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Turnovers deter Bulldogs from upset in 86-73 loss at No. 15 Tennessee

3rupauk8_400x400by:Robbie Faulk•about 14 hours•

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Jerkaila Jordan (Photo by Mississippi State Athletics)

Coming into Thursday night’s matchup in Knoxville, Tenn., Mississippi State knew that it had to limit the No. 15 Tennessee Lady Volunteers from long range and take care of the basketball.

The Bulldogs didn’t do enough of either of those things as the Lady Vols were able to take away a 86-73 win. UT made 12-of-26 3-pointers and scored 30 points on 20 State turnovers.

“The effort was phenomenal, and you’ve got to tip your hat,” coach Sam Purcell said on postgame radio. “They made big-time shots.”

End of the first half proves fatal for Bulldogs

For most of the first 20 minutes of the ball game, the Bulldogs outplayed the homestanding Lady Vols. Unfortunately, the minutes that they didn’t proved to be costly.

State had a 15-11 lead in the final 1:30 of the first quarter before the Lady Vols would hit consecutive 3-pointers off of empty possessions. Again at the end of the half, State was tied in the final minute before UT would hit three-straight 3-pointers to push the lead out to 43-34 at the half and the Bulldogs never got it closer than five points the rest of the way.

“I thought the first quarter you had opportunity to put more pressure on them. We had some missed layups and wide-open threes,” Purcell said. “We had seven missed layups and six wide open threes missed in the game.”

State did outscore the Lady Vols 22-21 in the third quarter to cut the lead to eight points coming into the final 10 minutes, but the team could never string together enough stops and scores to fully get back in the game.

MSU (15-4, 2-3 SEC) finished the game outshooting the Lady Vols 46% (27-of-59) to 44% (32-of-73), but the Lady Vols separated themselves by what they did behind the arc. The Bulldogs shot 8-of-23 from long range and 11-of-15 from the free throw line.

UT (16-2, 3-2 SEC) outrebounded State 40-33 with 16 offensive rebounds. The Bulldogs had four blocks in the loss.

Jerkaila Jordan finished the game with 17 points and was 5-of-12 from the field, 3-of-6 from three and 4-of-4 from the free throw line in a team-high 36 minutes. Debreasha Powe had 16 points on 4-of-6 from long range.

Destiney McPhaul gave the Bulldogs 29 strong minutes off the bench and had 11 points with seven assists and six rebounds but was just 3-of-10 from the field with misses on all four of her 3-pointers. Madina Okot was held to just four points but had 11 rebounds in 16 minutes.

Ruby Whithorn had 20 points for UT while Samara Spencer nailed four 3-pointers and had 18 points. Talaysia Cooper finished with 16 points on 8-of-20 with 10 rebounds and seven assists and Jewel Spear had 13 points on 4-of-6 from three.

Up Next

The Bulldogs now regroup and come back home for a big game on Sunday. State will host Ole Miss at 2 p.m. at Humphrey Coliseum for the one and only matchup between the two rivals this year.

“The kids fought,” Purcell said. “I’m proud of how the kids fought. In the SEC, it’s a marathon and not a sprint. You have to try your best to steal a game on the road and we didn’t.

“Now we have to come home and protect home court. This one is for the fans. We understand playing at Mississippi State how big this game is for the fanbase. We’ll refill the tank and be ready for Sunday for a war.”

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