Mississippi State victorious on Senior Day
Photo credit: Mississippi State Athletics
Mississippi State rolls over the Tide with a 60-45 win over Alabama on Senior Day, improving its record to 19-7 overall and 8-6 in the SEC.
The Bulldogs were in control all game, holding the Tide to just seven points in the second quarter, just the second time all season that Alabama has only scored seven points in the second quarter. Mississippi State’s defense came to play, holding Alabama to 45 points, their lowest-scoring game all season. Their previous season low was 51 against LSU on Jan. 23.
Threes were the name of the game in the first half. The Bulldogs hit five triples, tying their season-high for most three-pointers scored in the first half in SEC play. State ended the game with eight while shooting 53% from deep (8-for-15).
JerKaila Jordan continues to be a dominant force for State tying a career-high in scoring with 24 points while adding six rebounds and four steals. Jordan was dominant in the first half, scoring 14 of her 24 points. Jordan has scored 20-plus points in four games this season, three in SEC play.
Ahlana Smith knocked down 15 points with four rebounds, and this was her fourth consecutive game scoring in the double-figures, the longest streak of her career. Ramani Parker was one rebounding shy of tying her career after grabbing 10 boards against Alabama.
Game Notes
• State ended the first quarter on a 10-2 run
• Ahlana Smith recorded 10 points in the first half
• This is just the third time in SEC play that Alabama has been held to 11 points in the first quarter
• Mississippi State took a 22-point lead at one point in the game
• Outrebounded Alabama 40-30 in total rebounds (32-18 on the defensive glass)
• Outscored Alabama 26-18 in the paint
• Outscored Alabama 15-10 in bench points
• MSU had the advantage over the Tide in blocks, 10-3
• MSU held Alabama to 29% from the field (17-for-58) and from the three (8-for-28) while shooting 52% (25-for-48) from the field and 53% (8-for-15) from behind the arc
• MSU outscored Alabama 19-14 in points off turnovers
Quoting Coach Sam Purcell
Opening Statement
“I want to thank everyone for coming out where–I kind of mentioned it at postgame radio–where you have baseball, who’s playing right before us. But again, this is why I took this job because our fan base is special. You came in like no other afterwards. We had, what, 6,000 in attendance tonight and it was felt. Especially the energy that my seniors deserve. What a special group. We went into the game, and we talked about it. On Senior Night, there’s just something different than a normal night. You want to make sure you go out, and you give it your all, alright? Give it your all for four quarters, because, you know what, these seniors have done that, and that’s the biggest compliment you could give to them for what they’ve done for this program. And it was great to see so many plays by all of them tonight, but most importantly, just a team that wanted to bounce back after a hard one at Missouri. I keep saying it–this team has an attitude of ‘we bend but we don’t break,’ and boy, were they tough tonight.”
Quoting Guard Ahlana Smith
“Well, Missouri definitely didn’t leave a good taste in my mouth. We couldn’t let Missouri beat us twice, and the only way to do that was to practice hard all week. Come out today, execute and put everything [from] practice into [the game], so I felt everyone was on the same page, and we could not let Missouri beat us twice.”
Up Next
Following Sunday’s senior day, Mississippi State is back home on Thursday, Feb. 23, when they host Arkansas in the final regular season home game of the year. Tip-off against the Hogs is set for 8 p.m.
