Thursday, November 28
George Town, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands
6:30 p.m.
Mississippi State
7-0,0-0SEC
66
vs
62
Utah
5-2,0-0Big 12
1
2
3
4
F
Mississippi St.
26
17
11
12
66
Utah
11
11
15
25
62
Mississippi State Outlasts Late Rally To Defeat Utah, 66-62
November 28, 2024 | Women's Basketball
GEORGE TOWN, CAYMAN ISLANDS – Junior center Madina Okot corralled an offensive rebound and put it back in through a cluster of defenders to help Mississippi State women's basketball outlast a late rally from Utah and take game one of the 2024 Cayman Islands Classic, 66-62, inside John Gray Gymnasium.
Mississippi State improves to 7-0 on the season and 10-1 in non-conference neutral-site games under Purcell. It is the second-straight season that Mississippi State has started 7-0 under Purcell.
With the win, Mississippi State also moves to 5-1 in Thanksgiving week tournaments under Purcell and are winners of four-straight such games.
Okot recorded 15 points on 6-8 from the field and eight rebounds in 28 minutes, while graduate student guard/forward Eniya Russell added 13 points on 6-12 from the field and four assists in 31 minutes.
Junior guard Denim DeShields filled the stat sheet with six points, six assists and two steals in 21 minutes, but her biggest play came when she took a charge on a Utes' layup with 38 seconds left to keep it a one-possession game.
Mississippi State outscored Utah 26-11 in the first quarter behind five threes in the frame. After the Utes knocked down their initial two shots, the Bulldogs concluded the first quarter on a 26-6 run over the final nine minutes of action.
The Bulldogs maintained their momentum and pushed the margin to 36-14 at the halfway point of the second quarter and commanded a 43-22 lead entering the locker room.
Mississippi State converted on 54.8 percent from the field and 50.0 percent from three in the first half. Mississippi State knocked down seven threes prior to entering the locker room behind four from junior guard/forward Debreasha Powe.
The four threes from Powe marked her ninth-career game with four or more threes made.
After Mississippi State built its largest lead at 24 on a driving finish from Russell, Utah answered with a 9-0 spurt in the early moments of the third quarter to cut the margin to 49-34. Mississippi State regained the momentum to head into the final quarter with a 54-37 lead.
Utah trimmed the deficit to 59-53 and forced a Mississippi State timeout before it proceeded to secure its first lead since the opening minute on a deep left corner three to make the score 60-59 with 1:32 minutes left in regulation.
Mississippi State reclaimed the lead for the final time on the and-one finish from Okot with 28 seconds left and then proceeded to convert on its free throws down the stretch.
Mississippi State will be back in action on Friday when it battles South Florida at 6:30 p.m. CT.
Mississippi State improves to 7-0 on the season and 10-1 in non-conference neutral-site games under Purcell. It is the second-straight season that Mississippi State has started 7-0 under Purcell.
With the win, Mississippi State also moves to 5-1 in Thanksgiving week tournaments under Purcell and are winners of four-straight such games.
Okot recorded 15 points on 6-8 from the field and eight rebounds in 28 minutes, while graduate student guard/forward Eniya Russell added 13 points on 6-12 from the field and four assists in 31 minutes.
Junior guard Denim DeShields filled the stat sheet with six points, six assists and two steals in 21 minutes, but her biggest play came when she took a charge on a Utes' layup with 38 seconds left to keep it a one-possession game.
Mississippi State outscored Utah 26-11 in the first quarter behind five threes in the frame. After the Utes knocked down their initial two shots, the Bulldogs concluded the first quarter on a 26-6 run over the final nine minutes of action.
The Bulldogs maintained their momentum and pushed the margin to 36-14 at the halfway point of the second quarter and commanded a 43-22 lead entering the locker room.
Mississippi State converted on 54.8 percent from the field and 50.0 percent from three in the first half. Mississippi State knocked down seven threes prior to entering the locker room behind four from junior guard/forward Debreasha Powe.
The four threes from Powe marked her ninth-career game with four or more threes made.
After Mississippi State built its largest lead at 24 on a driving finish from Russell, Utah answered with a 9-0 spurt in the early moments of the third quarter to cut the margin to 49-34. Mississippi State regained the momentum to head into the final quarter with a 54-37 lead.
Utah trimmed the deficit to 59-53 and forced a Mississippi State timeout before it proceeded to secure its first lead since the opening minute on a deep left corner three to make the score 60-59 with 1:32 minutes left in regulation.
Mississippi State reclaimed the lead for the final time on the and-one finish from Okot with 28 seconds left and then proceeded to convert on its free throws down the stretch.
Mississippi State will be back in action on Friday when it battles South Florida at 6:30 p.m. CT.
Team Stats
MS
Utah
FG%
.462
.364
3FG%
.368
.250
FT%
.688
.778
RB
38
29
TO
22
20
STL
9
8
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
15
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
13
FGM
6
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Pts
13
FGM
4
3FGM
4
FTM
1
Pts
9
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's BasketballC
/ Women's BasketballG/F
/ Women's BasketballG/F
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