STARKVILLE — “Buckle your seatbelt, because this team has some oo-wee where we’re capable of putting up big points quick.”
Year Two of Mississippi State head coach Sam Purcell’s tenure began as promised, with a flurry.
The Bulldogs scored 26 points in the opening quarter of action on their way to a 77-42 win over Alcorn State on Monday night, led by a dominant 26-point performance from senior guard JerKaila Jordan. The scoring momentum came and went over the rest of the night as the team shook off some rust, but overall it was a promising performance from the No. 25 ranked team in the country.
“Shoutout to my team for coming together and learning to play,” Purcell said after the game. “I’ve got a lot of great individual talent, but I’m trying to make a great team. I saw glimpses of that, film will be great for us this week… and I expect my team to learn and grow this upcoming week, because boy do we have a big one coming up next.”
Jordan has been a big part of the MSU offense since arriving on campus two years ago, and began her senior season by equalling her career-high with a 26-point performance, paired with a new career-high 13 rebounds for an opening night double-double.
“Our relationship is a lot better because I’ve had time with her, I’ve challenged her more and she came out the gate for 26,” Purcell said of Jordan after the game.
He also remarked that at halftime she was on pace for 40 points, but he was impressed with the way she spread the ball around. There was certainly plenty of talent to share the rock with, including some new faces.
Two graduate transfers cracked the starting five Monday night, and both showed why. Seton Hall transfer Lauren Park-Lane reached 700 career assists at point for the Bulldogs, and Arkansas transfer Erynn Barnum joined Jordan and Jessika Carter in double-digit points with 13 in her Starkville debut.
Every active Bulldog had at least one bucket and one rebound on the night, and as a team they combined for 70 rebounds, just eight short of the team record of 78 rebounds in a single game.
“Yabba dabba do,” Carter said, alluding to a new team mantra inspired by the Flintstones. “We’re trying to get those second-chance points. We’re just out there playing hard and doing the little things to try and get as many rebounds as possible.”
Purcell would go on to explain “Yabba dabba” as a saying that keeps the team focused and fighting and doing the small things on each play. He wants to inspire a championship mentality, and while the season is still young he saw glimpses of that on Monday.
“To have so many kids with double-doubles, there’s a ‘yabba dabba’ mentality, and if we can keep doing that, watch out.”
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