Jordan, Sheppard Earn SEC Weekly Honors
January 30, 2024 | Women's Basketball
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Southeastern Conference announced on Tuesday that senior guard Jerkaila Jordan has been named Co-SEC Player of the Week and freshman guard Mjracle Sheppard was voted Co-Freshman of the Week.Â
Jordan is the fourth different Mississippi State player to earn SEC Player of the Week accolades this season, while Sheppard is the second to earn SEC Freshman of the Week honors. Mississippi State leads the conference with five SEC Player of the Week honors this season.Â
It marks the first time in both players' careers that they have received the honor.Â
Jordan and Sheppard were monumental in Mississippi State's 77-73 win over No. 9 LSU on Monday night inside Humphrey Coliseum, helping lead the program to its first top-10 win since Dec. 2, 2018 and the first for head coach Sam Purcell in front of a sellout crowd of 9,121.Â
Senior guard Jerkaila Jordan finished with a game-high 24 points on 9-17 from the field and 3-3 from behind the arc, in addition to five steals, four rebounds and two assists in 32 minutes. With Mississippi State trailing at half, Jordan turned in 15 points on 5-7 from the field and 2-2 from three in the second half.
It marked her ninth 20-plus point game this season and her fourth in conference play. With her five steals, Jordan continues to establish herself as one of premier defenders in the SEC with now three-plus steals in six of seven conference contests. She is averaging career-best marks in points and rebounds with a team-high 17.4 points and 6.2 rebounds this season.Â
Freshman guard Mjracle Sheppard filled the stat sheet with 12 points on 6-9 from the field, in addition to a team-high in assists and steals. Sheppard added a six steals, four rebounds and in 27 minutes off the bench. In a back and forth first half, Sheppard turned in eight points on 4-5 from the field with four assists and two steals and earned a start coming out of the halftime break. She has now led the team in steals in six games and assists in four.
Sheppard joins UConn's Paige Bueckers as the only freshman since 2009-10 to have 12-plus points, five-plus assists and six-plus steals against an SEC opponent. She is second on the team in steals with 36 and has swiped five-plus steals in four contests this season.Â
Mississippi State is back in action at Kentucky on Thursday, Feb. 1 at 6:00 p.m. CT on SEC Network+.Â
