Senior guard Jerkaila Jordan turned in 18 points on 8-9 from the field in the third quarter to push Mississippi State women’s basketball past Missouri 90-75 on Senior Day inside Humphrey Coliseum on Sunday.
Mississippi State concludes its regular season 21-10 and 8-8 in the SEC.
The 18 points from Jordan in the third quarter ties Teaira McCowan against UNLV on Dec. 20, 2017 for the most points scored in a single quarter in program history.
“It is as simple as you don’t lose on Senior Day,” head coach Sam Purcell said. “When you reflect back on this season it hasn’t been easy, but we are having a heck of a season with 21 wins. This week we talked about our season as a whole and reflected on what we have been through. We bend, but we don’t break. We have more basketball to play ahead of us, but most importantly we sent these seniors out right.”
Jordan finished with her 10th 20-plus point effort of the season with 22 points on 9-12 from the field and 2-2 from behind the arc, in addition to four steals and two rebounds in 22 minutes. She turned in all 22 of her points in the second half.
Senior guard Darrione Rogers recorded 22 points of her own behind a 6-8 performance for three with a team-high eight rebounds in 31 minutes, while graduate student guard Lauren Park-Lane dished out a team-high nine assists with 15 points in 35 minutes.
Park-Lane is now nine assists away from surpassing the program single-season assist record.
Mississippi State knocked down a pair of triples from graduate student forward Erynn Barnum and sophomore guard Debreasha Powe on its first two possessions to rush out to a 6-2 lead nearly a minute into the contest.
Missouri secured a 20-17 advantage at the initial media timeout before Rogers’ second three of the first quarter tied the contest at 23 with 1:51 minutes left in the opening period. The Tigers finished inside on its next possession to take a 25-23 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Mississippi State reclaimed the lead at 38-36 at the 3:05 minute mark in the second quarter on a quick 5-0 run with a pullup jumper from freshman Jasmine Brown-Hagger and Rogers’ third three of the first half. In a back-and-forth first half that featured an advantage at 40-39 entering the halftime locker room.
Mississippi State held a 17-1 in bench points through the first 20 minutes. The Bulldogs finished with 34 bench points – the second-highest total this season.
Trailing 46-51, Mississippi State went on a 21-4 run over the final 6:28 of the third quarter to secure a 67-55 lead at the end of the period.
Mississippi State opened up its largest lead of the contest at 88-70 on Rogers’ final three of the afternoon with under a minute left in regulation.
Mississippi State will be the No. 8 seed and face No. 9 seed Texas A&M in Second Round of the SEC Women’s Basketball Tournament on March 7 at 11 a.m. CT in Bon Secours Wellness Arena.
