Bulldogs Earn Wire-To-Wire Victory Against Southern

Friday, December 18

Starkville

7:00 PM

Mississippi State

4-1,0-0SEC

Southern

0-5,0-0SWAC

Southern U.

Mississippi St.

Bulldogs Earn Wire-To-Wire Victory Against Southern

December 18, 2020 | Women's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Postgame Quotes WATCH: MSU Postgame Presser Photo Gallery

By: Josh Lively, Assistant Director/Communications

STARKVILLE – Jessika Carter finished with her second double-double of the season, as Mississippi State earned a wire-to-wire 79-55 victory against Southern at Humphrey Coliseum on Friday night.

"First of all, I'm glad that we got the win," said head coach Nikki McCray-Penson. "We know that Southern is a team that plays extremely hard. They play very physical. They have no quit in them. I reminded my team that they played here. They were an NCAA tournament team who came and played here. This coach is very familiar with playing on this floor. There were some positives that we took away. We're just trying to get better every game. The one thing that stuck out for me was our ability to guard triple penetration. We have to be better at that. They're an aggressive team. We needed to keep them in front of us. That was the game plan because we knew they wanted to drive on us.

"I thought we shot the ball pretty well. We were off to a slow start. We know we cannot start slow, especially going into SEC play on the road. We have to be ready to start games better. I thought we shared the ball for the most part. We had 62 points in paint. I know we talked about our identity. We want to go inside out. That's through post touches and drives. We want to do that. Hats off to Southern. They took away our transition game. They pressured us in the half court. We didn't execute as well as I would have liked, especially because we've been facing a lot of zone and passive defenses. We withstood. We came away with a win. We're definitely thankful."

Carter ended the game with a game-high 17 points, 11 rebounds and two blocks to pace the Bulldogs (4-1). Rickea Jackson added 15 points and two blocks as well. Aliyah Matharu posted 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting, while Myah Taylor recorded 10 points, four assists, three rebounds and two steals to round out the double-digit scorers.

Mississippi State had success attacking the paint, outscoring Southern 62-12 down low and outrebounding the Jaguars 43-32. Offensively, the Bulldogs shot 53 percent from the field and recorded 14 assists. On the defensive end, MSU finished with seven blocks and five steals while holding SU to 32 percent shooting.

Coming off the bench, Yemiyah Morris nine points, six boards and three blocks. Caterrion Thompson finished with seven points and four rebounds, while Madison Hayes added six points and four boards.

State had a slow start to the game, shooting 37 percent from the field in the first quarter. The Bulldogs scored 14 points in the paint, while Carter led the way with six points. MSU held an early 16-13 advantage.

The second stanza was a different story, as Mississippi State outscored Southern 28-14 in the period while shooting 63 percent from the floor. The Bulldogs connected on each of their final six shots and ended the frame on a 9-0 run to take a 44-27 lead going into halftime. Carter finished the half with 13 points and seven boards, while Jackson scored all eight of her points in the second quarter to help spark the offense.

MSU extended its lead to 64-42 in the third quarter with continued pressure in the paint. Thompson provided a spark off the bench with five points in the period. The Bulldogs finished the game strong defensively, holding the Jaguars to just 21 percent shooting in the final frame and without a basket during the last 4:32 of the game.

Up next, Mississippi State wraps up its non-conference slate with a matchup against Central Arkansas at Humphrey Coliseum on Sunday, Dec. 20, for a 3 p.m. tip. The game will be televised on SEC Network and streamed on the MSU Radio Network.

For more information on the Bulldogs, follow MSU women's basketball on Twitter, like them on Facebook and join them on Instagram by searching for "HailStateWBK."