Quarterback Jamari Jones threw for 201 yards and three touchdowns and eight players scored as the 11th-ranked East Mississippi Community College football team opened MACCC North Division play with a convincing 56-3 road victory over Mississippi Delta on Thursday night at Jim Randall Stadium in Moorhead.
Jones completed 16 of 22 passes, with no receiver making more than three catches. Jontarius Henderson, Kevin Barnett and Zach Patterson caught TD passes from Jones, who rushed for a third-quarter touchdown for the Lions (3-0).
Zias Perryman led the Lions’ rushing attack with 80 yards on 15 carries and a touchdown, while Amariyon Howars also rushed for a score as EMCC scored 28 points during each half.
Kel Williams and Jeremy Mack Jr. each had interceptions for an EMCC defense that held an opponent to one score for the third time in three games. The Trojans were held under 100 yards in total offense and went three-and-out six times.
Columbus graduate Ethan Conner ran the offense to close out the contest, scoring on a 9-yard keeper to wrap up EMCC’s 422-yard offensive performance. Defensively, the Lions totaled nine tackles behind the line of scrimmage and forced three fumbles.
The Lions’ special teams contributed a 90-yard kickoff return from Alabama transfer Kadarius Calloway and blocked punts by Cameron Hines and Jacob Partridge.
The Lions return home at 7 p.m. Thursday to play Holmes (0-3).
Women’s basketball
McCray-Penson adds to coaching staff
Mississippi State women’s basketball coach Nikki McCray-Penson announced the additions of Malikah Willis as an assistant coach and Peggy Knight as the director of recruiting on Friday.
Willis most recently served as an assistant coach at Eastern Michigan, while Knight served as the head coach of Lake Mary High School in Florida.
“The addition of Malikah and Peggy to our staff is very exciting,” McCray-Penson said. “They both come to Mississippi State with proven experiences as student-athletes and coaches, which is important to our growth as a program. Additionally, they have a great record of development and an understanding of our culture. Malikah and Peggy are going to impact our players as well as the community of Starkville.”
Willis comes to Starkville with nearly two decades of coaching experience at both the major and mid-major levels. She is an elite recruiter who has signed seven top-25 recruiting classes, four while at West Virginia and three at Georgia Tech.
Before those two jobs, she had stops at the College of Charleston, Texas Tech and Eastern Michigan.
During her career, Willis has signed two McDonald’s All-Americans, coached 14 all-conference honorees between the Big East, Big 12 and ACC, with five WNBA draft picks that include two first-round selections in Kaela Davis and Bria Holmes.
At Iowa, Willis was a four-year letter winner and helped guide the Hawkeyes to Big Ten regular season titles in 1995-96 and 1997-98 and the 1997 Big Ten Tournament title.
Knight spent the previous three seasons coaching at Lake Mary High School in Lake Mary, Florida, near Orlando. Before that, Knight spent two seasons as an assistant coach at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, helping the Rebels to two WNIT appearances and their first Mountain West Conference regular season championship in 2017-18. She handled all out-of-state recruiting while creating recruiting content for use in both in-home visits and social media platforms.
Knight is a former women’s basketball student-athlete and earned her degree in communication studies from Appalachian State.
Women’s soccer
No. 6 LSU blanks short-handed State
An own goal and a strike from distance proved to be the difference Friday night in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, as LSU claimed a rain-soaked 2-0 victory over a Mississippi State team missing 10 players, including four starters.
State (2-3-2, 0-1-0 SEC) almost opened the scoring in the fourth minute when Hannah Telleysh broke free in the box. Her shot crashed off the crossbar. Telleysh had another chance during the 26th minute on a free kick, but her shot was blocked by the Tigers’ wall.
LSU (8-0-0, 1-0-0 SEC) started to apply pressure in the 18th minute when a corner service pinballed within State’s box. One shot made it through on goal off a deflection, but Maddy Anderson reacted well for her first save of the night. Ten minutes later, the Tigers again earned a corner, but this time a Bulldog clearance went awry and deflected into the MSU net.
LSU’s Tinaya Alexander fired a left-footed shot from outside the box that clipped the bottom of the crossbar and settled in the net for a two-goal lead during the 34th minute. State had a chance to answer with less than five minutes left in the first half, but Marcella Cash’s breakaway chance was stopped by the sliding keeper.
The Bulldogs played six freshmen including first-time starter Saniya Johnson who played the full 90 minutes. Rylie Combs also made her collegiate debut. The freshmen combined to play 319 total minutes.
MSU next plays at Georgia at 5 p.m. Thursday on SEC Network+.
Volleyball
Bulldogs lose Hail State opener
Mississippi State’s volleyball team fought off a pair of match points during the fourth set and nearly erased a two-set deficit before Syracuse escaped with a 25-23, 25-18, 12-25, 28-26 win to start the Hail State Invitational Friday at the Newell-Grissom Building in Starkville.
The Bulldogs (7-3) connected for 52 kills and a .227 hitting percentage. Mississippi State secured a 9-6 advantage in blocks and a 41-32 edge in digs over the Orange (9-1).
Lauren Myrick slammed 17 kills on a .382 attack percentage. Myrick added 5 digs, 1 block, 1 ace and posted a perfect passer rating on 24 attempts.
Gabby Waden tallied 8 kills and 4 blocks, while Callie Minshew fired in 7 kills, 5 digs and was a perfect 25 for 25 on reception attempts over her two sets off the bench.
Tennis
State pair tops No. 8 doubles team
Mississippi State women’s tennis started its fall season with a bang on Friday with a top-10 upset in doubles action on the opening day of the Debbie Southern Fall Classic hosted by Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina.
The Bulldogs’ No. 43 doubles duo of Magda Adaloglou and Chloé Cirotte defeated the eighth-ranked Wake Forest tandem of Brooke Killingsworth and Anna Brylin, 6-3. It was just the third time that Adaloglou and Cirotte had teamed in doubles and only the second time they have completed a match.
Adaloglou and Cirotte did drop their second-round matchup against Kylie Bilchev/ Ava Hrastar of Georgia Tech, 6-4.
After dropping their first match of the morning, Alexandra Mikhailuk and Marta Falceto bounced back in the second to top the Furman tandem of Jess Dawson and Ellie Schoppe 7-6.
MSU’s other ranked doubles team, No. 41 Emmanouela Antonaki and Tamara Racine, were not as fortunate, losing 6-2 to the Duke duo of Chloe Beck and Ellie Coleman and 6-3 to South Carolina’s Megan Davies and Allie Gretkowski.
The Bulldogs also picked up a pair of singles wins. Cirotte defeated Kacie Harvey of North Carolina 6-4, 6-1 in Flight 6, while Falceto knocked off Clemson’s Alexandra Antilla 6-2, 6-1 in Flight 10 for State’s fourth win of the day.
Women’s cross-country
Woodward leads MSU at North Alabama showcase
Mary Beth Woodward dropped nearly 30 seconds off her lifetime best in the 5K on Friday to help carry Mississippi State to an eighth-place finish at the North Alabama Invitational.
Woodward was MSU’s top finisher, crossing the line in 18:18.11 to place 49th. Ava Weems placed 53rd with a run of 18:25.10, while Emma Hossack, in her MSU debut, clocked in at 18:27.11 for a 54th-place finish.
Ashley Melcherts and Tekara Aimer rounded out State’s lineup, and both ran season-bests. Melcherts’ 18:36.30 was 28 seconds quicker than her run two weeks ago. Aimer cut her time down by eight seconds, running 18:48.80.
Softball
Ricketts unveils State’s fall schedule
Mississippi State softball coach Samantha Ricketts revealed the Bulldogs’ fall schedule on Friday, with seven games slated for Nusz Park, including three straight Fridays with MSU doubleheaders.
The fall slate begins Sept. 24, when the Bulldogs face Southern Union at 4:30 p.m. followed by a 7 p.m. tilt against Jones College. On Oct. 1, State hosts Wallace State Community College and Northwest Community College, which is coached by former Bulldogs four-time All-America catcher Chelsea Bramlett.
The Bulldogs will square off against Central Alabama Community College at 4:30 p.m. on Oct. 8, then take on Itawamba Community College at 7 p.m. The Bulldogs will play their final fall game at Nusz Park at 5 p.m. Oct. 13 against Meridian Community College.
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