STARKVILLE — Mississippi State was reeling heading into halftime, its 17-point lead having been cut to five after Chattanooga closed the second quarter on a 10-0 run and held the Bulldogs scoreless over the last three and a half minutes.
Debreasha Powe took charge in the locker room, helping her team refocus, and MSU’s response to start the second half could not have been more emphatic. The Bulldogs scored the first 16 points of the third quarter and pulled away from the Mocs for a 69-44 victory over a team that defeated them last year.
“The biggest thing with our team is (head coach Sam Purcell) wants us to be player-led,” Powe said. “My teammates trust me and I’m very vocal.”
Powe put the exclamation point on that 16-0 run by drilling her lone 3-point attempt of the day, then grabbing a beautiful pass from Destiney McPhaul for a layup and completing a 3-point play.
She was the lone MSU starter without at least 10 points, but with Chattanooga focused on taking away her outside shooting prowess, players like Jerkaila Jordan and Eniya Russell had more favorable matchups and could drive into the lane for baskets in the paint — where the Bulldogs outscored the Mocs 36-12.
“What’s happening in the half-court set is they’re not leaving (Powe),” Purcell said. “When they don’t leave her, there’s wide open lanes for (Jordan) and (Russell) to get downhill. She probably accounts for 15 or 20 other points just by the other team staying on her. That’s what makes us a special team right now, and that’s what I talked to Powe when I subbed her out in the fourth to make sure she understands that.”
MSU (4-0) was a bit sloppy in the opening few minutes and was stuck on six points — all by Jordan — after five minutes. But Denim DeShields was fouled as the shot clock was winding down on a 3-pointer and hit all three free throws to put the Bulldogs ahead for good, kick-starting a 19-0 run that spanned the first and second quarters. Chattanooga did not score for more than nine minutes, and the Bulldogs held them to 27.1 percent shooting for the game.
The one stretch the Mocs (2-3) controlled was the end of the first half, when Sigrun Olafsdottir and Izzy McPherson connected from distance 32 seconds apart. McPherson led Chattanooga with 16 points, but none of her teammates had more than six. MSU has held each of its first four opponents under 30 percent from the floor.
“That’s something we emphasize in practice is defense,” Jordan said. “That’s where we get our offense going. Defensive stops, rebounds, pushing in transition.”
Russell finished with a game-high 19 points, Jordan and center Madina Okot had 12 each and DeShields chipped in with 10. The Bulldogs were 3-for-17 from behind the arc but 20-for-21 at the foul line, with the lone miss coming from Russell in the final minute of the game.
MSU concludes its season-opening five-game homestand Wednesday evening against Mercer. The Bears are led by first-year head coach Michelle Clark-Heard, who was on Purcell’s staff with the Bulldogs last season.
“I was happy as a head coach because (foul shooting) was a focus this week,” Purcell said. “Shoutout to my assistant coaches; they did some distraction drills when we finished practice with rolling balls, jumping, I had coaches going in the stands just trying to bring joy but most importantly making sure they focused in. That shows me what we were doing at the end of practice carried over to the game.”
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