Mississippi State
12-4,1-2SEC
Tennessee
11-6,3-0SEC
Dawgs Fall In Knoxville On Thursday
January 05, 2023 | Women's Basketball
Knoxville, Tenn. – Mississippi State dropped a hard-fought contest, 80-69, at Tennessee on Thursday. The loss moves MSU to 12-4 on the year and 1-2 in the SEC.
Mississippi State improved in all aspects of the shooting game. State was dominant from the three-point line, shooting 50% (8-for-16) and 44% (27-for-62) from the field. State improved immensely from the free-throw shooting, 70% on the night.
Debreasha Powe had a career-high night, scoring 21 points, the first 20-point game of her career, with eight rebounds. Powe doubled her career-high in made threes, knocking down six against the Lady Vols. This is Powe's fourth game this season, shooting 60% or higher from the three-point line.
Jessika Carter recorded her third 20-point game of the season, scoring 21 points and nine rebounds. After shooting just 30% from the field against Florida A&M on Dec. 15, Carter has improved to shooting 50% or above; Carter went 9-17 (53%) from the field. Anastasia Hayes recorded a season-high with 11 assists, her second game this season with double-digit assists.
Game Notes:
• Jumper by Kourtney Weber sparked a 6-0 run with six minutes to go in the second quarter
• Jessika Carter had 10 points and seven rebounds at the half
• Powe tied for her season/career-high for made threes with three in the first-half
• Powe starts the third quarter by knocking down two three-point shots
• MSU out-shot Tennessee from the floor, 44% to 43%
Quoting Coach Purcell:
Opening Statement:
"I'm proud of my team. After an Ole Miss game, where we watched the film and are a little sick to the stomach because we let the fourth quarter go, and we didn't compete for four quarters. That's something that we've had pride in all year. When the fourth quarter happens we're throwing the fours up because we want to be the toughest team. I'm so proud for them to come to a hostile environment and compete all the way to the end. We improved in a lot of areas. The kids took it to heart at the free-throw line, assist the turnover ratio was phenomenal. I thought we had a lot of great team ball but ultimately it came down to rebounding. Tennessee's length is unbelievable; when you've got Horston and Jackson in there at 6'2, 6'3 at the wings to go along with their post players there's a lot of long bodies that I thought we did a great job in the matchup. If you went man they were gonna post you up so we had to make them beat us from the outside and we make them go six for twenty-seven with relentless effort. We have to get in there and continue to just chop wood and box out and find a way to come up with these fifty-fifty balls. Again I'm proud of this team, you don't win championships in January, you win them in March and at this point in the year we've got no bad losses and you know what we are learning and getting better everyday, that's all I can ask for as a coach. I told my young women, stay together because our best basketball is ahead of us, we can't let this loss break the spirit of our team and the things that we've worked on and we'll correct for the things that we will and try to give our best punch Sunday against South Carolina."
Up Next
The Bulldogs will return home on Sunday, Jan. 8, when they welcome No. 1 South Carolina to Starkville. The game was recently moved to ESPN2 and will tip off at 12 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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