Sonstiges » e one of the least talented groups in the league and

BILOXI, Miss. -- Mississippi State earned its third win of the season, even if this one wont be remembered for its beauty.Victoria Vivians scored 17 points, Breanna Richardson added 11 and the 10th-ranked Bulldogs beat Tulane 66-49 on Wednesday night at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum.Both teams struggled to score points early, but when the Bulldogs (3-0) began to find their shot in the second quarter, Tulane (1-1) stayed cold.The Green Wave went scoreless in the final 4:36 of the second quarter, which helped Mississippi State take a 36-16 advantage into halftime.Tulanes best chance at mounting an upset bridged the third and fourth quarters thanks to a 10-0 run. The rally was aided by consecutive 3-pointers from Leslie Vorpahl, bringing the Green Wave within 47-35. Mississippi State responded with its own small run, however, to squash the comeback attempt.Tulanes late run -- coupled with the Bulldogs shooting just 36.1 percent from the field -- frustrated MSU coach Vic Schaefer.I didnt think we had some kids who came out in the second half and were ready to play. I think if youre going to be who everybody says we are, if were going to be a top 10 team, then you come out and win (the second half) by 20 again, Schaefer said. You dont come out and stink it up and play dead even with them in the second half.Vorpahl carried the Green Wave. The senior guard scored 20 points on 9 of 11 shooting from the floor.She came in and really competed and did a good job of running the team and also looking for her shot, Tulane coach Lisa Stockton said.Harlyn Wyatt added 10 points for Tulane.Mississippi State has won four straight over the Green Wave.HOME SWEET HOMEMississippi State freshman Ameshya Williams and sophomore Jazzmun Holmes played in front of their hometown fans for the first time as college athletes. Both graduated from nearby high schools and saw time off the bench. Williams scored four points with three rebounds in the final five minutes of the game. Holmes finished with two rebounds, two assists and one steal in 14 minutes.STAT OF THE NIGHTMississippi State grabbed 24 offensive rebounds and finished with 26 second-chance points, dwarfing Tulanes seven second-chance points.Our defense, even in the first half, I dont think was bad, Stockton said. They were shooting 30-something percent, but it was the offensive rebounds that were keeping them in it.COOLING OFFMississippi State entered Wednesday nights game shooting 57.7 percent from 3-point range. The Wave held the Bulldogs to just 23.5 percent on 4 of 17 shooting.BIG PICTUREMississippi State: Fresh off of dominant wins against Villanova and Maine in their first two games of the season, the Bulldogs continued to show why theyre a top 10 team.Tulane: After a convincing showing in a 79-56 season-opening win against Grambling on Nov. 12, the Green Wave suffered their first setback of the season.UP NEXTMississippi State: The Bulldogs have a big test awaiting them at 5 p.m. Sunday when they host No. 8 Texas (1-1) in Starkville.Tulane: The Green Wave travel to face Southern Miss on Sunday.Dwight Gooden Jersey .500 on the season. The Jets are now 0-5-1 in the second game of back-to-backs. The game started the same way the Vancouver game started the night before, with the Jets taking the first two penalties of the game and killing off the first, but the Oilers getting on the board first, scoring on the second man-advantage. Pedro Martinez Jersey . Meanwhile, there were huge victories for Sunderland and West Ham over fellow relegation rivals, leaving the battle to avoid the drop up for grabs with the bottom 11 teams separated by just six points. Eden Hazard and Fernando Torres scored second-half goals to seal a fourth straight victory for Chelsea, which climbed above Arsenal and Manchester City in the standings ahead of their games on Monday and Sunday respectively. http://www.metssale.com/mets-juan-lagares-jersey/ . The Vancouver coach and an announced sellout crowd of 18,910 watched in dismay as the Canucks lost 7-4 to the New York Islanders on Monday night by squandering a 3-0 lead in the third period. Amed Rosario Jersey . - Goaltender Philippe Desrosiers of the Rimouski Oceanic has broken a shutout record that was only three months old in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. Gregor Blanco Mets Jersey . Jon Montgomerys gold medal in skeleton at the Whistler Sliding Centre and his subsequent auctioning off of a pitcher of beer in the village square elevated him to folk-hero status.SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Fresh off his teams sixth straight loss, San Francisco 49ers linebacker Aaron Lynch made a bold proclamation.We have the team. We possibly have one of the best teams in the NFL, Lynch said. Easily. Hands down.That might have been true just a few years ago when coach Jim Harbaugh had a roster filled with Pro Bowlers that helped San Francisco make three straight trips to the NFC title game and one Super Bowl appearance.But years of poor drafting by general manager Trent Baalke, a string of expected and unexpected retirements and a few other defections have decimated the roster and are a main reason why San Francisco (1-6) heads into the bye week on its longest losing streak in eight years and little sign of hope under first-year coach Chip Kelly.Whether its at inside linebacker where players such as Nike Bellore, Gerald Hodges and Michael Wilhoite have been overmatched following NaVorro Bowmans season-ending injury, receiver where castoff Jeremy Kerley leads the team in receptions; or quarterback where neither Blaine Gabbert nor Colin Kaepernick seem capable of success, the talent drain in San Francisco has been stark.Kelly still believes his staff has the pieces needed to contend in the NFC.Thats on us, he said. Our job is to put our players in position to make plays and were not doing a good enough job of that right now.While there are legitimate questions about whether Kellys up-tempo spread offense that was so successful in college will translate to the NFL and whether he is able to put together a strong enough defense, the problems in San Francisco predate his arrival.Harbaugh and Baalke struggled to work together despite the on-field success and owner Jed York picked Baalke in the power struggle.Baalke had been a scout and director of player personnel under Scot McCloughan as the Niners put together many of the pieces of the team that would be one of the most talented in the league.Baalke replaced McCloughan as the top front office executive shortly before the 2010 draft and came away with a load of talent led by Anthony Davis, Mike Iupati and Bowman. Baalke did well the next year as well when he took All-Pro pass rusher Aldon Smith and Kaepernick with his first two picks.The talent well went dry after that. Despite having 51 picks since 2012, Baalke has not added an impact player in any of those five drafts.Top two picks in 2012, A.J. Jenkins and LaMichael James, barely pplayed for the 49ers; 2013 first-round safety Eric Reid is a solid starter and second-round tight end Vance McDonald has contributed; running back Carlos Hyde, cornerback Jimmie Ward and Lynch are the only starters from the 2014 draft; and no one from the past two draft classes has shined yet.ddddddddddddBaalkes strategy of drafting injured players in hopes of finding value has backfired. Only two of the seven players he drafted the past four years coming off significant knee injuries have even played a game in the NFL this season.One of those players is 49ers linebacker Tank Carradine, who did not play a snap last week despite being healthy and dressed.The Niners have also been hurt by a string of early retirements, including Davis, Patrick Willis and Chris Borland.Perhaps the biggest issue with Baalkes drafting is hesitancy to take skill position players. Since missing badly with first and second-round picks on Jenkins and James, Baalke has had 15 picks in the first three rounds and used just one -- Hyde -- on a quarterback, receiver or running back.That was glaring this year when the Niners didnt take a quarterback until selecting Jeff Driskel in the sixth round. Driskel was cut before the season, Gabbert and Kaepernick have predictably struggled.Meanwhile, fourth-round pick Dak Prescott -- taken one round after San Francisco selected injured cornerback Will Redmond and two picks after the Niners took cornerback Rashard Robinson -- has Dallas off to a 5-1 start.San Francisco also didnt take a receiver this year until Aaron Burbridge in the sixth round and have one of the least talented groups in the league and also chose not to take an inside linebacker, which has proved costly with Bowman out for the season with an ruptured Achilles tendon and the Niners on pace to allow the most yards rushing in a season since 1980.That all adds up to a defense on pace to be the fourth in NFL history to allow at least 500 points in a season and an offense that ranks last in the league in yards per play (4.5).You dont go out there to lose and no one plans to lose, Reid said. Its frustrating. Any loss in general, its been rough. We know what we have to do, we just havent been doing it. Thats the most frustrating part.---Online:AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP-NFL ' ' '