Mississippi State women’s basketball picked up its second SEC road win of the season at Arkansas on Monday, making it two league wins in a row for the first time this season, but head coach Sam Purcell wasn’t happy.
The Bulldogs improved to 18-8 overall, 5-7 in SEC play, with the 75-66 road win, setting a new season-high for three-pointers in the process. The 14 made three-pointers is the team’s highest tally of the season, and the fourth time in the last five games that the team has shot 35% or better from beyond the arc.
Four Bulldogs finished with double-digit points, including freshmen Jaylah Lampley, who led with 16, and Madison Francis, who picked up her second SEC Freshman of the Week award yesterday morning. As a team, the Bulldogs notched 19 assists, their second-best tally in SEC play this season.
But when Purcell joined the post-game radio show, he only had one stat on his mind: turnovers.
“As a head coach, I’m embarrassed,” he said. “22 turnovers, and we worked on it. I’m upset right now.”
MSU committed 12 of its turnovers in the first half, and though the halftime advantage of 13 points was a reflection of MSU’s hot shooting, their sloppiness kept the Razorbacks alive going into the second half.
Arkansas would hit all seven of its three-pointers in the second half, sinking five in the third quarter alone to find new life in the game. The Razorbacks would win the second half by four points, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the Bulldogs’ halftime advantage.
“You lost the last two quarters. I’m trying to challenge this team to get to another level,” Purcell said. “Obviously, I’m excited, it’s hard to win on the road. I’m going to take a grain of salt because we haven’t won two in a row, so we got that, but play to the standard. Play Mississippi State basketball.”
The focus from the MSU camp ahead of the Georgia game last week was to make the final stretch all about playing their game and not playing to the name on the jersey of their opponent. The team is 2-0 so far through that stretch, and more than happy to string wins together for the first time since nonconference play, but the matter of getting the win matters a bit more at this time of year when teams have to be at or near their best to keep moving.
“It’s a huge win, you better believe it, but 22 turnovers for how we worked with drive and kicks, taking care of the ball. It’s just sloppy,” Purcell said. “Unacceptable, especially if we’re trying to get to March playing our best basketball. That can’t happen. I’m going to make sure we understand that. We’re going to run for every one of those turnovers tomorrow at practice because we’re too comfortable with the ball. We’re way too good, and I’ve got to make sure we reach our potential, but 22 turnovers ain’t gonna do it.”
The Bulldogs again won the physical battle, utilizing a size advantage to good effect on the boards. The mid- to long-range shooting took some of the usual points out of the paint, as did an uptick in three-point shooting because those shots were falling.
Purcell did take time to discuss the positives of the performance, but his unhappiness with the poor ball security stemmed from a knowledge of the test that lay ahead. A visit from Florida on Thursday before a trip to No. 4 Texas on Sunday are games where the Bulldogs cannot afford to play sloppily, especially with postseason hopes still on the line.
“Our rebounding has been outstanding. That’s something where we start making that change to the bigger lineup, it’s paid off,” he said. “Happy to see Jaylah Lampley have a great game. Des(tiney McPhaul) off the bench, they’re making me look smart there. That’s the reason we made that rotation. Can we get a flow, get some balance, and put teams away, but 22 turnovers ain’t getting it done.”
MSU and Florida will tip off at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday. The game will stream on SEC Network+.
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