WBK Preview: at No. 5/4 LSU

Sunday, February 26

Baton Rouge, La.

5:00 PM

Mississippi State

LSU

February 25, 2023 | Women's Basketball

Live Stats Watch LSU Game Notes

By: Kelly Shipp, Assistant Director/Communications

STARKVILLE – The regular season finale is upon us as the Bulldogs hit the road to Baton Rouge to close out the 2022-23 regular season. Mississippi State will take on the fourth-ranked Tigers from LSU on Sunday afternoon, with SEC Tournament seeding on the line.

GAME INFORMATION
Mississippi State (20-8, 9-6 SEC) at No. 5/4 LSU (26-1, 14-1 SEC)
Date: Sunday, Feb. 26, 2023 // Time: 5 p.m. CT
Location: Baton Rouge, La. (Maravich Center)
Watch: SEC Network (Talent: Eric Frede & Matthew Mitchell)
Listen: MSU Radio Network (Play-By-Play: Jason Crowder)

SEC Tournament Seeding Projection Entering Sunday
• If the season ended on Feb. 25, Mississippi State would be the 5-seed due to winning the 3-team tiebreaker with Georgia and Alabama, who are all 9-6 in the conference.
• Since Alabama, Georgia and MSU are all 1-1 against each other, the three-way tie is broken by their winning percentage against each seed, starting with the top seed. Since none of the three teams has beaten South Carolina or LSU, we move to the No. 3 seed, which happens to be Tennessee, and MSU is the only team between the three with a win over UT.
• On Sunday, Georgia will play at South Carolina at 11 a.m., and Alabama will host Ole Miss at 2 p.m.

Numbers To Know
1 • JerKaila Jordan has been excellent in February. She is the ONLY SEC Player leading her team in 6 major stat categories this month. She leads MSU this month in Scoring (17.0 ppg), Rebounding (6.3), Steals (15), Blocks (8), Field Goal % (54%) & 3-point % (57%).
38 • Mississippi State has recorded at least one blocked shot in 38 straight games. Their last game without a blocked shot was against Missouri on Jan. 27, 2022.
12.9 • Between the end of January and today, the Bulldogs have increased their points per game by 12.9. In 9 SEC games in January, MSU averaged just 60.9 ppg. In the six games to date in February, MSU is averaging 73.8. State went 4-5 in Jan. & is 5-1 in Feb.
20 • Coach Purcell's 20 wins in his rookie season as a head coach is the most by any first-year head coach making their head coaching debut in the 2022-23 season. Wyoming's Heather Ezell is a close second with 19 wins, followed by Chattanooga's Shawn Poppie, who has 17 wins.

Series History
• Mississippi State trails the all-time series, 49-15.
• The Bulldogs are just 5-23 in Baton Rouge.
• LSU is on a two-game winning streak. They won last year's contest in Starkville, 71-59.
• Before the two-game losing streak, MSU had won nine straight in the series dating back to Feb. of 2016.

Elite February From Jordan
• No one in the SEC has been better than JerKaila Jordan during February.
• So far in February, Jordan is the ONLY SEC player to earn at least 10+ steals and 5+ blocked shots. She has 15 steals and seven blocks this month.
• She is also the ONLY SEC player leading her team in 6 major stat categories this month. In February, she leads the team in Scoring (17.0 ppg), Rebounding (6.3), Steals (15), Blocked Shots (8), Field Goal % (54%), and 3-Point FG % (57%)
• Her strong play in February has helped guide MSU to a 5-1 record after going 4-5 in January.
• A big reason for Jordan's staunch improvement has been her nearly doubled FG & 3-point % improvement month over month

Sam Purcell, Rookie Head Coach of the Year
• Head Coach Sam Purcell is the winningest head coach in their debut season at Mississippi State. He earned that distinction when he earned his 16th win of the season. He also has the most SEC wins by an MSU head coach in their first season. The previous high was five SEC wins by Vic Schafer.
• Coach Purcell has the most one-point wins by an MSU head coach in their debut season with the program. He is also 3-1 in games decided by 5 points or less.
• Coach Purcell's 20 wins on the year are the most by all rookie head coaches at the Division 1 level. Following closely behind is Heather Ezell (19) from Wyoming, Candice Green (16) of Fordham, and Shawn Poppie (16) of Chattanooga.

MSU Notables
• Debreasha Powe is averaging 8.7 ppg this season, the 4th best average for a freshman in the SEC.
• In MSU's last six games, Ahlana Smith is shooting 52% (16-31) from three.
• Smith has improved her shooting by 3.0 points per game from January to February. She's averaging 13.0 ppg this month.

Get-To-Know LSU
• LSU enters the contest with a 26-1 record. Their lone loss came at No. 1 South Carolina on Feb. 12.
• The Tigers have already clinched the No. 2 seed in the SEC Tournament.
• Angel Reese leads LSU, averaging an SEC-best 23.7 points per game and 15.6 rebounds.
• Four Tigers are averaging double-digit points this season, Reese (23.7), Alexis Morris (14.1), Flau'jae Johnson (11.9) and Jasmine Carson (10.1).

Up Next
Mississippi State will head to Greenville, S.C., for the 2023 SEC Tournament March 1-5. Game times, seeding, and opponents will be announced in the coming days.

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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