STARKVILLE — Vic Schaefer helped create one of the best environments in women’s college basketball over his eight years at Mississippi State, drawing sellout crowds night after night to Humphrey Coliseum as the Bulldogs competed for conference and national championships.
While MSU has not returned to those hights in the five years since he left, Schaefer’s former team came close to collecting a signature win at his expense in his first time coaching at The Hump from the visitors’ bench.
The Bulldogs were poised to enter the fourth quarter with the lead over No. 1 Texas after Jerkaila Jordan hit a fadeaway jumper, her first field goal of the game, with nine seconds left in the third. But Rori Harmon beat the buzzer from half court to put the Longhorns in front, and Texas never trailed again. MSU stayed close throughout the fourth before falling just short in a 68-64 defeat.
“We have to have hard conversations, and we have to become a team that plays its best basketball come March,” Bulldogs head coach Sam Purcell said. “Tonight was a showcase of where this thing is going. But at the same time, we’re not here for moral victories. We came to play that game to win.”
MSU (19-10, 6-9 Southeastern Conference) played zone defense throughout the game and gave the Longhorns (28-2, 14-1) fits offensively, especially early on. Texas made just one of its first 10 shots and only had that many opportunities thanks to offensive rebounding. The first quarter was a slog on both sides — the hosts did not make a field goal for more than seven minutes to start the game against one of the best defenses in the country.
The Bulldogs began to have success inside in the second quarter, with a combined 10 points in the period from post players Madina Okot, Quanirah Montague and Kayla Thomas. Montague had a pair of field goals during a 6-0 run that gave MSU a five-point lead.
Debreasha Powe’s first 3-pointer of the night put the Bulldogs back ahead at the break. MSU attempted just four 3-pointers in the first half and did not force anything up. The Bulldogs were calculated with their shot selection and also committed just 10 turnovers against a team that forces nearly 22 per game.
“When you are working on taking care of possessions and reducing turnovers, naturally your shot selection starts to improve,” said Chandler Prater, who was 4-for-8 from the floor and made her only 3-point attempt of the night. “With a team like Texas who is so defensively excellent, you have to attack them and not back away. We did a really good job attacking their defense and also sharing the ball.”
The teams continued to trade the lead in the third quarter, but the difference for the Longhorns was the outside shooting of Shay Holle, who made four 3-pointers in the second half and had a game-high 16 points. Texas was 5-for-6 from deep in the half, with Harmon’s half-court heave accounting for the other make.
Holle scored eight of her points in the fourth quarter, and then a layup by Madison Booker, playing in her home state, put the Longhorns up by 10 late. But MSU was not finished, getting a quick layup from Eniya Russell and a 3-pointer from Jordan on its next two possessions. Powe’s final 3-pointer made it a one-score game in the closing seconds before the Longhorns finally iced it at the free throw line.
The Bulldogs conclude the regular season Sunday at Auburn, a team MSU defeated by 40 points in Starkville on Jan. 23.
“We played perfect scouting-report defense. They’re a team that doesn’t make a lot of 3s, (but) tonight they go 7-for-14,” Purcell said. “You need a little luck, especially the one who makes the one at the end of the third quarter. It’s a big shot. We have to finish layups. We have to finish free throws. Every bucket matters. Every possession matters.”
Schaefer received a nice hand from the Bulldog faithful before the game, as did his daughter Blair, who played on the 2017 and 2018 MSU teams that reached the national championship game. Blair is now an assistant coach under her father for Texas.
Postgame, Schaefer was emotional talking about what MSU and Starkville still mean to him — the Longhorns had a meal at his farm outside the city Wednesday night, and he returns each year to attend a football game.
“It’s obviously a place that’s near and dear to my heart. I’ll always cherish that time here. Just so many fond memories, so many great friends that we still have,” Schaefer said. “When you come here and you pour your heart and soul into something, you build something from the ground up with your bare hands… We certainly had some bumps along the way, but this fan base here made it so incredible. It’s just hard. It’s been a hard couple days.”
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