MSU WBB stays perfect following win over Alcorn State
STARKVILLE, Miss. (MSU Athletics) – A dominant third quarter helped propel Mississippi State women’s basketball to a victory over Alcorn State, 86-63, Sunday night inside the Humphrey Coliseum. The Bulldogs completed a perfect opening week by starting the 2021-22 campaign, 3-0.
“You never know until you face some adversity on the court how they’re going to respond,” interim head coach Doug Novak said. I thought we did a nice job against South Dakota State, and now we had a little bit of adversity – missing a lot of shots, missing a couple key team members who weren’t able to be out on the floor, playing with different lineups. I think they know more than they think, but you just have to go through it. I think you saw in the third quarter, they just started to play and look a little bit more the way we want them to, and they spaced the floor offensively.”
JerKaila Jordan was once again a force in the Bulldogs lineup. Despite getting into early foul trouble and playing just six minutes in the first half, Jordan ended the game as the leading scorer with 26-points, three shy of a career-high. On the night, Jordan was 10-17 from the floor while going 6-10 from three and setting a career-best for made triples in a game.
Joining Jordan with double-digit points vs Alcorn State was Anastasia Hayes (20), Myah Taylor (15) and Raven Farley (12). Taylor continues to be the driving force for State with nine assists on the night. Taylor has already recorded 27 assists through three games this season, which ranks inside the top 5 nationally. Farley, who made her first career start in the Maroon and White, narrowly missed out on a double-double as she added eight boards to her 12-points.
The first half was one to forget for the State as the Bulldogs led Alcorn State by just a point, 31-30, heading into the locker rooms. After struggling to find a rhythm in the first two frames, shooting just 34% from the field, Mississippi State completely flipped the script in the third.
State came out of the gates firing, scoring the first seven points of the third. After allowing an Alcorn State jumper with 8:28 to play in the quarter, MSU went on a 15-0 run, highlighted by eight points from Jordan, to take a commanding 21-point lead over the next three minutes. State continued to add to its lead, outscoring the Lady Braves 35-7 in the quarter. Mississippi State would be outscored by six points in the fourth before walking away with an 86-63 victory over Alcorn State.
Up Next
Mississippi State will be off until Monday, Nov. 22, when they host Bethune-Cookman at 6 p.m. The week will consist of another three games in six days as State will be headed to Daytona Beach, Fla., to compete in the Daytona Beach Invitational, where they will play Dayton and No. 11 Michigan.
