Mississippi State Falls At Georgia Tech, 78-75

Wednesday, December 4

Atlanta, Ga.

6:15 p.m.

Mississippi State

8-1,0-0SEC

RV/RV Georgia Tech

8-0,0-0ACC

Mississippi St.

Georgia Tech

Mississippi State Falls At Georgia Tech, 78-75

December 04, 2024 | Women's Basketball

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ATLANTA – In a contest that featured five ties and 17 lead changes, Mississippi State suffered its first loss on the season when it fell to Georgia Tech, 78-75, in the 2024 SEC/ACC Challenge inside McCamish Pavilion on Wednesday.

The Bulldogs move to 8-1 on the season.

Graduate student guard Jerkaila Jordan turned in the 35th game of her career with 20 or more points on 10-of-19 from the field in 35 minutes, while graduate student guard/forward Eniya Russell added 18 points, a career-high nine assists and nine rebounds in 30 minutes.

Mississippi State converted on a season-best 54.2 percent from the field in the performance, its third time eclipsing the 50.0-percent mark this season. Graduate student guard/forward Chandler Prater had her best performance at Mississippi State with 10 points on 5-5 from the field, in addition to six rebounds and three assists in 25 minutes.

Mississippi State raced out to a 7-0 lead after tip off before Georgia Tech answered back to take it back at 10-9. Russell scored on back-to-back possessions over the next minute to secure a 13-10 lead for Mississippi State entering the initial media timeout.

The Bulldogs headed into the second quarter with a 18-16 lead after the two sides traded baskets throughout the final half of the first frame.

Russell continued her hot start with 13 points on a 6-for-8 run from the field to propel Mississippi State to a 31-26 lead at the midway point of the second quarter. Mississippi State converted on 56 percent from the field and on five-straight possessions prior to the second quarter media timeout. Russell added another basket to her 15-point first-half total to push the halftime lead to 39-34.

Georgia Tech scored on its first two possessions out of halftime break before junior guard Denim DeShields split two defenders and located Jordan for a corner three to retake the lead. Georgia Tech then used a quick 6-0 spurt to make it 52-47 in favor of the Yellow Jackets and force the first Mississippi State timeout at the 4:26-minute mark of the third quarter.

Jordan took over with eight-straight points over a three-minute stretch in the third quarter before finding Russell on a steal and fastbreak finish to knot the score at 57 heading into the fourth quarter.

The Bulldogs and Yellow Jackets responded the each sides' runs throughout the opening portion of the fourth. Junior guard/forward Debreasha Powe knocked down a pair of crucial threes in the stretch, but with the score knotted at 67, Georgia Tech used a 5-0 spurt with 4:02 minutes left in regulation that turned out to be the final lead change.

Mississippi State returns to action when it travels to battle Chicago State on Sunday, Dec. 8 at 5 p.m. CT.