Mississippi state basketball: three advantages of losing to South Carolina
It was time to check the gut, and the # 21Mississippi State Basketball Lady Bulldogs were the ones who got punched in the stomach last night against # 4South Carolina. The Lady Bulldogs arrived with a lot of energy by building an initial advantage and winning the first quarter by 11-10. It would be a knockout the rest of the way, as South Carolina ran away with a 75-52 victory in front of approximately 1000 fans at the Humphrey Coliseum.
The defeat also lowered the Mississippi State Basketball Lady Bulldogs to under .500 in the SEC ranking for the first time since the 2013-14 season. The state of Mississippi has been ranked in the top 25 for 126 consecutive weeks since 2014. When the ranking is released on Monday, that string will be over. The season doesn’t get any easier because the state of Mississippi hosts the number 20Tennessee on February 4 and travels to number 19, Arkansas, fresh from a UCONN turnaround on the 11th.
The fact is that the Mississippi Bulldog Lady Bulldogs are struggling, and it seems that this season is not going as everyone expected. Here are three lessons from last night’s game and what needs to happen to straighten the ship for the rest of the season.
Mississippi lost a chance to lose a third loss to a Top 5 team that night.
The State of Mississippi could have been the third team to defeat a Top 5 opponent in the night. # 3UCONN and # 2 NC State lost conference clashes. If the state of Mississippi could have pulled the twist last night, it would have changed their season. Instead of being in the spotlight as the third team, the State of Mississippi lost its third consecutive conference game.
The Lady Bulldogs are currently in eighth place at the SEC, and it appears that the rest of the SEC has improved while the state of Mississippi has remained stagnant, or you can even say that the program has regressed somewhat in its first year under Nikki McCray-Penson. When everything is said and done, When everything is said and done, When everything is said and done, I have no doubt that Coach Mc-Cray Penson will straighten the ship and start a new streak as a team ranked in the Top 25.
South Carolina is simply better.
In my preview, I mentioned that on paper the state of Mississippi has talents comparable to those of South Carolina. Unfortunately for us, basketball games are not played on paper. I didn’t expect the state of Mississippi to suffer as a team. When you return two players who were part of the ALL-SEC preseason team, expectations are high.
South Carolina proved last night that even when one of its best players is out of the game, the next player must show up. Aliyah Boston scored just six points, but made his presence felt with 12 rebounds and 4 blocks. Zia Cook leads with 19 points. Vicatria Saxton double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds, and LeLe Grissett scored 11 points off the bench.
South Carolina also dominated the state of Mississippi on plates 51-38. Lady Gamecocks also scored 44 points in the painting compared to 28 for the state of Mississippi. Leading these two statistics is the winning recipe for Lady Bulldogs.
The woes of the execution of the Lady Bulldogs continue.
Coach McCray-Penson was not afraid to touch his lineup. Rickea Jackson left the bench in two of the last three games. For a talent like Jackson not to be a starter in a big game like this, you must ask yourself what the problem is. When Jackson entered the game, she scored 1-7 in the first half.
When your best player is fighting, it will be difficult to defeat anyone. Jackson finished with 15 points, but the game was already decided. Jessika Carter finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds, but she was not a major factor in the game, especially with Boston having to sit in trouble.
With Boston gone, Carter should be able to take control of the game, but the Lady Gamecocks would not allow that. Myah Taylor was the offensive spark at the start of the game, and she finished with 10 points, including 2 out of three.
She also distributed 5 assists, but made 5 expensive sales. The rest of the team also fought offensively when Sidney Cooks and JaMya Mingo-Young scored 5 points, Aliyah Matharu scored 4 points and Madison Hayes scored 1 point. True first year playmaker KN’isha Godfrey also made her debut after signing up early and playing 4 minutes.
The Lady Bulldogs continue to fight on the free throw line, hitting only 33% of the shots. If the state of Mississippi wants to turn the season around and return to the SEC elite, it starts against Lady Volunteers, the alma mater of its coach.
Nikki McCray-Penson knows more about pinkie basketball than I do, but something needs to change. The attack, the defense, another change in lineup, something has to happen to turn this season around.
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