Coach Sam Purcell credits sold-out crowd with fueling Mississippi State upset of No. 9 LSU

Mississippi State scored one of the biggest wins in its women’s basketball program’s history on Monday night, knocking off No. 9 LSU 77-73 to score a massive win for the resume.

In front of a sold-out crowd, the Bulldogs took it to the Tigers and matched their physicality step for step.

“I’m still on Cloud 9. What a night,” coach Sam Purcell said on the Paul Finebaum Show on Tuesday. “I got into this profession 20 years ago and was just a young, hungry assistant trying to work my way up the ladder to get an opportunity to be a head coach at a school where women’s basketball matters and they support like no other.

“For that stage to occur like it did, sold out, playing LSU on primetime TV, it’s a night I know I’ll never forget.”

Women’s basketball has already had a handful of historic moments this season, including TV ratings for some of the higher-profile programs beginning to go through the roof. A big part of that is the environments that have been created when programs like Iowa, LSU or South Carolina hit the road.

Those powerhouse programs are in for a battle almost every night as visiting fans pack arenas and try to will their teams to massive wins.

Mississippi State was just the latest to pull it off in front of the sold-out crowd, recording a huge upset that can provide jet fuel to the resume. Because LSU is about as loaded as they come in terms of talent from top to bottom.

Purcell believes the environment was a huge factor in Monday night’s win.

“It’s huge, because obviously I’m trying to recruit the best players in the country,” he said. “Attendance matters, and I think there’s a cool movement going on in women’s basketball right now where we’re getting opportunities. But we have a responsibility with those opportunities, too, that we’ve got to put a product on the floor that’s not necessarily going to always win, but you’ve got to play hard and play hard for your fanbase.”

For Mississippi State, the Bulldogs faithful have taken to it quite nicely. Look no further than Monday night’s win as evidence.

You can bet there will be another sold-out crowd in the future, too, knowing what it can do for the team.

“That’s something we take a lot of pride in coming out every single night and giving everything we have,” Purcell said. “And again, there was a chemistry and an energy last night that couldn’t be denied. There’s no doubt in our mind and our players’ mind that they were huge in helping us get over that hump and getting our first top-10 win of the year.”