MSU upsets Tennessee at home

Mississippi State was at a crossroads heading into Monday night's matchup with one of the Southeastern Conference's best teams in Tennessee.

After back-to-back games in which the Bulldogs weren't within single digits after the first quarter, head coach Sam Purcell challenged his team in a week off from action. The Lady Volunteers represented an even bigger reality check coming in at 9-1 in the SEC.

The deck was stacked against the Bulldogs in many moments in the game, but they never folded. After 74 total free throw attempts and two overtimes, State prevailed with the marquee win of Purcell's inaugural year in a 9190 victory over Tennessee.

“We bend, but we don't break,” Purcell said. “Sometimes things don't go your way. We heard the noise from the fan base. We had a great talk this week and we went back to the basics. At some point, we've got to look in the mirror, we've got to climb the mountain.”

Despite the Lady Vols making an incredible 37-of-44 free throws off of 30 fouls from the Bulldogs, State stayed in the fight. Jessika Carter and Ahlana Smith fouled out and Anastasia Hayes, Asianae Johnson and Jerkaila Jordan stepped up to the forefront.

Hayes had 14 points with 11 of those coming after halftime. She had eight rebounds, four steals and three assists in 40 minutes. Jordan had 24 points on 8-of-14 shooting with 2-of-3 makes from 3-point range and six rebounds with three steals. Johnson was a spark plug off the bench with 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting.

“We just had each other's backs,” Hayes said.“when my teammates have my back, I can feel the positive energy. The energy was there (Monday).”

It was a game that never could be corralled by either team as neither wanted to flinch. State trailed 15-13 at the end of the first quarter and was tied at 31 at halftime and then Tennessee