Mississippi State's season comes to an end in WBIT at Penn State, 92-87
A close game got away from Mississippi State on Thursday night as the Bulldogs saw their women’s basketball season come to an end.
Penn State hit the first five shots of the fourth quarter and got a big lead before holding off a comeback from MSU in the Quarterfinals of the Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament on the road at University Park, Pa. A 92-87 loss ended the year for the Bulldogs short of a Final Four in the WBIT in Indianapolis.
Jerkaila Jordan scored a career-high 36 points and Jessika Carter had 21 points but the Bulldogs couldn’t get much help from the rest of the offense and the defense couldn’t get stops down the stretch.
The Nittany Lions shot an efficient 58% from the field in the game on 32-of-55 and scored 54 points in the second half. Penn State was 23-of-24 from the free throw line as Ashley Owusu scored 24 points on 7-of-13 and 10-of-11 from the line.
Makenna Marisa scored 22 points and was 6-of-8 from the field and 8-of-8 from the line.
The Bulldogs had a 22-21 lead after a quarter and the game was tied at 38 at halftime. Carter entered foul trouble in the second and third quarters, however, and Penn State took advantage.
The Nittany Lions took a 64-59 after the third and extended that out to 76-63 just a few minutes into the fourth.
MSU (23-12) shot 44% from the field making 31-of-71 shots and hit 7-of-22 from long range. The Bulldogs were 18-of-22 from the line and had just seven turnovers in the game while also winning rebounds 29-26.
Jordan got her 36 points on 12-of-27 shooting and 10-of-13 makes from the line while pulling down six rebounds. Carter ended her career with 8-of-9 makes from the field, 5-of-5 from the free throw line and had eight rebounds in just 21 minutes before being ejected from the game in the final minutes.
Erynn Barnum had 12 points in her final game as a Bulldog on 4-of-7 shooting.
