STARKVILLE — Jerkaila Jordan has played for Sam Purcell long enough that she is unafraid to call her head coach out.
After Mississippi State squandered a double-digit first half lead at home against a top-10 opponent for the second straight game, Jordan bluntly asked Purcell, “Coach, what are you doing in the second quarter?”
Jordan showcased her leadership skills on and off the court Thursday night, and with the Bulldogs locked in a tight battle against No. 10 Oklahoma, MSU ran its offense through her for most of the second half. The star fifth-year senior guard scored 12 of her game-high 24 points in the fourth quarter as the Bulldogs outlasted the Sooners 81-77 to earn their first conference win of the season.
“That’s what I love about her. She holds me accountable and I hold her accountable,” Purcell said. “When she plays like that, our team can eat because the kid’s a dog and she wants to win.”
Just like Sunday against defending national champion South Carolina, MSU (14-3, 1-2 Southeastern Conference) started fast against Oklahoma (13-3, 1-2). Sooners point guard Navaeh Tot hit back-to-back 3-pointers to give her team an early lead, but the Bulldogs ended the first quarter on an 18-4 run, thanks in large part to eight Oklahoma turnovers.
Turnovers have been MSU’s biggest issue throughout the year, but they’ve been an even bigger problem for the Sooners, who entered Thursday turning the ball over 19 times per game, the most in the SEC. The Bulldogs forced 21 turnovers in this game, 13 of the live-ball variety, with Jordan and point guard Denim DeShields combining for nine steals.
“Everybody loses focus when bad things happen,” Purcell said. “Basketball is a game of mistakes, so if you can stay focused and stay the course, you’ll overcome whatever is thrown at you.”
Eniya Russell and Debreasha Powe knocked down 3-pointers 33 seconds apart to give MSU a 14-point lead with seven minutes left in the first half, but Oklahoma used a 15-2 run to close within a single point at the break. The Sooners’ prized transfer portal acquisition, former Oregon State center Raegan Beers, sat out most of the first quarter with an early foul but started imposing her will late in the half and continued to control the game early in the third quarter.
Beers led Oklahoma with 19 points and 10 rebounds, but after she scored nine points in just the first three minutes of the second half, the Bulldogs did well to limit her paint touches the rest of the way. MSU closed the third quarter on a 7-0 run, with Jordan scoring or assisting on all seven points.
“Just staying focused, staying locked in, knowing that every time I had the ball, they were going to blitz,” Jordan said. “So (I was) looking for that open teammate, trusting them to knock it down. And then at the end of the game, just all being on one page on defense.”
Jordan scored 10 points in five minutes to start the fourth quarter, but the Sooners had an answer to her every basket, tying the game on a Sahara Williams 3-pointer with just over a minute remaining. MSU did not make another field goal but was 13-for-17 at the free throw line in the fourth.
Destiney McPhaul and DeShields were both 2-for-2 in the final minute to restore the Bulldogs’ lead to two possessions, and DeShields grabbed her fifth steal with four seconds left before knocking down a pair of foul shots to ice the game.
MSU is back in action Sunday afternoon at Georgia, which defeated Missouri on a buzzer-beater Thursday night to also get into the win column in SEC play.
“We were tested the first two games,” McPhaul said. “We have to learn to put four quarters together as a team, and we did that tonight. Trusting what we’ve been through as a team, we haven’t faced as much adversity this year, but we were able to get through it tonight.”
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