-34, after Frankie Wurtz buried her fourth three-pointer with 1:38 remaining in the half.
 
Green Bay knotted the game at 38-all to get things started in the second half after a layup from Anna Dier, but it was followed by a 12-0 Bulldogs' run. Mississippi State able to hold off all further attempts to erase the deficit and held on to win 83-58.
 
The Bulldogs improve to 8-0 on the season and advance to tomorrow's championship game at 9:30 p.m. (CT).
 
Dier scored a career-high 11 points in her third-consecutive start, finishing 4-of-9 from the field in 27 minutes. Wurtz finished with 12 points in the matchup, all of which were scored in the first half of play.
 
GB finished shooting 42% (20-48) from the field, just below MSU's mark of 46% (31-67). The Phoenix also shot an impressive 40% from long range but was bested by the Bulldogs 43% performance.
 
The Phoenix will await the outcome of the Stanford/Syracuse to find out its opponent in tomorrow's third-place game at 7 p.m. (CT). Stanford ranks third in the nation while Syracuse comes in owning the 18^th slot.
 
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