STARKVILLE — Order was restored quickly Thursday night at Humphrey Coliseum.
Less than two minutes into the game, Mississippi State had scored eight points — all in the paint — and had grabbed all four of the game’s rebounds. Coming off back-to-back road losses, the Bulldogs knew they needed to start fast against on their home floor against a struggling Arkansas team, and they accomplished that mission, blowing out the Razorbacks 78-55 in a game that never felt close.
“I told them to answer the call today when the ball goes up,” MSU head coach Sam Purcell said. “For two days we worked unbelievably hard on having a great plan. Stick to it and see if we can’t execute. It was huge for us to come out, follow the scout, and like I’ll tell them, it’s funny how things can work out.”
Chandler Prater made her second straight start on the wing in place of Eniya Russell, and while Russell provided a spark off the bench in Sunday’s loss at LSU, Prater had the hot hand against Arkansas. She made a short jumper and a second-chance layup in those first two minutes, tying a season-high with 14 points on 6-for-11 shooting.
Purcell left Prater on the floor for 32 minutes, the most she has played as a Bulldog, while Russell played just 14 minutes.
“It feels good to start and it feels good to know my teammates and my coaches believe in me. I want them to trust me with that responsibility,” Prater said. “Even before I found out I was starting (against LSU), I had sent Eniya a text just uplifting her. In this game, it’s just ups and downs for everybody. It’s not a straight, direct path up.”
Against a Razorbacks defense that allows the most points per game in the Southeastern Conference, Debreasha Powe found her outside shooting stroke and broke out of a slump by connecting on her first five 3-point attempts. She too tied a season high with 16 points and added a pair of blocks as MSU (17-7, 4-6 SEC) ended the first half on a 10-0 run to take a 19-point lead.
“I just have to give credit to my teammates,” Powe said. “They believe in me. They were finding me in transition, just telling me to knock it down, and I was ready this game.”
Arkansas (9-16, 2-8) was missing two starters, leaving no offensive threats outside of the SEC’s leading scorer Izzy Higginbottom. Thanks mostly to free throws, Higginbottom had 14 of her team’s 17 first-quarter points and finished with a game-high 26 before fouling out with around six minutes remaining.
All things considered, though, the Bulldogs defended Higginbottom well — she had seven turnovers and zero assists. The Razorbacks had just four assists as a team and turned the ball over 23 times, and were also 2-for-14 from behind the arc.
“We did great scouting-report defense. Izzy’s just a heck of a player,” Purcell said. “Just credit to her and what she’s about. But our ball-screen coverage was great.”
Jerkaila Jordan notched her fourth double-double of the year with 16 points and 10 rebounds to go along with a season-best five steals. Center Madina Okot finished with 12 points and 11 boards for her eighth double-double, and she had back-to-back steals and fast-break layups in the fourth quarter. Quanirah Montague had four blocks in just 14 minutes of action, the most she has ever recorded in an SEC game.
MSU scored 44 points in the paint and had a 17-7 edge on the offensive glass as well as 27 points off turnovers. The Bulldogs also shared the ball well, with 18 assists on 33 made field goals.
No. 23 Alabama visits Starkville on Sunday for a 1 p.m. tip-off on SEC Network.
“It’s the SEC. You can’t be down too long or it’s going to show in the next game,” Jordan said. “Our focus (is) one game at a time, one win at a time. March is around the corner. We’re trying to stack as many wins as possible.”
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