#9 Bulldogs Prepare For SEC Tournament Quarterfinals

March 5, 2020

GREENVILLE, S.C. (Miss. St. Athletics/WCBI) – After bringing home the program’s first SEC Tournament Championship last season, No. 9 Mississippi State will look to defend its title this week at Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, S.C.

“This is a very exciting week because we are about to play in a very prestigious event,” said head coach Vic Schaefer. “It’s very difficult tournament with 14 tremendous teams, players and coaches. It is a grueling event, whether you are playing five, four or three days in a row. The best thing I can say is to focus on one game at a time and not get caught up with anything else. We have been fortunate enough to compete in four straight finals. Our kids have done a good job of being focused going into the event.”

The Bulldogs enter the tournament as the No. 2 seed after posting an impressive 25-5 record during the regular season and going 13-3 in conference play to finish second with a three-game advantage over third. This is the sixth straight season that MSU has finished inside the top three of the SEC.

State earned the double bye to the quarterfinals and will play LSU at 5 p.m. CT on Friday. LSU defeating Florida 73-59 in the second round.

Mississippi State enters the tournament coming off back-to-back wins last week. MSU clinched its second-place finish with a win over Arkansas before topping in-state rival Ole Miss on Sunday afternoon to cap the conference slate. Aliyah Matharu was tabbed SEC Freshman of the Week after averaging 21 points, 5.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and one steal per game. She recorded a career-high 24 points behind five 3-pointers against the Rebels to fuel State’s offense.

The SEC announced its yearly awards, as chosen by the league coaches, on Tuesday. Three Bulldogs were recognized for their impressive play this season. Jordan Danberry, Rickea Jackson and Jessika Carter were each tabbed to the Second Team All-SEC. Danberry earned a spot on the SEC All-Defensive Team, while Jackson was named to the SEC All-Freshman Team.

The entire SEC Tournament will be broadcasted on the ESPN Family of Networks, with Friday night’s matchup coming on SEC Network with Courtney Lyle, Carolyn Peck and Andraya Carter on the call. The contest will also be streamed on MSU Radio Network with Jason Crowder and Charlie Winfield on the call and can be streamed on HailState.com/plus and the TuneIn app. This page will be the central for all links throughout the tournament as long as MSU is in it.

For more information on the Bulldogs, follow MSU women’s basketball on Twitter, like them on Facebook and join them on Instagram by searching for “HailStateWBK.”

Bulldog Bites

Mississippi State finished second in the SEC by three games after being picked to place third. This marked the sixth-consecutive season that the Bulldogs have finished inside the top three of the conference.
State had three All-SEC selections this year, as Jordan Danberry, Rickea Jackson and Jessika Carter were all named to the Second Team. Danberry also earned a spot on the All-Defensive Team, while Jackson was tabbed to the All-Freshman Team.
Jackson made a strong case for being the SEC and National Freshman of the Year. During SEC play, she ranked fifth among all players with 16.5 ppg and eighth in field goal percentage (.480); she was also the team’s second-leading rebounder (5.4 rpg).
Accounted for 22 percent of MSU’s scoring during conference games, her six games with 20-plus points matched the most by any freshman in the league. She’s the only SEC freshman to score 30 points in a game this season after having 34 at Auburn.
For the year, Jackson leads the team in scoring (14.5 ppg) and is third in rebounding (4.8 rpg). She has scored in double figures in 21 games, including 16 games with at least 15 points, and has shot 50 percent or better from the field 13 times.
Danberry leads the team steals (2.4 spg) while ranking second in assists (3.1 apg) and third in scoring (12.5 ppg). The Naismith DPOY semifinalist ranks 23rd among Division I players in total steals (73) to pace a Mississippi State defense that leads the SEC in turnovers forced per game (21.0). She ranks fifth among Division I guards in field goal percentage (.520).
With the departure of SEC Player of the Year Teaira McCowan, Mississippi State had a major void to fill in the post this season. Carter helped answer that need, averaging 13.9 points, 8.9 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game. As a sophomore, McCowan averaged 8.7 points, 7.1 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game. Carter is considered one of the most improved players in the country after significantly increasing her scoring (10.7 ppg) and rebounding (5.8 rpg) from last season.
The sophomore forward ranks 10th in Division I in field goal percentage (.601) and is 19th in offensive rebounds per game (4.0).
Redshirt sophomore guard Myah Taylor is one of the best help-side defenders in the country. With 43 charges drawn and 60 steals, she’s forced 103 turnovers this year, which accounts for 16 percent of MSU’s turnovers forced. On the other end of the floor, her 2.67 assist/turnover ratio is 13th in the country and third in the SEC.

Trio of Bulldogs Earn SEC Honors

With the announcement of the 2020 SEC Women’s Basketball awards, Jordan Danberry, Rickea Jackson and Jessika Carter were recognized by league coaches for their impressive play this season.
All three Bulldogs were tabbed Second Team All-SEC after helping Mississippi State go 25-5 in the regular season, 13-3 during conference play and earn a second-place finish. Danberry also earned a spot on the All-Defensive Team, while Jackson was named to the All-Freshman Team.
Three players named to the All-SEC teams matched the most in a season under head coach Vic Schaefer, bringing his total of All-SEC selections to 15.
Danberry was the 10th All-Defensive honoree under Schaefer, who has had someone tabbed to the squad during each season since arriving at Mississippi State. Jackson was the fifth individual to earn a spot among the SEC’s top freshmen.
Jackson also marked State’s first freshman to receive All-SEC recognition since 2015, when Victoria Vivians earned second team honors.

Mississippi State in the SEC Tournament

Mississippi State is 24-39 all time during the SEC Tournament. However, the Bulldogs have been much more successful as of recently, going 9-3 in the last four tournaments and posting a 10-6 record overall in Vic Schaefer’s first seven seasons.
State won its first SEC Tournament Title last year, topping Arkansas in the championship game, 101-70. It was the fourth year in a row that MSU advanced to the championship.
Under his watch, MSU has been a top-3 seed in the SEC Tournament for six straight seasons now. That includes four years in a row of being one of the top two seeds, a feat the Bulldogs had never accomplished prior to Schaefer’s arrival.
Prior to Schaefer’s arrival, MSU had only won more than one game in a single tournament just once (2000). That 2000 campaign also marked the program’s first ever run to the championship. The Bulldogs have achieved both of these feats four straight years entering this season’s event.

Taylor Bringing Energy to Both Ends of the Floor

Myah Taylor spent the last two seasons learning from the two best point guards in program history in Jazzmun Holmes and Morgan William and has now stepped into the starting role as this year’s floor general.
Now in the starting spot, Taylor has made her presence felt on both ends of the floor. The redshirt sophomore leads the team in assists (139) and is second in steals (60). Her 2.67 assist/turnover ratio ranks third in the SEC and 13th in the country.
She finished conference play ranked second in assist/turnover ratio at 2.8.
The Olive Branch, Miss., native has posted seven straight games with five or more assists and has eclipsed that mark 14 times overall on the year.
One the best help defender in the country, Taylor is constantly creating issues for opposing teams as they try to get into their offense. She has led the squad in steals 13 times this year.
Where Taylor has really excelled this season and energized the crowd has been her ability to take a charge. On the year, she has drawn 43 charges while no other person on the team has more than 15.
Taylor scored all 16 of her points in the second half in State’s win against No. 16 Texas A&M. She’s averaging 5.7 ppg while shooting 46 percent from the field.
She notched a career-high 10 assists in the Bulldogs’ final game of the regular season at Ole Miss.