GREENVILLE, S.C. — Andra Espinoza-Hunter let it fly.
Corralling a loose ball at center court as the second quarter clock neared zero, Espinoza-Hunter’s 35-foot, desperation heave splashed through the netting at Bon Secours Wellness Arena to grant No. 2-seeded Mississippi State (26-5) a lead it wouldn’t relent in the Bulldogs’ 79-49 win over ninth-seeded LSU (20-10) in the quarterfinals of the Southeastern Conference Tournament Friday.
Following a first half in which MSU shot a meager 36.7 percent from the floor, it was Espinoza-Hunter’s shot and an offensive onslaught from freshman guard Rickea Jackson that breathed life into coach Vic Schaefer’s squad as they headed to the locker room with a one-point lead at the break.
“Honestly, I just threw it up,” Espinoza-Hunter conceded postgame. “I just wanted to get a shot off at least and have an attempt for us to have a lead and it went in.”
For Jackson, Friday marked her first chance to flash the dynamic playmaking ability that earned her second team All-SEC honors in front of a diverse, conference-wide crowd in Greenville.
After being replaced in the starting lineup by classmate Aliyah Matharu for the first 2:19 of the game, the Detroit native notched the first of seven-straight Bulldog buckets out of the half with a stutter step layup over two LSU defenders.
Working inside and out, Jackson scored 10 of her game-high 23 points in the third quarter as the Bulldogs hit 13 of their 20 shots in the frame — outscoring the Tigers 26-12 over that span.
“It felt pretty good that I could come through for my team, just knowing that they always have confidence in me and always give me the ball,” Jackson, who had totaled 16 points combined over the past two games as she battled strep throat, said. “(It) just makes me more confident to make the shot.”
While Jackson led the way, senior Jordan Danberry and sophomore Myah Taylor also chipped in double-digit efforts Friday. Danberry — MSU’s lone senior this season — began her final SEC tournament in the maroon and white with an 18-point, five-rebound, three-assist effort, while Taylor finished with 10 points and eight assists running the point.
“The shots weren’t bad shots, they just weren’t falling,” Danberry said of the first half. “Coaches told us to ‘just keep shooting, keep driving the ball, it will come to you.’ That’s what we did. We had to keep playing our game. We were a little stagnant on offense in the first half.”
Hot shooting aside, it was MSU’s clamp-down defense that kept the Tigers at bay into the latter stages of Friday’s victory.
Despite forcing eight turnovers in the first half, the Bulldogs earned just one point off their extra possessions. Flipping the script in the third quarter, MSU earned 10 points off six LSU turnovers in the third quarter and 20 overall.
“We had to get some movement going on, get out in transition, guard the ball,” Danberry said. “Our defense led to offense, and that’s really what carried us in the second half.”
“Her defensive presence really disrupted us,” LSU coach Nikki Fagan added of Danberry, who was one of four MSU players with two steals. “There were so many times where when you’re playing a team like Mississippi State, you’ve got to play downhill. We started settling for jumpers. Those weren’t falling. Next person shoots a jumper, that doesn’t fall. It just adds more pressure on that jump shot.”
Seated at the podium following MSU’s victory, Schaefer alluded to the first of his eight SEC tournament appearances with the Bulldogs — one that ended a 63-36 first round loss to an Alabama team it had beaten by 24 points two weeks prior.
“That was rough,” he said solemnly. “When I came off the floor that night, I remember looking at my former AD, looked at him dead in the eye and said, ‘I’m sorry.'”
Now eight years on from the Bulldogs’ obliteration at the hands of the Crimson Tide, Schaefer has led his squad to the SEC Tournament semifinals or better in five-straight seasons.
Awaiting the winner of Friday night’s contest between No. 6 seed Tennessee and No. 3 Kentucky, there’s an expectation that’s been built in Starkville: the Bulldogs are playing for championships.
“I’m glad we’re a long way from that,” Schaefer said. “It’s taken a lot of hard work and commitment from a lot of people. It doesn’t go unappreciated. Again, I know how hard it is to do. We’ll just keep our heads down, rear-ends up, keep grinding away.”
Ben Portnoy reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @bportnoy15.
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