Mississippi State Falls To Vanderbilt, 71-66

Thursday, January 4

Starkville, Miss.

6:30 P.M.

Mississippi State

13-3,0-1SEC

RV/RV Vanderbilt

14-1,1-0SEC

Vanderbilt

Mississippi St.

Mississippi State Falls To Vanderbilt, 71-66

January 04, 2024 | Women's Basketball

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STARKVILLE, Miss. – Mississippi State fell to Vanderbilt 71-66 in its SEC opener inside Humphrey Coliseum on Thursday.

Mississippi State is now 13-3 and 0-1 in the SEC this season.

"I know I have a locker room full of fighters," head coach Sam Purcell said. "My focus will now turn to our film session tomorrow because how we played today was uncharacteristic. You have to give credit to Vanderbilt. They caused a little bit of that, but we have to go back and watch film in order to get back to the basics and put our best foot forward for four quarters on Sunday.

Senior guard Jerkaila Jordan turned in 21 points on 8-17 from the field with five assists and six steals in 31 minutes. It marked her sixth 20-point performance this season and the 27th of her career.

Sophomore guard Debreasha Powe returned from a one-game absence to finish with 15 points on 7-12 from the field in 34 minutes, while senior guard Darrione Rogers posted her 30th career contest with three-plus threes made on a 3-5 effort from behind the arc in 23 minutes.

Jordan continued right where she finished the conference slate last season by extending her streak of 10-plus points to now eight of her last nine SEC contests and 21 of her last 24 overall.

Mississippi State and Vanderbilt traded scores on each of their initial two possessions before the visitors commanded an early 11-4 lead with a 7-0 run. Mississippi State immediately responded with a 6-0 run of its own over the next 1:31 minutes of action to trim the deficit to 11-10 at the first media timeout.

The two defenses settled in out of the quick break and Vanderbilt commanded an 18-14 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Following a driving finish inside the paint by Powe, Rogers knocked down a transition three and graduate student forward Erynn Barnum forced a turnover off the inbound set that led to a fastbreak finish from freshman guard Mjracle Sheppard for a 7-0 run that forced a Vanderbilt timeout.

The run was a part of a larger 14-3 start to the second quarter and provided Mississippi State with a 28-21 lead with 5:52 minutes left in the period.

Vanderbilt responded once more with a 15-2 run to take a 36-31 lead with 58 seconds remaining before a pullup jumper by Powe made it 33-36 at the break. It marks only the second time this season that Mississippi State has trailed at half.

Powe would continue her hot start to the contest and add eight of her 15 points in the third quarter. A driving layup from Jordan tied the game at 58 with 6:28 left in the third quarter.

Vanderbilt knocked down a second-chance three on its next possession to take back the lead for the final time in the contest.

Rogers was fouled on a corner three attempt and knocked down three free throws with under a minute to play to cut the deficit to 69-66. Mississippi State would force a miss on its next possession and have a chance to tie the game with a three on its final look, but failed to convert.

Mississippi State turned in 26 points off of 20 forced turnovers. It marks the fourth time this season that Mississippi State has scored 25-plus points off of turnovers. Sheppard and Jordan combined for 12 of the Bulldogs' 13 steals in the effort.

Mississippi State travels to No. 1 South Carolina on Sunday, Jan. 7 in a national showdown on ESPN at 12 p.m. CT.