STARKVILLE — Porsha Porter has earned a reputation for being a spark plug for the Mississippi State women’s basketball team.
Whether it’s with her thievery on defense or with her lightning-quick first step or her 3-point shooting prowess, Porter has carved a niche in her second season with the Lady Bulldogs.
MSU needed all of the dimensions of Porter’s game Wednesday to enter the holiday on a positive note.
Porter had season-highs of points (18) and rebounds (eight) to go with six steals and three assists to lead MSU to a 64-47 victory against Mississippi Valley State before a crowd of 575 at Humphrey Coliseum.
Martha Alwal (season-high 17 points, 12 rebounds, eight blocked shots) and Diamber Johnson (10 points, five assists) also scored in double figures for the Lady Bulldogs (5-1), who will have today off before leaving Friday for a trip to Georgia, where they will play Savannah State at 1 p.m. Saturday.
Ashley Brown had 10 rebounds, and Shamia Robinson, a former standout at West Oktibbeha County High School, added six rebounds and three blocks, but Porter was the juggernaut on a day in which MSU still struggled in several areas.
“I just try to bring energy, if that is possible, to our team,” Porter said. “I know we were kind of slacking in the beginning of the game, so I was just trying to pick us up and bring a lot of energy to the team and get them going.”
Porter’s teammates and coaches praised Porter’s play, but she admitted to not being satisfied with her play. She said she and the team were lacking in areas. One of them was defense because Porter said MSU shouldn’t have allowed MVSU (1-3) to scorer 47 points.
The Delta Devilettes reached that number thanks in large part to a 7-of-13 effort from 3-point range in the second half. MVSU was only 1 of 15 from distance in the second half (and shot only 4 of 35 from the field, 11.4 percent), but MSU didn’t match its biggest lead (11 points) until 4 minutes, 12 seconds remained. From there, MSU pulled away.
“We just had to do better,” said Porter, who was wearing an extra large Band-Aid on her chin to protect a cut she suffered Sunday in a 93-47 loss to then-No. 6 Texas A&M. Porter nearly lost the Band-Aid on a drive to the basket, but she managed to catch it in time as it hung off her chin and to re-attach it.
Porter did a little bit of everything to help MSU bounce back. She hit a 3-pointer early in the second half to help keep MVSU at bay. She attacked the offensive glass, even though she missed a putback, and she found Kendra Grant for a 3-pointer that extended MSU’s lead to 54-47 with 5:46 to go.
On defense, Porter played a key role in pressuring the ball and forcing MVSU into 21 turnovers.
Still, as well as the numbers backed up her performance, Porter admitted she expected more from herself.
Alwal, who had her third double-double of her career, expressed a similar sentiment. She provided a lift in the post without senior Catina Bett, who had eight points and four rebounds in only 19 minutes due to foul trouble.
“I am just at the right place at the right time,” Alwal said. “I am good with the double-double, but I don’t like how I played today. I didn’t play with any heart. I was as just going through the motions. I have to get a lot better than that.”
Porter said feeling better about the team’s play starts in practice. She said the team didn’t have a good practice Tuesday and that sub-par effort was reflected on the court Wednesday. Porter seemed to sense the team’s lethargy when she shouted “Let’s go” in an attempt to pick everyone up. When her verbal motivation didn’t work, Porter set out to lead by example and set the tone with her energy.
“I felt we weren’t bringing a lot of energy,” said Porter, who has scored in double figures in all five games. “I was just trying to get them going and to bring my energy and to give it to them and to show them if I can bring energy to the team, y’all can bring energy to the team.”
MSU coach Sharon Fanning-Otis said she wasn’t pleased with her team’s practice Tuesday. She also wasn’t happy with the Lady Bulldogs’ defense and effort defending 3-point shots. Still, she said the team continues to learn how to be tougher and how to attack teams.
“If we keep working, we’re going to find little ways to get better and this was good to regroup,” Fanning-Otis said. “But I expect more consistency and I expect better effort.
“Getting us to play to what I think our ability is, I guess that is what all of us are attempting to do and to communicate with this team as to how can we work harder and outwork our opponent, and right now I am not seeing that we’re doing that on a consistent basis.”
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
