MSU Women’s Basketball Dominates Southern Miss in Season Opener

STARKVILLE, Miss. (MSU Athletics) – Five players finished with double-digit scoring as 10th-ranked Mississippi State opened the 2019-20 campaign with a 91-58 victory against Southern Miss at Humphrey Coliseum on Saturday.

“I’m proud of our kids today,” said head coach Vic Schaefer. “For a first game, after that first quarter, I thought we really settled in defensively and did a nice job. I thought we played really hard. Again, we are playing a lot of new kids, a lot of young kids and a lot of inexperienced players. The only downside is my point guards had 11 turnovers. Obviously, we’ve had some good ones in the last five or six years and I have good ones now, they just have to learn to take care of the ball. Having 11 turnovers between those them is detrimental to our team. We’ve got to do a better job of taking care of the ball. We forced 16 steals and 28 turnovers and that’s more in line with who we are and what we’re about and how we play the game. I was really pleased with that tonight. It was a really good win. Southern Miss always plays really hard. Give a lot of respect to Joye Lee, her staff, and that program. To play the way we did after settling down in the first quarter was really good. I was really pleased with our team.”

Returning to the hardwood for the first time since January, Chloe Bibby led State (1-0) in scoring with 16 points on 5-of-7 shooting to go along with six rebounds. Jordan Danberry posted 14 points, three steals and two boards in just 14 minutes of action.

Forward Jessika Carter narrowly missed a double-double with 12 points, nine rebounds and three blocks. In their Mississippi State debut, the freshmen duo of Aliyah Matharu and JaMya Mingo-Young each eclipsed the double-digit scoring mark. Mingo-Young recorded 14 points, six rebounds and two steals, while Matharu finished with 10 points.

In total, six players made their debut for Mississippi State. Promise Taylor, who sat out last season due to transfer rules, tallied four points, three rebounds, three steals and a block. Rickea Jackson and Jayla Hemingway each recorded one basket, while Yemiyah Morris had four blocks.

After allowing Southern Miss (1-1) to shoot 67 percent from the field in the first quarter, the defense was locked in the rest of the game. The Bulldogs forced 28 turnovers, which they converted into 36 points, and finished with 16 steals and nine blocks. The offense had a solid day as well, shooting 54 percent from the field.

Danberry got things rolling early on in the first quarter, dropping seven points on 3-of-3 shooting. After picking up a couple of fouls, she was forced to sit for the remainder of the half. Matharu chipped in six points in the period to help State take a 22-19 lead after one frame.

Southern Miss pulled ahead briefly in the second quarter, but the Bulldogs settled in and closed the half on a 20-6 run over the final 4:47 to take a 49-32 lead into halftime. MSU found success at the charity stripe, going 14-of-18 in the first half.

Mingo-Young had a strong finish to the second period, scoring five of her eight points in the final 30 seconds to extend State’s lead. Bibby led all scorers with 12 points behind a pair of 3-pointers to go along with five rebounds.

The Bulldogs came out hot in the third quarter, shooting 64 percent (9-of-14) from the field to outscore the Golden Eagles, 27-10. After missing most of the first half with foul trouble, Carter scored eight points and grabbed five rebounds in the period, while Danberry added seven points to give MSU a 76-42 lead.

Mississippi State was able to get its newcomers some extra playing time in the final period and cruise to the victory. Of the 12 players who logged minutes, only one didn’t log more than 10 minutes of action.

State will back back in action Monday night, as UT Martin comes to Humphrey Coliseum for a 7 p.m. tip. That game will be broadcasted on the SEC Network + and can be streamed on the MSU Radio Network.