STARKVILLE — Both Mississippi State and Georgia came ready for a physical battle on Thursday at Humphrey Coliseum.

The visiting Bulldogs played as such, coming out of the halftime break pushing for a way back into the contest after trailing by seven. A quick 6-0 run saw them pull within one as Georgia’s frontcourt players took the fight to MSU and things started to get chippy between the teams.

MSU head coach Sam Purcell expected a physical test of his team’s grit, and he saw his Bulldogs answer the call.

Freshman Madison Francis and Georgia guard Trinity Turner got double technicals when the pair engaged in some extracurriculars after Turner gave Francis a push. Rather than letting a perceived injustice get to her, Francis immediately responded with a dish to Kharyssa Richardson on the offensive end and a gnarly block on the defensive end that got the home crowd on its feet.

“Madison Francis for National Defensive Player of the Year,” Purcell said after the game. “Not just SEC, national. Her four blocks, her length and athleticism along with eight rebounds is outstanding.”

Purcell took the time to lobby for Jaylah Lampley and Favour Nwaedozi for All-SEC selections as well, and recognized the team’s selflessness on a complete performance against UGA. Five players scored in double digits, outrebounding the other team 36-30 and grabbing nine steals to pick up a much-needed conference win. They won the physical battle, and then they won the game, 85-71.

“We’ve had that message: ‘Not today,’” Purcell said. “We told them their best quarters of the year are the third quarter, so what are you gonna do? You’re going to get punched, are you gonna punch back? I was proud to see them punch back, not lose their composure, and then be like, ‘Right, y’all ain’t gonna get us out of our game. We’re gonna be the tougher team because, again, not today.’”

Purcell mentioned a determination to get back up after the knockdown loss suffered at No. 3 South Carolina a week ago. The team didn’t just respond with a strong performance down low, they never allowed a UGA of more than six points at a time. When UGA closed the deficit to just one point, MSU responded with an 18-1 run and never let it get closer than 10 points the rest of the way.

“We’ve gone too many games where we haven’t won the last five minutes,” Purcell said. “We’ve got this game, we’re at home, finish this. And that’s an NCAA Tournament team.”

The team’s leading scorer on the night, Destiney McPhaul, provided 18 points off the bench, shooting 4-6 from beyond the arc and dishing a team-high six assists. She had no problems with not being in the starting five, and her 30 minutes on the court showed she can make an impact regardless of how the team lined up for tipoff.

“I’m down to do whatever this team needs me to do to win,” she said after the game. “It’s about making sacrifices, making adjustments. The past few games have been a roller coaster for us, so we’re just trying to figure things out. If me coming off the bench works, then we’ll go with it.”

McPhaul was one of three players with multiple assists in the game, encapsulating the brand of basketball the coaching staff – and the fanbase – has been looking for.

“I love it,” Purcell said of the assist numbers. “To have five people share the ball, I’ve talked about this from my Louisville days, the best teams I ever had didn’t just have one scorer. They had a team. That’s where I’m proud again, I think our fanbase has told me whenever I’m at the gas station, getting groceries, the text messages or emails… they say, ‘Coach, we love coming to watch y’all because it’s a team.’ That’s different than everybody else I’ve had in the past. I’ve got unselfish kids who play the game the right way.”

MSU is back on the road for its next game, traveling to face Arkansas at 6:30 p.m. Monday. It’s the first of five games remaining in the 2025-26 campaign, including a trip to No. 4 Texas and a visit from No. 5 LSU. It will take a couple more wins to reinforce the resume for March Madness, but the team isn’t planning to bite off more than it can handle. The players know what the end goal is, and they know the job isn’t finished.

“Take it one game at a time, one practice at a time. Day by day,” McPhaul said of the approach to the rest of the season. “You can’t look too far ahead and get caught up in the hype, can’t get too high, too low. It’s the SEC, anything can happen any given night.”