STARKVILLE — The crowd at Humphrey Coliseum fell silent three and a half minutes into Sunday’s game when Jessika Carter, who Mississippi State head coach Sam Purcell regularly calls “the best post player in the country,” was down on the court with an ankle injury, pounding the floor in frustration.
The injury scare turned out to be just that — a scare — but Florida took advantage of her absence to build a double-digit lead in the first quarter, and Carter’s return early in the second did little to slow the Gators down. Florida made 70 percent of its shots in the first half, including seven of nine from 3-point range, to build a big lead, and the Bulldogs were never able to pull within single digits in a 90-70 defeat.
“We just didn’t have the demeanor, for whatever reason,” Purcell said. “Their spirit was good, but the bottom line was we just never could get a stop and we could never get some momentum.”
The Bulldogs (20-6, 7-4 Southeastern Conference) went more than four minutes without a field goal after Carter left the game, and their offense looked a beat behind for much of the first half. MSU committed 20 turnovers, the third time in the last five games the Bulldogs have coughed it up at least that much, helping the Gators (13-9, 4-6) to a 25-10 edge in fast-break points.
Meanwhile, Florida’s guards found high-percentage looks from inside and out throughout the first half. The Gators brought their two leading scorers, Aliyah Matharu and Leilani Correa, off the bench — just as they did in the Bulldogs’ 89-77 win in Gainesville on Jan. 22 — and just as she did in the teams’ first meeting, Correa caught fire from deep. The New Jersey product finished with a game-high 27 points on 5-for-8 shooting from beyond the arc.
“I know Leilani from the Big East when she was at St. John’s,” said MSU point guard Lauren Park-Lane, a grad transfer from Seton Hall. “She’s a really good player. It started with her hitting all those 3’s and giving her teammates confidence. Shoutout to them, they played a really good game. They wanted it more than us.”
Four other Florida players were also in double figures, as Zipporah Broughton, Alberte Rimdal and former Bulldog Matharu all had efficient afternoons from the backcourt and forward Faith Dut was 5-for-5 from the floor. Correa, though, scored all 11 of the Gators’ points in the last five minutes of the first half to help her team take an 18-point lead at the break.
The Bulldogs fought back in the third quarter, cutting their deficit to 11 with a 13-4 run, and were poised to trim the margin under 10 when Broughton nailed a 3-pointer from the corner with a hand in her face to quiet the crowd. A Correa layup at the third-quarter buzzer pushed the visitors’ lead back out to 16.
“We tried our press, I went with different lineups, different people, I went man, we switched ball-screen coverages,” Purcell said. “I think I used everything in my defensive book. We just couldn’t get a stop. They did a great job being patient on offense and we just never finished plays.”
Carter played 29 minutes despite the injury and led MSU with 16 points and 13 rebounds, joining Erynn Barnum, Jerkaila Jordan and Darrione Rogers in double figures. Debreasha Powe, the Bulldogs’ best 3-point shooter, played just 15 minutes and attempted only one shot. Purcell said Powe is “a little banged up” and was in need of more rest.
MSU will get that much-needed rest this week and will not practice Monday or Tuesday, with six days off until they return to action next Sunday at Ole Miss. The Bulldogs defeated the Rebels 69-57 in Starkville on Jan. 14 and are seeking a season sweep of their in-state rivals.
“This is a great time for a bye week,” Purcell said. “We need some rest, get healthy, keep that juice, and then we’ve got a tough opponent coming next Sunday.”
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