GREENVILLE, S.C. — Mississippi State freshman guard Rickea Jackson looked into the crowd and waved.
One night after dazzling a diverse crowd with a 23-point, 10-rebound effort against LSU, Jackson offered an encore performance of 29 points and 10 rebounds as she and MSU walked off the floor with a 77-59 win over third-seeded Kentucky in the Southeastern Conference Women’s Basketball Tournament semifinals Saturday night.
With a strong contingent of maroon-and-white-clad Bulldog fans seated in Bon Secours Wellness Arena, Jackson finished 11-of-16 from the floor and a perfect 7-of-7 from the free throw line to carry the Bulldogs to their fifth-straight SEC Tournament title game — tying a conference record previously set by Tennessee between 1988 and 1992.
“I played my game,” Jackson said. “I let it come to me, let my teammates find me in open spots and I just made the shots.”
Mimicking its sluggish start against LSU in the quarterfinals Friday night, MSU shot a meager 28.6 percent in the game’s opening frame as SEC Player of the Year Rhyne Howard of Kentucky notched 11 of her 26 points in the quarter.
Sticking true to form, the Bulldogs responded resoundingly courtesy of seven second quarter minutes from junior center Yemiyah Morris. Normally relegated to mop-up duty, Morris scored six points in the frame as the Bulldogs shot a combined 8-of-11 from the floor to pull within three at halftime despite a late 3-pointer from Chasity Patterson.
Faced with ineffective play from sophomore stalwart Jessika Carter, MSU head coach Vic Schaefer stuck with Morris as the former junior college standout bullied Kentucky with her 6-foot-6-inch frame en route to 11 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks in 25 minutes of action.
“It meant a lot because I’ve been working really hard all year and the coaches always say ‘Prepare and wait for your time to come,'” Morris said. “And that’s what I’ve been doing. I just let it all fall and it came into place.”
“If she can get around the basket, she can really get some stuff done,” Kentucky coach Matthew Mitchell added. “I thought she played a terrific game.”
Using a smorgasbord of combinations and lineups out of the break, Schaefer found extended second half success with freshman guard Aliyah Matharu.
Fresh off earning SEC Freshman of the Week honors following 24- and 18-point efforts against Ole Miss and Arkansas, respectively, Matharu notched nine of her 15 points in the third quarter — including a 3-pointer in the waning seconds to give MSU a five-point lead heading into the final 10 minutes.
Returning to the floor to start the fourth quarter, the Washington, D.C. native swiped an errant pass from Kentucky’s Amanda Paschal, spun off another defender and stuck home a transition layup to push the MSU lead to double-digits with eight minutes remaining as Mitchell motioned for a timeout.
“I think that it’s definitely scary,” Matharu said of boasting so many capable scorers. “Anybody can come off the bench and have a terrific night. Our team is just stacked. You can go to anybody for defense or offense.”
While the Bulldogs found an offensive rhythm, Howard struggled to find her form in the latter stages of Saturday’s contest. After netting 17 first half points, she shot 3-of-11 from the floor and 1-of-7 from 3-point range as senior guard Jordan Danberry locked down defensively.
“I really just wanted to deny her the ball a lot,” Danberry said. “If she didn’t get the ball, then she couldn’t make plays really so I was just trying to stay with the line and make her be a passer and play her through her right hand.”
Speaking with the media following MSU’s win over LSU Friday, Schaefer alluded to the responsibility he felt toward the Bulldog faithful that trekked to Greenville to make it to the SEC Tournament championship game.
Now having earned a revenge victory over Kentucky, MSU will look for another such victory when they meet No. 1 ranked South Carolina at 1 p.m. Sunday — a game in which Schaefer hopes to cap his end of the bargain with what would be the Bulldogs’ second tournament title in as many years.
“I’ve got three of the biggest farmers in the (Mississippi) Delta here,” he said. “I know who they are. I know their work ethic. I know the pride that they take in the job that they have and there’s hundreds of people like that that are here. And yet they’re spending their time and their money and their interest in our program — so yeah, I feel a tremendous responsibility to people like that. I don’t want them to go home disappointed, unhappy, early — whatever you want to call it.”
Ben Portnoy reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @bportnoy15.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 34 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 34 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
