Bulldogs look for taste of victory again
Southeastern Conference losses haven’t come along often for Mississippi State in women’s basketball over the last five years, but when they do, they leave a bad taste in the mouths of players, coaches and fans alike.
The first one of 2021 was especially tough for MSU as a win against No. 10
Kentucky slipped out of its grasp and a chance to get some footing at the top of the league went with it. It was a game filled with both positives and negatives as the Bulldogs lost a 92-86 overtime decision, but it was one that coach Nikki Mccraypenson is hoping to use as a teaching point.
The loss dropped MSU to 6-2 for the year and 1-1 in league play. Now they have to go back on the road and take on a Florida team today at 5 p.m. on the SEC Network and the Gators are hungry for a big win. Mccray-penson cautions her team will have to play significantly better to right some wrongs and get a win.
“I think the number one thing is guarding the basketball,” Mccray-penson said. “We’ll get beat if we guard like we did against
Kentucky. I’ve challenged our players that we’ve got to guard and then we’ve got to rebound. If we don’t do those two things, it will be a long night.”
It feels strange to call it a positive after Rhyne Howard was chosen the National Player of the Week with her 33-point performance, but the Bulldogs effectively shut down the defending SEC Player of the Year for three quarters. The problem was that they allowed her to dominate in the fourth quarter and overtime and helped lead the Wildcats to the win.
Mccray-penson still liked what she saw defensively towards the end in terms of effort and intensity. The coach had junior forward Xaria Wiggins on the court for the first time this year after the standout player had been dealing with a blood clot in her lung. She gave MSU seven points in 16 minutes and played well down the stretch with Myah Taylor, Aliyah Matharu, Jamya Mingoyoung, Rickea Jackson and Jessika Carter in some variation.
That group got the most minutes when the game was on the line and is a group that Mccray-penson looked at as a possible group that
plays the critical minutes moving forward. It’s all dependent on how they play during a game and at practice.
“It is what group is really gelling and who’s talking,” Mccray-penson said. “That group talked the most. They made mistakes, but they made up for their mistakes by talking. They had a really good flow and we felt that. The energy was good. It’s about flow and about what we see out there in the moment.”
It’s evident that Mccraypenson will certainly continue to depend on Jackson. The ALL-SEC player had 23 points in 41 minutes against the Wildcats and is now averaging 17.4 points a game this season. Along with Jessika Carter’s 16.4 points and 8.5 boards, those are the goto players for the Bulldogs this season and they’ll continue to carry the load when they’re not in foul trouble.
Jackson wasn’t happy with how MSU lost the Kentucky game, but she did take solace in how the Bulldogs played down the stretch. Now they need to take what they learned and put it towards the rest of the season.
“In the first three quarters, we didn’t really defend,”
Jackson said. “In the fourth quarter, you could feel our energy and the defense we had in the fourth quarter is the defense we need to have throughout the game. (Mccray-penson) told us to take this and feel it in our heart so we don’t lose again.”
Life in the SEC is never easy and Mccray-penson knows first hand having played in it and been an assistant for multiple years. Half a year into the job, she’s still building her program at MSU and learning something new every day from her players.
Zoom meetings were a good start in building her relationship with the team, but the face-to-face piece has helped take them to the next level. She’s confident that they’re building things the right way.
“In the beginning, it was tough, but we’re at this point now where we’re still evolving and building our trust,” Mccray-penson said. “For me, it’s getting them to understand who they are as people, how to treat people, how to be a good teammate and having a positive attitude. What happens off the floor is so important to being successful on the floor. We’re just getting our kid to understand that on a dayto-day basis. They’re buying into it and are a great group.”