Six days after going off for a career-high 40 points, Jerkaila Jordan was held off the board until the third quarter Sunday thanks to foul trouble and airtight defense from LSU star Flau’jae Johnson.
Mississippi State’s star veteran guard missed her first six shots and picked up her second personal foul late in the first quarter, and the No. 7 Tigers rode a hot-shooting start to an 81-67 win over the Bulldogs in Baton Rouge.
“We have to breathe. We have to relax,” MSU head coach Sam Purcell said. “You can’t (rush things) when you play a top-10 team here. You have to come out of the gate, you have to punch them early.”
Johnson and Mikaylah Williams combined for 18 points in the first quarter as LSU (23-1, 8-1 Southeastern Conference) took a quick double-digit lead. The Bulldogs (16-7, 3-6) took more than four minutes to score their first points and started 1-for-11 from 3-point range, and things did not get much better as they finished just 22.6 percent from behind the arc.
MSU’s second unit did help the Bulldogs get back into the game in the second quarter. Chandler Prater made just her third start of the season in place of Eniya Russell, and Russell gave MSU a spark off the bench with a team-leading 13 points. Quanirah Montague had an efficient day, cracking double figures for the first time in a month with 10 points on 5-for-6 shooting to go along with nine rebounds.
The Bulldogs went on a 12-0 run late in the second quarter, and Montague’s offensive rebound and layup trimmed the MSU deficit to six at the half.
“Just relaxing, seeing the ball go in and understanding that we were getting great shots, so let’s not push it any harder than we need to,” Purcell said. “Our rebounding was phenomenal. We fought. This is a tough place to play. The kids came in here, they fought.”
Purcell stuck with the lineup that was behind the Bulldogs’ second-quarter surge out of the break, but even coming off a midweek bye, MSU was gassed against the Tigers’ pace and floor spacing. Aneesah Morrow, the leading rebounder in the country, had 18 points and 20 boards, while Johnson and Williams were a combined 8-for-14 from distance.
Still, the Bulldogs managed to win the battle on the boards 32-31 against a team that entered Sunday second nationally in rebounds per game. But MSU also turned the ball over 19 times, leading to 23 LSU points.
“We played some great scouting report defense, but you just have to tip your hat, because (Williams’) ability to put the ball on top of her head and separate and make the tough bucket was the difference for them,” Purcell said.
Destiney McPhaul, returning to action after missing last Monday night’s loss at Missouri with an illness, joined Russell and Montague in double figures with 10 points. Jordan had nine, all in the second half, but was just 2-for-12 from the floor. Three of Johnson’s four blocks came at Jordan’s expense.
The Bulldogs return to Humphrey Coliseum on Thursday evening to face Arkansas, the lowest SEC team in the NET rankings.
“We had a lot of great drive and kicks. Especially in that first quarter, you get a couple (shots to fall), it’s a different game,” Purcell said. “You have to tip your hat to (LSU) because they make you work for everything.”
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