Mississippi State did not receive an NCAA Tournament bid after the Bulldogs lost five of their last six regular-season games and then dropped their first game in the Southeastern Conference Tournament against Texas A&M.
MSU appeared to be on its way to its second consecutive tournament appearance after winning five straight games in the middle of SEC play, including a home upset over defending national champion LSU. But the Bulldogs collapsed down the stretch, blowing late leads against Ole Miss and Kentucky and also falling to Florida, Alabama and Auburn.
In MSU’s first season under head coach Sam Purcell, the Bulldogs defeated Illinois in a First Four game, then upset Creighton before losing in the second round to Notre Dame. Purcell and MSU (21-11) were unable to follow up on that success this winter, despite solid non-conference road wins over Belmont and Colorado State.
Center Jessika Carter, grad transfer point guard Lauren Park-Lane and grad transfer forward Erynn Barnum are in their final years of eligibility, while senior guard Jerkaila Jordan has the option to return for another year.
The Bulldogs earned a No. 2 seed in the inaugural Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament (WBIT) and will host No. 7 seed Georgia Tech on Thursday in the first round at Humphrey Coliseum.
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