Mississippi State
15-8,6-5SEC
Ole Miss
18-6,6-5SEC
Women's Basketball Dominates No. 25 Ole Miss In Front Stellar StarkVegas Crowd
February 13, 2022 | Women's Basketball
STARKVILLE - Mississippi State upsets No. 25 Ole Miss 70-59 Sunday afternoon in front of an incredible crowd inside Humphrey Coliseum. The Bulldogs dominated the Rebels from start to finish, holding the lead for over 36 minutes in the contest, including a game-high 17-point lead late in the fourth quarter.
Anastasia Hayes was the Bulldogs' leading scorer for the fourth straight game, finishing with a game-high 21 points, four rebounds, and two assists. This marks Hayes' 10th, 20-point game of the season and her fifth consecutive game, scoring at least 20 points.
Myah Taylor had her highest scoring output of the year, dropping 17 points with a pair of three-pointers, tying her season-high. Taylor also pulled down four rebounds, three steals and had a couple of assists. This gives Taylor 12 games on the year, recording three or more steals.
JerKaila Jordan also finished with 20 points, three rebounds, a block and a steal. This is Jordan's fourth game of the season, eclipsing the 20-point threshold and her second consecutive game doing so. Caterrion Thompson finished with six points and four rebounds in her start, including a game-clinching three-point bank shot with the shot clock inching towards zero and with 4:19 remaining in the fourth quarter to extend State's lead back to 17 points. Thompson had a pair of clutch threes for the Bulldogs on the night.
Charlotte Kohl earned her second straight start, finishing with five rebounds and a career-high two steals before fouling out with 7:39 remaining in the fourth quarter. This forced MSU to play the remainder of the game without a player over six feet tall.
Ole Miss scored the game's first bucket to give them their largest lead of the contest at two. After the two clubs traded buckets, Ole Miss took their last lead of the game, one point, at the 4:14 mark of the first quarter. Mississippi State would go on a 12-4 run between the end of the first and the start of the second and would never look back.
The defensive effort was vital all night as the Bulldogs limited Ole Miss to just 59 points on 11% shooting from behind the arc and 46% from the field. The Bulldogs forced 19 Ole Miss turnovers, turning those turnovers into 18 points.
Mississippi State shot 49% from the field and 50% from three and scored 36 points in the paint. This was the sixth SEC game this season that MSU has scored at least 70 points.
Quoting Coach Novak
On bringing the energy of the Hump on the road
"It's so much fun, I don't know what our story is. We're all over the map and is fascinating to watch. It's fascinating to be a part of, and I'm in the middle of this thing. I have no idea which direction we're going. I know we're having a blast at practice, and we're really for each other. To have the fans recognize it, and again if that's all we're doing it for we're not doing it for the right thing, but I'm not going to lie, it makes you feel like a million bucks to get patted on the back. Even win or lose, to know they have your back. We keep talking about inside, our inside structure. When your peers are rooting for you and have your back, it helps you grow. On the flip side, the fans are the same way. Not every Power 5 program is like this. Some of them boo."
Quoting Anastasia Hayes
On the Ole Miss Press
"I feel like we handled it very well, we were prepared for it this game, and we weren't as prepared last game. But last week, we focused on the press, working on things that we can do to break it, like passing the ball around to each other. Coach came out with a game plan to put us in positions for us to break the press, and I feel like we did."
Quoting Myah Taylor
On the team
"Extremely proud. We all fought the entire game, encouraged each other the entire game. Charlotte, guarding their tallest player, we are continually gaining confidence in her. I think as far as coaches and players I think we did a great job encouraging her and letting her stay confident because we knew she was going to have a big game for us. I think she did, she came out and had some big rebounds for us. I think we executed very well. I'm proud of this team, we have worked very hard for this. People have counted us out, but we just keep fighting and using it as fuel."
Game Notes
• First time this season that MSU has had two 20-point scorers in back to back games
• Once MSU took the lead 31-20 with 3:31 remaining in the second quarter, State would hold a double-digit lead for the remainder of the game.
Up Next
Mississippi State will be on the road Tuesday with it travels to Kentucky to take on the Wildcats at 5 p.m. CT before returning home to host LSU on Thursday at 6 p.m. CT.
For the most up-to-date information on the Bulldogs, follow MSU women's basketball on Twitter, like them on Facebook, and join them on Instagram by searching for "HailStateWBK.
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