Madina Okot had 14 points and 13 rebounds before fouling out late and ninth-seeded Mississippi State beat California 59-46 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday. Eniya Russell added 14 points for the Bulldogs (22-11), who are back in March Madness for the first time in two years. Th ey lost in the national title game in 2017 and 2018. “I think what everyone just witnessed was our best defensive effort of the season,” Bulldogs coach Sam Purcell said. The Bulldogs improved their shooting to 50% in the second half when they outscored the Bears 15-10 in the third and 18-17 in the fourth. They had 15 steals. “Physicality and rebounding wins us games. I don’t think they were used to that,” Russell said. “I definitely think our defense disrupted them.” Michelle Onyiah led the eighth-seeded Golden Bears with 17 points and 15 rebounds despite four fouls. Lulu Twidale added 13 points before fouling out in the final seconds. The Bears were just 3 of 21 from 3-point range, with Twidale missing 6 of 7 and Ioanna Krimili missing 8 of 10. “There were just too many people who couldn’t get into a groove and that meant we couldn’t survive the turnovers and missed shots,” Bears coach Charmin Smith said. Cal’s only lead was by one point in the first quarter, when the Bears managed just five points. They recovered to play the Bulldogs evenly in the second but trailed 26-19 at halftime. “Us not being able to score definitely set us back,” Twidale said. “Most of us, it was the first time in tournament. I’m proud we were able to keep fighting to the end.” The Bears (25-9) capped their first season in the Atlantic Coast Conference by making the NCAAs for the first time since 2019, when current USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb was in charge. “I think we put Cal basketball back on the map,” Smith said. Key moment The Bears got within six in the third quarter only to see the Bulldogs close on a 9-3 run to lead 41-29 going into the fourth. Four players scored in the spurt. Key stat The Bears committed 24 turnovers and got outscored 32-18 in the paint and 15-0 in bench points. Up next Mississippi State will play JuJu Watkins and top-seeded USC in the second round on Monday at Galen Center. The Bulldogs last made the Sweet 16 in 2019. ___ AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-womens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. ...read more read less