Piece by piece, this year’s Mississippi State women’s basketball squad has built itself up through one of the most challenging schedules in Division I basketball.
Ranked 26th in strength of schedule, the Bulldogs have had to endure a run of seven straight ranked opponents through the first eight games of SEC play. A run of four straight defeats had the program asking tough questions of itself, and “come to Jesus” meetings with coaching staff in regard to the process, preparation and application lessons learned.
After a 77-62 win at No. 15 Tennessee on Thursday, head coach Sam Purcell is seeing the results of that work.
“We’ve been right there, and especially in a week where the Top 25 has come out and you’ve got an SEC-record 10 teams,” he said in the post-game press conference, sitting between top scorers Kharyssa Richardson and Trayanna Crisp. “I’ve got some dogs to my left and right, but most importantly back there in that locker room, that, you know what? They ain’t talking about us. But we want that, we want a seat at the table.”
Richardson posted 21 points on 9-11 shooting, making her presence felt down low and from mid-range in her third 20-plus point performance in conference play. The path was paved in part thanks to double-doubles from both Favour Nwaedozi and Madison Francis, who combined for 24 of MSU’s 50 rebounds. It was the 10th double-double of the season for Nwaedozi, who continues to flourish in her first season of Division-I ball.
Add in the distance shooting from Destiney McPhaul and Trayanna Crisp, the latter going 3-7 from behind the arc as part of a 15-point performance, and there are the makings of a complete team performance from the starting five.
Richardson may have highlighted the scoring, but her focus after the game was on the Bulldogs’ defensive display, and, in particular, the opening quarter where the Vols led just 12-9 in a heavily defensive contest.
“That was a big thing for us – transition defense,” Richardson said after the game. “They’re a good team. They love to push the ball, but our main thing was getting stops, even if we don’t score.”
“After that, we woke up,” Crisp said of the opening quarter. “We were like, ‘We’re here, we’re not just here to be here.’ I think our defense stepped up and once we found momentum, we were able to keep it.”
The Bulldogs responded with a strong performance on either side of halftime to build a lead, going on a 9-0 run before halftime and building a 20-point advantage coming out of the locker room. It was the result of lessons learned from the first meeting, which the Vols won 90-80 in Starkville. The squad knew how to outwork the Vols on both ends, and the confidence gained from strong performances in each of the last three games has only boosted the team’s level despite a slow start to conference play.
“I think we’re last in SEC field-goal defense. I’ve got a lot of experience here, we took that personally,” Purcell said. “To (Richardson’s) point, we worked on that for two hours, and then the next day, two hours. That’s why you saw them come out like they did tonight.”
“I think, like Rich said, our defense, but coming in here confident as well,” Crisp added. “Knowing we can play with them, compete with them. It’s hard to beat a team twice, and I feel like we came in here with confidence and knowing we can get this game.”
The confidence was a key part of the plan, not just for the trip to Knoxville, but for the team’s upward trajectory so far this season. Purcell took note of the difficult times the team experienced earlier in January. Over the course of SEC play he has remarked that these were big opportunities for his group to gain experience, but on Thursday he focused on the contributions from the upperclassmen, who came here to win now.
“We’re an NCAA Tournament program, we’re not the sisters of the poor. We know how to win,” he said. “Recruits just like (Crisp) came from a winning program, and I want these seniors to go out right. I want no regrets. For us to get this win solidifies the hard conversations we have behind the room, solidifies the long film rooms and extra shooting. At the same time, I told them… this can’t be the biggest win of the year. We’ve got a lot of big games ahead of us.”
The Bulldogs will return to Starkville for their next game against Mizzou, looking to string together conference wins for the first time this season.
The Tigers, currently 12th in the SEC standings, picked up their second conference win on Sunday against Texas A&M.
Purcell has also kept the focus on his concept of percentages, which has made its way into national media conversations with and about the head coach.
“This league can make you feel like you’re not good. I kept telling them we are,” he said. “We have no bad losses. We should have won at Texas Tech, and this is our seventh straight Top-25 matchup. I try to help them understand ‘Bend but don’t break,’ and understand you’re giving the effort, that 50%.”
The other 40%, the scout and preparation, paid off for MSU on the road, and the last 10%, the dogfight, was one they came up short with against Alabama.
“Tonight, with a lead, we knew we’d get their best punch. And I don’t believe it ever got to 11 points. We maintained, knowing it was coming, and that’s what winning teams have to do.”
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