Bulldogs look forward to the next opportunity in NCAA Tournament

Mississippi State women’s basketball players place the school’s name plate in the bracket after the Bulldogs defeated Illinois 70-56 on Wednesday night in South Bend, Indiana. (Photo by Kevin Snyder, MSU Athletics, for Starkville Daily News)

March 2 is a date that many players and coaches at Mississippi State would love to forget, but it also could be something that shapes this 2023 team's postseason fate.

The Bulldogs came out in Greenville, South Carolina, in the second round of the Southeastern Conference Tournament and fell to the No. 13 seed Texas A&M Aggies. It sent the Bulldogs packing early, but it also placed them in the play in game for the NCAA Tournament with a matchup with Illinois on Wednesday night.

Immediately following that loss to the Aggies, what fans didn't see was the work that the staff and players put in to try and right the wrong from the tournament. It helped pave the way for the success that would follow the confident bunch in South Bend, Indiana, on Wednesday as State used a huge second half to roll over the Illini 7056.

“We were hungry,” Bulldog senior point guard Anastasia

Hayes said. “We've worked really hard for the past two weeks. Losing first game in the SEC wasn't what we wanted, but we knew we may have another chance to get to March Madness.

“When we saw our name on TV, we went back and we worked really, really hard. That's all we did the past two weeks. (We) worked hard, worked on our execution, and just worked on just having fun.”

MSU dominated a smaller