The injury bug just will not stay away from Mississippi State for long.
The Bulldogs were missing their starting frontcourt of Jessika Carter and Erynn Barnum for two games in late November and early December. Starting guard and 3-point specialist Debreasha Powe missed MSU’s final non-conference game in late December, and Nyayongah Gony was out for a month and a half with a foot injury before returning on Jan. 22.
Head coach Sam Purcell’s team had weathered all of that and entered Sunday’s game against Florida as close to full strength as the Bulldogs have been all year. But Carter went down with an ankle injury in the first quarter, and although she toughed it out and still played 29 minutes, she is now considered day-to-day with a high-ankle sprain.
Jerkaila Jordan played through a similar injury last month, injuring her ankle in practice before MSU’s game at Arkansas on Jan. 11. She still managed to play 34 minutes that night and finished with 17 points as the Bulldogs picked up their first Southeastern Conference win.
“(Carter) is a warrior,” Purcell said. “She wanted to play through it. She fought through it, but it needs a lot of rest right now. She’s doing her treatment, we’re going to keep her off of it, and then as we get closer (to Sunday’s game at Ole Miss), we’ll make that game-time decision.”
MSU (20-6, 7-4 SEC) is coming off a 20-point home loss to the Gators in which the Bulldogs gave up 90 points, the most they have allowed in a non-overtime game in the last two seasons under Purcell. Florida made 61 percent of its shots, the highest percentage MSU has been on the wrong side of since a 98-38 loss to a Connecticut superteam in the 2016 NCAA Tournament.
The Bulldogs have a full week to sit with that loss before they head to Oxford to battle the Rebels (16-7, 6-4) on Sunday.
“We didn’t guard the ball,” Purcell said. “That was an absolute slingfest. Half of it was we didn’t guard it, and the other half was you have to tip your hat sometimes to your competitor. They hit big-time shots. … We’re going to bounce back and we have to come out hungry. We haven’t had practice the last two days, we were off yesterday and we’re off today. We start back practice tomorrow. We have to finish. That’s the key word for us — finish.”
Scouting Ole Miss
MSU took the first leg of the rivalry series on Jan. 14, outscoring Ole Miss 20-6 in the fourth quarter for a 12-point win in Starkville. The Rebels proceeded to win their next four games, including a road win over Vanderbilt and a big home victory against Tennessee.
But after a blowout loss at No. 1 South Carolina, Ole Miss fell by 19 on its home floor last Thursday against Texas A&M, a loss so bad that head coach Yolett McPhee McCuin apologized to the fans who had come out to the game.
Without a true point guard, the Rebels’ offense is near the bottom of the SEC in most categories, ahead of only Kentucky and Georgia in points per game. Ole Miss attempts the fewest field goals and 3-pointers in the conference, and although the Rebels get to the foul line more often than anyone in the SEC except LSU, they are 10th in the conference in free throw percentage.
“It’s impressive for them to have the rotation that they do,” Bulldogs freshman guard Mjracle Sheppard said. “But I feel like we do a pretty good job of guarding it because we’re just as physical. We’re really prepared for it.”
Ole Miss’ defense, meanwhile, remains its strength. The Rebels are fourth nationally in blocked shots per game and are one of five SEC teams allowing under 60 points per contest.
Marquesha Davis averages a team-high 13.5 points per game and put up 19 in the teams’ last meeting. Ole Miss dominated the offensive glass in that first matchup with a 17-8 edge in offensive rebounds, but MSU controlled the paint, outscoring the Rebels 40-18 there as Carter led all scorers with 23 points.
“They’re an NCAA Tournament program. They’re really good,” Purcell said. “It was an absolute dogfight here and I’m expecting the same kind of game when we go up there Sunday. Most importantly, it’s a game for our fans. Like we’ve talked about all year, this game can’t define our season. We’ve got big goals, but we understand what this game means to a lot of people.”
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