STARKVILLE — A home date with Auburn was just what the doctor ordered for Mississippi State.
The Bulldogs overcame a slow start Thursday night and reeled off 24 straight points in the second quarter, giving up just four points in that period en route to a 96-56 blowout of the Tigers. It was by far their most lopsided win against a Southeastern Conference opponent in three years under head coach Sam Purcell.
“We really have a gritty type of persona about us,” said grad transfer Chandler Prater, who tied a season high with 14 points and was 5-for-6 from the floor, including 2-for-2 from 3-point range. “Right now, I feel like we’d all like to see ourselves bring that every day, regardless of the opponent.”
MSU (16-5, 3-4 SEC) still had its issues with turnovers, committing nine in the first quarter alone including three on consecutive possessions. Despite shooting 60% over the opening 10 minutes, the Bulldogs led by just two points. But in that second quarter, MSU turned the ball over just once, allowing the Bulldogs to get set defensively and force tough shots from Auburn (10-10, 1-6). The Tigers missed 12 straight field goals and finished the quarter 2-for-17.
Prater enjoyed perhaps her best shift of the year, drilling back-to-back 3-pointers early in the quarter and completing an old-fashioned 3-point play in the final minute of the half. MSU did just about anything it wanted in the paint, making 21 of 24 layups and outscoring Auburn 56-26 there. The Bulldogs also nearly doubled up the Tigers on the boards and had a 34-14 edge in defensive rebounding.
“Any time you score like we did, it puts a lot more pressure on those shots for (the other team),” Purcell said. “It’s not as easy knowing you’re trying to stop a drought.”
MSU followed up its 33-point second quarter by scoring 35 in the third, making eight shots in a row during a five-minute stretch. Third-string post player Kayla Thomas was perfect from the field and tied a season high with six points in 14 minutes, helping the Bulldogs shoot a season-best 62.3% as a team.
Point guard Denim DeShields scored 13 points, her single-game high for MSU, and added seven assists with just one turnover. Jerkaila Jordan and Eniya Russell led the Bulldogs with 15 points apiece, and Madina Okot — who had a brief injury scare 10 seconds into the game but returned a minute and a half of game time later — just missed a double-double with 13 points and nine rebounds.
“At times, it was hard to recognize the hot hand because we were all on point tonight, which is what we love to see,” DeShields said. “We know we have weapons one through five, and each game it might be a different person who is at the top of the box score, but tonight we all had it going.”
DeYona Gaston scored a game-high 26 points for Auburn, but she had more than half of the Tigers’ made field goals. Gaston attempted 27 shots, while none of her teammates took more than seven. Auburn finished just 3-for-14 from behind the arc.
“She was at the top of the scouting report. She’s a great player, but sometimes you have to do what you can to get the win, regardless of what that looks like,” DeShields said. “We all did a good job following the scout. She got a lot of shots to fall tonight, and that’s a testament to the type of player she is, but we played team basketball on the offensive and defensive ends.”
The Bulldogs have now earned impressive wins twice following back-to-back losses, having grabbed their first conference victory two weeks ago against an Oklahoma team that was ranked in the top 10 at the time. MSU can get back to .500 in SEC play by winning at last-place Missouri, which is winless in the conference, on Monday night.
“It’s just great to see the results take care of themselves,” Purcell said. “If you put in the work, these are life lessons, good things can happen, and they’ve got that juice. That’s a big reason, because those kids, at the end of the day, are winners. They know they might not necessarily win in the box score, but they’re winners in life, and when you’re that kind of person, winning takes care of itself.”
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