Bulldogs overcome bad first half to get win

Sunday had all the makings for a letdown game for Mississippi State and a big upset in women’s basketball.

Alcorn State came to Starkville wanting that monumental upset and there were some ingredients there. The Bulldogs entered the game with just eight available players and one of them was leading scorer Rickea Jackson. On top of that, it was a miserable first half shooting the basketball.

Despite that, State battled through with a monster third quarter on the way to a victory over the Lady Braves 86-63. The win kept the Bulldogs undefeated at 3-0.

“It was a challenge not having everybody, but we knew that we were short so playing hard, playing aggressive and doing everything coach says (was important)” MSU’S Anastasia Hayes said. “The biggest emphasis (Sunday) was playing defense and the first half was not good. After that, that’s what we did and that’s what helped us pull out the win.”

The Bulldogs shot 44% from the field after a miserable first half, hitting 7-of-29 3-pointers and going just 13-of-27 from the free-throw line. The defensive intensity helped the Bulldogs battle through it as State forced 28 turnovers and scored 38 points off of those. MSU also dominated the boards for the first time this year with a 47-33 edge and had 52 points in the paint to 22.

It couldn’t get much worse for the Bulldogs than what they did in the first half shooting the ball. State couldn’t buy a basket as it managed to shoot just 13-of-38, made one of 14 3-pointers and hit just 4-of12 from the free-throw line. Meanwhile, Alcorn State was getting it done from the field as the Lady Braves were 11-of-21 shooting and hit 4-of-5 from deep.

“They were good looks,” Hayes said. “We were wide open. We didn’t give up on ourselves. We just kept shooting even though we were off in the first half. We didn’t dwell on those missed shots and focused in on that second half.”

Things changed in the second half.

MSU started the half on a 22-2 run in the third quarter and outscored Alcorn State 35-7 to push the lead out for good at 66-37. The fourth quarter was more even, but inconsequential as the Bulldogs did the damage out of the locker room.

“I was worried with how we looked at each other and how we talked to each other,” MSU interim head coach Doug Novak said. “There wasn’t a good energy that I felt in that first half on that court.

“In the second half, you could just see it. They were supporting each other make or miss and it goes a long way. I thought they inspired each other and as usual, the defense can spark the offense.”

All eight of the available players were forced to play with seven of them playing at least 18 minutes. Jerkaila Jordan led them all despite sitting a good bit of the first half with foul trouble. The Tulane transfer went off for 26 points two days after her first career double-double. She was 10-of-17 from the field, hit a career-high six 3-pointers and pulled down eight rebounds in just 24 minutes.

Hayes played a team-high 36 minutes in the game and scored 20 points. Hayes was 8-of-20 from the field and struggled hitting from deep going 0-for-5 from 3-point range, but her defense was a spark with two steals. Myah Taylor scored 15 points in the game shooting 6-of-9 and finished with nine assists to two turnovers.

In the post, MSU has been struggling with lack of size, but Raven Farley added 12 big points and pulled down eight rebounds in 21 minutes. Caterrion Thompson was a spark off the bench as the guard had a game-high 12 boards in 29 minutes.

While the players available stepped up in a big way, the bench is filling up with more unavailable players. Jackson was a big part of the lineup that was missing after she went down late in the game against South Dakota State with an apparent breathing issue. Novak said after the game on Sunday that her absence was precaution and Jackson could be seen on the bench in good spirits.

Ashley Jones was also out for the game with an unknown injury to go along with freshman Mia Moore and sophomore Alasia Hayes, both of whom have been out for each of the first three games. Freshman Jasmine Shavers announced her transfer last week and Kn’isha Godfrey reportedly entered the transfer portal though one source suggested she intended to remove her name. Godfrey has not been with the team either of the last two games.

It’s something that Novak and his squad are working through right now and a week off should be big for the Bulldogs this week before coming back to the court again next Monday to take on Bethune Cookman.

“I think there’s a manager that turned his ankle too and I could use one of them,” Novak said of the injuries. “We’ll take anybody right now. We’re being as cautious as we can trying to keep people as healthy as we can for the long run. Hopefully, we’re going to start getting some more of those bodies out there because there’s way too many kids on that bench that aren’t playing right now.”