MSU women’s basketball drops road test at Oklahoma

NORMAN, Okla. (MSU Athletics) – The Mississippi State women’s basketball team fell for just the second time this season, dropping their first road contest of the year at Oklahoma, 63-94 on Saturday in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge.

The Bulldogs were led by senior Anastasia Hayes who scored 21 points, 12 of which came in the first half. Hayes shot 8 for 14 from the field while adding seven rebounds and one steal to her stat line. JerKaila Jordan added 12 points, four rebounds and three steals. Rickea Jackson scored 14 points with eight rebounds and three steals of her own.

After a tight first quarter, Oklahoma caught fire from three, connecting on nine triples in the first half, shooting 70% from behind the arc, putting State in an early deficit. In the contest, Oklahoma made 10 triples and shot 40% from three and 50.8% from the field.

Charlotte Kohl and Ashley Jones were solid off the bench. Kohl sparked a run early in the second with a couple of buckets and four rebounds, two on the offensive glass. She ended the day with four points and six rebounds. Jones scored seven points and recorded one steal. Mississippi State shot 36.8% from the field on Saturday with 28 points in the paint and 15 points off turnovers. Myah Taylor and Anastasia Hayes each had two assists in the contest.

Quoting Coach Novak

On the zone defense that OU played

“That’s what they do. We knew they were going to hit those shots. The biggest part was we turned the ball over uncharacteristically, and it’s really hard to set your defense if you’re constantly trying to play against a turnover. So, hats off to them. I thought that zone was pretty good, and we stopped moving, which is always a danger for us if we don’t move the zone and shift it. If you stand and let them stand, it favors them.”

Up Next

The Bulldogs will be back in action on Sunday, Dec. 12 when they hit the road and travel to UT Martin. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. CT.