STARKVILLE, Miss. (AP) -- This wasn't the typical Tennessee-Mississippi State game. Except, of course, for the outcome.

Kara Lawson hit a 3-pointer with 1.6 seconds remaining and Tennessee (No. 3 ESPN/USA Today, No. 2 AP) scored the final 11 points of the game to beat No. 22 Mississippi State 79-75 Thursday night.

The Lady Vols improved to 16-0 against Mississippi State, but for just the second time in the series, the Lady Bulldogs kept the margin under 16 points.

"I think our team expected Mississippi State to be good," Tennessee coach Pat Summitt said. "I was disappointed that we didn't match their intensity in the first 20 minutes."

Tennessee's average victory margin against Mississippi State had been almost 28 points per game.

"We didn't let there big-play making or their lead take us out of the game," Summitt said. "We had plenty of times to fold mentally and we didn't."

The Lady Vols trailed by one point when Lawson took a pass from Tamika Catchings and made a wide-open jumper to give Tennessee a 77-75 lead.

"I think Tamika drew about three or four people in there," said Lawson, who finished with 23 points. "I was wide open. That's the kind of shot you knock down in practice. I couldn't get any more wide open than that."

Catchings had 19 for the Lady Vols, who held Mississippi State scoreless over the final 2:17.

"I told Tamika at the eight minute mark, and I told her at the four minute mark, we've got plenty of time," Summitt said. "We've just got to grind this out and we've just got to keep making plays at both ends."

Tennessee did just that, clamping down defensively on the Lady Bulldogs, who shot just 39 percent in the second half after making more than half their shots in the first.

Semeka Randall scored 13 points and Michelle Snow had 12 for Tennessee (22-3, 10-1 Southeastern Conference), which has won nine straight.

It has been a breakthrough season for Mississippi State, coming of its first NCAA tournament appearance last season, the Lady Bulldogs entered the national rankings for the first time this season.

Beating Tennessee would have been the biggest win in school history for Mississippi State, long-time doormats in the SEC before the recent turnaround.

Mississippi State coach Sharon Fanning said close wasn't good enough and moral victories were no consolation, but she admitted this was new territory for her team.

"This team has not been there before," Fanning said. "Sure we beat Louisiana Tech, but when you take this time of year and this caliber of team, this is another step for us."

LaToya Thomas, the SEC's leading scorer, led the Lady Bulldogs (18-6, 6-6) with 20 points.

Summitt compared Thomas to former Tennessee star Chamique Holdsclaw.

"We couldn't stop her. I was having flashbacks tonight," she said.

Cynthia Hall had 17 points, including four of the Bulldogs' 10 3-pointers.

For a while it looked like the crowd of 5,863 at the Humphrey Coliseum, which Mississippi State said was the largest ever for a women's college basketball in the state, was going to see Mississippi State's first victory over the Vols.

Keisha Stringfellows' 3-pointer with 10:20 left in the game gave Mississippi State an eight-point lead.

Tennessee tied it with 7:08 left on Randall's jumper, but Mississippi State reeled off seven straight points, the last two coming on a jumper by Jennifer Fambrough.

Fambrough finished with 13 points and was 3-of-3 on 3-pointers.

Mississippi State led by as many as 12 points in the first half. Hall scored 12 straight points for the Bulldogs at one point, all on 3-pointers.

"They could do no wrong in the first half," Summitt said. "That was picture-perfect execution."