Bulldogs women beat Alcorn State in opener
Credit Mississippi State Athletics
Three Bulldogs recorded double-doubles to propel Mississippi State women’s basketball to a 77-42 win over Alcorn State on Monday night inside historic Humphrey Coliseum.
“First and foremost a lot of thank you’s to this university, our fans and our administration,” head coach Sam Purcell said. “A shout out to my team for coming together and learning to play. I talked about it this week, I have got a lot of great individual talent, but I am trying to make a great team and I saw glimpses of that tonight. Film will be great for us this week so we can get in and make those teaching points that we said were going to happen and I expect my team to learn from it and grow for this upcoming week.”
With the win, the Bulldogs improve to 1-0 on the season and 15-2 at home under Purcell.
“The fanbase, can I give a shout out to our fanbase? We opened it up tonight and we were close to 5,000,” Purcell added. “This is why women’s basketball at Mississippi State is special. I don’t want a slow-paced game, I want the fans to know if you attend, we will put on a performance and play fast.”
Senior guard Jerkaila Jordan finished with 26 points and a career-high 13 rebounds, while graduate student forward/center Jessika Carter posted 10 points and 13 rebounds. Transfer graduate student forward Erynn Barnum added 13 points and 11 rebounds in her debut.
It marks the first time that Mississippi State had double-doubles by three different players in the same game since Dec. 19, 2021.
Transfer graduate student guard Lauren Park-Lane showcased her ability to facilate the offense with a team-high seven assists. She surpassed 700 career assists in her efforts, now at 703, which ranks second among active players.
“Lauren [Park Lane], she is special,” Carter said. “Not only can she pass the ball, but she can also create for herself. Having a point guard like that opens the floor for everyone, as unselfish as she is as the point guard, but also doing the little things makes it enjoyable to play with her.”
In a game in which it never trailed, Mississippi State raced out to a 20-3 lead behind a 15-0 run over a three-minute span to force the first timeout at the 5:32 mark of the first quarter. The Bulldogs kept the pressure on their visitors throughout the remainder of the frame as all 11 players saw action in the initial period.
Jordan continued to shine in the first half, totaling 20 points and nine rebounds in the opening 20 minutes to help the Mississippi State command a 41-16 at the break. In the midst of her career night, Jordan set the tone on the defensive end with six steals.
The second half featured more of the same as a second chance putback from junior forward Nyayongah Gony built the largest lead of the night at 40, 67-27, almost two minutes into the final quarter. Mississippi State employed different combinations and looks in the season-opener, while maintaining their advantage throughout the rest of the contest.
The Bulldogs’ length and physicality proved to be a problem for their visitors all night, finishing with a 70-34 advantage on the boards and a 33-5 edge in second chance efforts. The 70 rebounds are the most since the Mississippi State recorded 71 vs. Arkansas Pine-Bluff on Nov. 13, 2009.
Mississippi State continues their four-game homestand when it hosts Southeastern Louisiana at 6:30 p.m. CT on Friday.
