WBIT tips off with a bang for Mississippi State in 84-47 throttling of Georgia Tech
If there were any questions how Mississippi State’s women would react to missing out on the NCAA Tournament, it was answered emphatically on Thursday night.
The Bulldogs came out and outscored Georgia Tech 20-7 in the first quarter on the way to one of the team’s most complete ball games of the season. State scored 41 points off the bench and had four score in double figures in a 84-47 blowout against Georgia Tech to advance in the Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament.
Playing game one at Humphrey Coliseum, State shot the lights out in the game with 32-of-62 shooting and 7-of-18 from 3-point range. The Bulldogs were also 13-of-15 from the free throw line and turned 14 Yellow Jacket turnovers into 17 points.
State (22-11) had a 44-30 edge on rebounding and had 23 assists to just 12 turnovers.
Coach Sam Purcell rolled with his three true freshmen for over 20 minutes each and they all delivered on Thursday night. Jasmine Brown-Hagger put together a career performance as she scored 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting with 3-of-4 makes from 3-point range, five rebounds and four assists. Mjracle Sheppard scored seven points, had four assists and three rebounds and Quanirah Montague had seven points and three rebounds.
Darrione Rogers had 16 points as she made the start at power forward in the game. Rogers was 6-of-11 from the field making 4-of-8 3-pointers and she added four rebounds and four assists in 23 minutes.
Jessika Carter had 12 points on 5-of-7 and seven rebounds and Erryn Barnum finished with 10 points and four rebounds off the bench. Lauren Park-Lane had six assists as she became the Bulldog’’ all-time leading assist leader in a single season with 203 this season.
The Bulldogs jumped out to a 11-0 lead in the first quarter as they dominated the Yellow Jackets early in what would be a 20-7 lead after 10 minutes. That continued by halftime as the lead grew to 39-18.
After continuing to climb and going up 58-34 after the third, MSU would leave no doubt when the Bulldogs scored 26 points in the fourth and nearly won the game by 40 points. It was the largest win for State since beating Mississippi Valley State 99-35 earlier this season in the last non-conference game.
The victory for State now sets up a round two matchup back at The Hump on Sunday afternoon. The Bulldogs will take on the TCU Horned Frogs (21-11) at 2 p.m. TCU is coming off of a 67-58 win against North Texas on Thursday night.
