State knocks down 10th-ranked Oklahoma Sooners
Credit: MSU Athletics
By: William Simmons, Communications Fellow
Jan. 9, 2025-Mississippi State picked up their 14th victory and their first SEC victory of the season on Thursday, as they took down the No. 10 Oklahoma Sooners. This marked the second top 10 victory inside Humphrey Coliseum in the past two years for head coach Sam Purcell.
“I thought this team were focused and played for each other tonight,” Purcell said. “That’s why we were able to get the game done in four quarters.”
The Bulldogs opened the game on fire, leading the tenth-ranked team in the country by ten points at the end of the first quarter. They extended that start into a 14-point lead early in the second. Heading into halftime, the Dawgs held a one-point lead.
A back-and-forth third quarter saw State lead by four heading into the fourth. Both teams would explode on the offensive side of the ball in the last ten minutes, as each team scored 28 apiece. However, State’s third quarter lead was enough to push them over the hump.
State’s defense rose to the occasion as they held Oklahoma to 32 points in the first half, an offense that averaged north of 90 points per game. The Dawgs picked up 13 steals, the most they’ve collected in SEC play this season, with six of those coming in the first quarter. Denim DeShields tied her career high with five. Four Bulldogs finished the game with two or more steals: DeShields, Jerkaila Jordan, Eniya Russell and Debresha Powe.
Jordan lit up the stat sheet against the Sooners. The graduate picked up her eighth game this season with 20+ points as she finished with 24 points on 59% shooting, with six rebounds, four steals and one block.
“[This win] just give us momentum. The first two losses we could’ve hung our heads, could’ve come out here and still dwelled on them, but we didn’t,” Jordan said. “We put those games behind us. We move one game at a time. We’re going to use this momentum going into Georgia on Sunday.”
Russell and Destiney McPhaul finished in double-figures with 12 and 10 points, respectively. The duo each knocked down a pair of threes in the contest along with Powe, who finished with eight. Madina Okot finished with 10 rebounds, the sixth time this season she’s collected double-digit shots off the glass.
The Bulldogs continue SEC play as they travel to Athens to take on the Georgia Bulldogs on Sunday. The game will be broadcast on SECN+ beginning at 1 p.m. CT.
