STARKVILLE — Chandler Prater made 33 starts as a junior at Kansas two years ago and averaged 9.5 points and six rebounds per game, so she knows what it takes to play valuable minutes right after the opening tip.
But Prater’s road since then has been anything but linear. She transferred to Oklahoma State for her senior season and played just five games before sustaining a season-ending injury. Now at Mississippi State for her final year of eligibility, Prater started twice at the tail end of non-conference play with Debreasha Powe dealing with an injury, but otherwise has come off the bench for the Bulldogs.
That changed on Feb. 2 with MSU in Baton Rouge for a matchup with a top-10 LSU team. Head coach Sam Purcell gave Prater the start on the wing in place of Eniya Russell, and he has kept Prater in the starting lineup for the next two games.
“Lineups are determined (by) who I think gives me the best chance to win the game,” Purcell said. “Chandler is the glue for my team this year. She reminds me of a kid I coached (as an assistant) at Louisville when we went to the Final Four, Mykasa Robinson, who would play the two through four. Sometimes she started, sometimes she came off the bench. She was just the ultimate team player that year because of what that team needed.”
Prater struggled offensively in her first game back in the starting lineup, shooting 2-for-8 from the floor and 0-for-4 from behind the arc against LSU, although she did tie a season high with nine rebounds. Four nights later against Arkansas, Prater had 14 points and was 6-for-11 shooting in a blowout Bulldogs win.
Russell almost always came off the bench during her years at South Carolina and Kentucky, so returning to a reserve role was nothing new for her.
“Eniya is an unbelievable player whether she’s in the starting lineup or coming off the bench,” Purcell said. “The kid can flat-out make plays and score. She can dish the ball as well as anybody in the country. She had a great practice (Tuesday). She wants to finish this out right. She’s the ultimate person and electric player. We need her to play well. When she plays well, our team plays well.”
Scouting Vanderbilt
MSU (17-8, 4-7 Southeastern Conference) has another tough road test Thursday night against the Commodores (18-6, 5-5), who have one of the best freshmen in the country in Mikayla Blakes. On Jan. 30 at Florida, Blakes went off for 53 points and was 16-for-24 from the field. She averages 22.1 points per game, second in the SEC.
Blakes’ co-star is sophomore forward Khamil Pierre, who is fourth in the conference with 21.2 points per game and second in the SEC in rebounding, with 10 boards per contest. Outside of that dynamic duo, Iyana Moore is another solid scorer and veteran guard Jordyn Oliver leads Vanderbilt in assists with nearly four per game.
“They have some electric guards who are able to score in the open court,” Purcell said. “This league is really dominated with seniors and fifth-years, so for a freshman to put up numbers with some of the top fifth-years is pretty impressive.”
The Commodores lead the SEC in steals per game, which could pose problems for a Bulldogs team that has struggled to take care of the ball. Vanderbilt is effective in turning its defense into offense, ranking fourth in the conference in scoring.
The only non-conference loss for the Commodores came against a ranked Michigan State team, and Vanderbilt gave LSU all it could handle on the road in mid-January. The Commodores also have ranked wins over Tennessee and Alabama.
“They’re able to turn you over,” Purcell said. “We’ve got our work cut out. They’re deep. Their bench is also very solid, so we have to make sure we bring it for four quarters.”
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