STARKVILLE — On a night that Mississippi State honored its lone senior in guard Jordan Danberry, it was the Bulldogs’ youngsters that carried them to a 92-83 win over Arkansas Thursday night.
After not playing more than eight minutes in a game since MSU’s Jan. 26 win over Ole Miss, Matharu offered the MSU faithful at Humphrey Coliseum a look at the instant-offense she can afford off the bench as she notched 10 of her 18 points in the first eight minutes of action.
Riding her sharpshooting from beyond the 3-point line, six of Matharu’s final eight points came from behind the arc. The minute guard also finished the night with seven rebounds and four assists.
“Just playing (Jordan), being with my teammates everyday, you just get better,” Matharu said postgame. “And when the opportunity presents itself you just have to be prepared and that’s what I did.”
With former All-American forward and No. 1 overall WNBA Draft pick LaToya Thomas seated courtside, sophomore stalwart Jessika Carter quietly racked up her 11th double-double on the season in a performance reminiscent of Thomas’ four-year MSU career.
Finishing the night with 21 points and 11 rebounds, Carter was wildly effective — shooting 9-of-12 from the floor.
Battling a wayward start that saw MSU coach Vic Schaefer ditch his suit jacket in between the first and second quarters, the Bulldogs responded to their fiery eighth-year head coach with a 9-0 run in under a minute and outscored Arkansas 27-17 in the second frame to earn an eight point halftime lead.
With the MSU offense thriving in the open court, it was its pressure on Arkansas guard Alexis Tolefree — Danberry’s high school teammate and childhood friend — that alleviated their woes. After scoring 19 points over the games opening 14 minutes, Tolefree went scoreless over the half’s final 5:52 — part of what became an over 20 minute field goal drought.
While Tolefree was limited down the stretch, former Oklahoma standout and 2019 All-SEC second team honoree Chelsea Dungee was anemic, finishing with just four points on 1-of-13 shooting — well below her usual marks of 17.8 points and 38 percent from the floor.
“We really, really focused on not fouling driving shooters,” Schaefer said. “There’s no need to whack them. There’s no need to foul them. Make them make a tough shot and I thought we were spectacular on drives to the basket not fouling — and that was a big focal point for us.”
Playing her final regular season home game at Humphrey Coliseum, Danberry capped her maroon and white clad career with 19 points — 13 of which came in the second half — and five assists.
“My teammates were trying to keep me in the game and tried to help me forget about the first half and those (three) turnovers and all that,” Danberry said. “I was a little frustrated but I think once I got over that I just started attacking them.”
Though not quite a Jordanian effort, freshman Rickea Jackson also proved effective despite battling strep throat coming into the contest. Using her 6-foot-2-inch frame that stood taller than every Razorback that checked into Tuesday’s game, Jackson split defenders off the bounce and was seamless in her spot up jump-shooting en route to seven points on 3-of-8 shooting in just 17 minutes played.
With the win, MSU now locks up the No. 2 seed in next weekend’s SEC Tournament in Greenville, South Carolina. The Bulldogs’ potential opponents won’t be known until later in the week, though their finish does earn them a double-bye.
MSU closes out the regular season Sunday against in-state rival Ole Miss in Oxford. Tip-off is scheduled for 1:40 p.m.
“I’ve been telling them we’ve got a lot to play for,” Schaefer said. “If we can do some things, something now in the next three, four games you’ve got a chance to improve where we are. We have so much to play for.”
Ben Portnoy reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @bportnoy15.
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