STARKVILLE – In each of the last four games, all losses to ranked opposition, Mississippi State has had a bad run defensively where the contest went south. On Sunday, it was the Bulldogs who dealt the killing blow.
Up 53-49 against No. 7 Kentucky, the Bulldogs were in search of an answer. Kharyssa Richardson was on track for her best night shooting the ball, and added to her total with a hit from distance. A quick stop at the other end saw Destiney McPhaul race forward, and instead of driving, she saw teammate Trayanna Crisp open to her right, and played her the ball for a spot-up shot. Crisp obliged, sinking her fourth triple of the game to give the Bulldogs a 10-point advantage in a flash.
It’s a shot Crisp has shown she can hit all season, and one that she practices relentlessly with her team.
“Just moving with the ball, my teammates found me as well,” Crisp said of her success shooting on the night. “The flow of basketball is so crazy, you might find yourself open in a little pocket and you’ve just got to shoot the ball. I practice that every day, my teammates also help me get that shot off in practice. Just able to trust the work and trust the process.”
Crisp let out a roar as the Wildcats called a timeout, looking to stop the momentum, but the crowd at Humphrey Coliseum was doing their part to make sure that wasn’t the case. The home court advantage and a smothering defensive performance helped fuel the team to a 71-59 upset of the seventh-ranked Cats, putting MSU back in the win column at 15-5 with a 2-4 SEC record.
“It just felt good in the moment,” Crisp said of the feeling after hitting the shot. “Being able to be in a flow with my teammates, we know Rich can get a bucket, everybody on the team can get a bucket, but when we flow in an offense and are playing our style of basketball, it gets dangerous. It just felt good to be able to share that with my team.”
“I thought the knowledge of the game, their passion, their energy, just provided an environment that set that three up for Tray,” head coach Sam Purcell said of the crowd. “This place went nuts and you couldn’t hear anything. I live for those moments, that’s the beauty of this game. Boy, it can humble you, but there’s a lot of great moments that I absolutely love coaching in this building, and tonight was one of those nights.”
Purcell made sure to point out the hard work of his players, who had endured a difficult path over the last two weeks. Four losses where opponents had scored at least 89 points in each contest against the Bulldogs, featuring two Final Four hopefuls in Oklahoma and undefeated Vanderbilt, but the lessons were learned.
Richardson posted a career best 23 points, Crisp added 16 with her outside shooting and Favour Nwaedozi contributed a double-double of 10 points and a remarkable 21 rebounds. MSU’s top scorer on the night also tallied her best total as a college player, posting her second 20-point performance of the season and fourth double-digit scoring night in the last five games. She’s found a rhythm and the Bulldogs were better for it.
“I’ve been telling my team the whole time, SEC is what I’m made for,” Richardson said. “It’s all I’ve been waiting on, playing in the SEC and playing against people I know are great matchups. (OE), great matchup for me, so just being confident and steady, working on what I put in at practice.”
The trio reflected the order of battle in the matchup, in which Purcell opted for a bigger lineup through much of the action. Richardson and Nwaedozi paired well next to freshman Madison Francis, who battled through a fracture in her nose with a protective mask on to help the Bulldogs with seven points and six boards.
The Bulldogs didn’t have much of a size advantage over the Wildcats, who had height and length to match, but the strategy worked in their favor as they controlled the boards 52-35 and netted 38 points in the paint.
“The person I had to guard, (Clara) Strack, she’s a really good player. She’s taller than I am, but it’s not always about height,” Nwaedozi said. “Box out, box out, and once you get in a good position, the gball is yours. That’s what my coaches told me, and that’s what I did.”
The win as a complete picture was what Purcell has been asking for from the group. All throughout December, he harped on the team’s ability to win all four quarters against nonconference opponents, and throughout January, he has asked for the final 50% required to complete a win over a Top 25 opponent. The team has been searching for the final 10%, what he calls the “dogfight” part of beating a top team, and they came ready for it on Sunday with their crowd behind them.
“When we’re loud and that roof, that noise is coming off, our band and our students are back, it just provides a juice that you don’t think you can get beat,” Purcell said. “This team is a young team that has normal moments, doesn’t have that championship DNA, but our fans do. They live for this and they knew that we needed a certain point to get our back and take us to another level.”
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