STARKVILLE — Mississippi State’s game Monday night against Kennesaw State was the Bulldogs’ first in eight days, but two of their key players had waited longer than that to take the court again.
Center Jessika Carter and forward Erynn Barnum, both all-Southeastern Conference players a year ago, returned from multi-game absences against the Owls, and neither wasted any time making her mark. Both scored within the game’s first minute, setting the tone for a 91-50 MSU victory that snapped a two-game skid.
“This week in practice, I’ve been feeling it,” Carter said. “I’ve just been so happy and grateful to be back around the people who bring the most positivity in my life right now. I just enjoyed the moment tonight and kept doing what I did in practice.”
Carter, who missed the last three games, dominated Kennesaw State’s post players on her way to a career-high 31 points to go along with 13 rebounds in 30 minutes of action. She finished 14-for-19 from the floor, doing most of her work in the paint but also hitting her share of baseline and elbow jumpers.
Barnum, a graduate transfer from Arkansas, had been out for the previous two games, and without her the Bulldogs (9-2) fell to Miami and Chattanooga. Against the Owls, she finished with 11 points on 5-for-8 shooting, ending a 9-0 Kennesaw State run in the third quarter with a 3-point play that kick-started a 9-0 run for MSU.
“I got to see a lot of behind the scenes of things I don’t get to see when I’m on the court,” Barnum said. “When I was back out there tonight, I just kept that in my mind and tried to keep us together as much as possible. Everybody goes through adversity during the game, but being able to pull yourself back to it and remember why we’re all here, that was the most important thing for me.”
Carter and Barnum’s work inside, Debreasha Powe’s 3-pointer and JerKaila Jordan’s foul shooting helped the Bulldogs race out to an early 13-3 lead, and they led by 15 after the opening quarter. MSU turned defense into offense all night long — the Bulldogs scored 30 points off of 23 Owls turnovers, and 52 of their points came in the paint.
Freshman Mjracle Sheppard was the catalyst for that defense, finishing with seven steals to go along with eight points and nine assists. Sheppard now has 16 steals in her last four games.
“She was just relentless,” said head coach Sam Purcell, who himself was back in action after missing two of the last three games with an illness. “Her shoulders are so strong, but it’s her motor and her mindset that sets her apart. A lot of my players, I tell them, ‘every time a shot goes up, don’t have the mindset that it’s going in, have the mindset that it’s going to be off so you can make those hustle plays.’ She does that as a freshman.”
Down by 26 early in the second half, Kennesaw State (3-5) reeled off a 16-5 run as MSU got a bit too lackadaisical with the ball, committing five turnovers during that stretch. But the Bulldogs quickly regained control, out-scoring the Owls 37-11 the rest of the way. MSU made at least half of its shots for the fourth time this season while holding Kennesaw State to 31.3 percent shooting overall and 2-for-12 from 3-point range.
The injury bug has not completely left the Bulldogs just yet — Nyayongah Gony, who was MSU’s only healthy forward during the loss to Miami on Nov. 29, sustained a foot injury in a freak accident and will be out for four weeks. But with Carter and Barnum back in the fold, MSU is close to full strength again heading into Thursday’s game against Jackson State.
“That two-game stretch that we lost, we lost the third quarter and the fourth quarter overall, and most importantly, we got dominated on the boards,” Purcell said. “I told them, ‘if you’re back, you show me tonight starting with this first game.’ So for us to win all four quarters and win the boards, they’re listening and I like where we’re going moving forward.”
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