Carter, Powe earn SEC Postseason honors

February 28, 2023 Bob Bakken

Credit Mississippi State Athletics

Mississippi State women’s basketball’s Jessika Carter and Debreasha Powe have earned SEC postseason honors in a vote by the league’s head coaches, the SEC announced on Tuesday, Feb. 28.

Carter, a Waverly Hall, Ga. native, earned Second Team All-SEC and SEC All-Defensive team honors. Debreasha Powe, a freshman from Meridian, Miss., earned a spot on the SEC All-Freshman team.

Carter, a second team honoree in 2020, earned her second career All-SEC honor on Tuesday while earning her first SEC All-Defensive team honor. Carter has been one of the best post players in the SEC all season, finishing second in the conference in total blocked shots (56) and blocks per game (2.2) while being just one of two SEC players to average at least two blocks per contest this season. On the offensive end, Carter averaged 14.8 points per game, good for the 12th-best scoring average in the SEC, and finished fifth in rebounding at 7.8 boards per game. Carter was one of just two SEC players to finish top 15 in scoring, rebounding and blocked shots this season. On the national side, Carter’s total blocks ranked 24th in the NCAA, while her blocks per game ranked 20th. Carter is the first Bulldog to garner All-Defensive team honors since Jordan Danberry in 2020.

Carter is having a career year under first-year head coach Sam Purcell. She is averaging a career-high 14.7 points per game to go along with her 7.8 rebounds per contest, and she is just five blocked shots shy of setting a new single-season high. Carter has also established a career mark with 38 assists; her previous high was just 16 during the 2020-21 season while also being just six steals away from a new career-high of 24.

Debreasha Powe earned SEC All-Freshman honors after a strong freshman campaign for the Bulldogs. Powe ended the regular season fifth on the team in scoring (8.4 ppg) and fourth in rebounding (5.0 rpg), steals (29) and blocked shots (14) while also earning 33 assists and 29 steals. She finished top-5 in the SEC in scoring and rebounding among freshmen during the regular season. Powe has made a name for herself as a three-point shooter this season, with nearly half of her shot attempts coming from three. She finished third on the team in made three’s (37) and shot 30 percent from behind the arc. Her 37 made triples are the second-most this season by a freshman in the SEC. Powe has also been steady from the foul line all season. Powe, who has two double-digit scoring games in SEC play, set season-highs in points with 21 and assists with four at Tennessee on Jan. 5. In that game, Powe set a team-high for this season in made threes with six.

First Team All-SEC