WBK Preview: at Florida

STARKVILLE – Following an exciting double-overtime victory over Tennessee on Monday, the Mississippi State women's basketball team is back in action on Thursday when they take on the Florida Gators in Gainesville, Fla. The contest will be the Bulldog's second of a three-game week.

GAME INFORMATION
Mississippi State (16-7, 5-5 SEC) at Florida (14-9, 3-7 SEC)
Date: Thursday, Feb. 9, 2023 // Time: 6 p.m. CT
Location: Gainesville, Fla. (Exactech Arena)
Watch: SEC Network (Talent: Eric Frede & Tamika Catchings)
Listen: MSU Radio Network (Play-By-Play: Jason Crowder)

Numbers To Know
13 • The Bulldogs dished out 13 assists in Monday's win over Tennessee. It was the 21st game this season that MSU has dished out at least 10+ assists in a game. MSU had a streak of 21 consecutive games with 10+ assists
33 • Mississippi State has recorded at least one blocked shot in 33 straight games. Their last game without a blocked shot was against Missouri on Jan. 27, 2022
54 • Jessika Carter leads the SEC in blocked shots (54) and blocks per game (2.5). She is one of two players in the SEC with 50+ blocked shots. Carter is seven blocked shots shy of setting a new career high. She had 60 during the 2019-20 season.
16 • Head Coach Sam Purcell picked up win No. 16 in his career against Tennessee. With the win, he becomes the winningest first-year head coach in program history. His five SEC wins are also tied for the most by a first-year head coach at Mississippi State.

Series History
• The all-time series is tied at 26 games apiece. When the game is played in Gainesville, Florida owns a 13-10 advantage.
• Florida is on a one-game winning streak after earning a 73-64 win in Starkville last season.
• Mississippi State has won eight of the last 10 meetings in the series. Last year's win by the Gators snapped an eight-game winning streak by the Bulldogs.

Rim Protector
• Jessika Carter leads the SEC in blocked shots (54) and blocks per game (2.4).
• Jessika ranks 12th in the NCAA in blocked shots and 14th in blocks per game.
• She is seven blocked shots shy of setting a new career high. She had 60 during the 2019-20 season.
• In her career, she has 173 blocked shots. She is eight shy of cracking the top 3 for career blocks at MSU.
• Jessika is three blocked shots shy of tying Teaira McCowan (57, 2016-17) for 10th on the single-season blocks list at MSU. Carter's 60 blocks during the 2019-20 season ranks ninth on the single-season list.

Most Wins By A First Year Head Coach at MSU
• Head Coach Sam Purcell became the winningest first-year head coach at MSU after earning his 16th career win Monday against Tennessee.
• His five SEC wins so far are tied for the most by a coach in their first season leading the Bulldogs. He is tied with Vic Schaefer, who also won five in his debut 2012-13 season.
• Coach Purcell has the most one-point wins at MSU by a first-year head coach with two. He is also 3-1 in games decided by 5 points or less.

JerKaila Jordan Does A Little Bit of Everything
• Jordan does a little bit of everything for Mississippi State as she ranks inside the top five of just about every stat category for the second consecutive season.
• Jordan in the team stat rankings: Scoring (2nd, 10.9 ppg), Rebounds per game (4th, 4.7), Total rebounds (3rd, 109), Assists (4th, 47), steals (1st, 49), blocked shots (2nd, 14) and 3-point percentage (3rd, 37%).

Mississippi State Notables
• The Bulldogs dished out 13 assists in Monday's win over Tennessee. It was their 22nd game of the season with double-digit assists.
• Mississippi State has recorded at least one blocked shot in 33 straight games. Their last game without a blocked shot was against Missouri on Jan. 27, 2022.
• MSU played in its first double-overtime game since 2015 on Monday, and it was also the team's first double-OT win since 2014 against Southern Miss on Mar. 24.
• State's 91 points against Tennessee were tied for the most an MSU team scored against Tennessee in the history of the series.
• MSU is now 2-0 all-time against Tennessee in OT
• Monday's win was MSU's first top 20 NET win of the year

Get-To-Know Florida
• Florida is coached by Kelly Rae Finley, who is in her second year leading the Gator program. She guided the Gators to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2016 in 2022.
• Last season, Zippy Broughton was a thorn in the Bulldog's side when the two teams met in Starkville. Broughton scored 21 points and added seven rebounds and four assists.
• Florida is elite in getting to the free throw line, knocking down 15.17 per game, which is fourth in the SEC and 24th in the nation. They average 21.43 attempts per game, sitting fourth in the conference and 20th nationally.
• Florida likes to get up and down the court on offense, currently holding the 40th-fastest pace in the NCAA with an average of 74.8 possessions per 40 minutes. That pace puts them at fourth-fastest in the SEC behind Arkansas (75.7), Kentucky (75.6), and Auburn (75.3).

Up Next
Mississippi State will be back home on Sunday when they host Texas A&M at 2 p.m. in their annual Think Pink game.

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."

– HailState.com –

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Players Mentioned

Jessika Carter

Jerkaila Jordan

Mississippi State University Athletics