State hoping for Super Sunday in home showdown with No. 23 Alabama
In the last two home games, Mississippi State showed what the team could be when the Bulldogs play well.
Entering both games coming off of back-to-back losses, State beat Auburn and Arkansas by an average of 32 points. It has State at 17-7 on the season and 4-6 in SEC play as the Bulldogs are fighting to get back in the NCAA Tournament for the second time in Sam Purcell’s three years.
The issue for the Bulldogs this season has been playing with consistency. It’s something that Purcell hoped to bottle up when he made a change in the lineup against LSU.
Senior Eniya Russell has been one of State’s best players this season as she’s averaged 12.7 points on the year with 4.9 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game, but Purcell began to bring her off the bench starting with last Sunday’s loss at LSU. In her place in the lineup the last two games has been Chandler Prater.
A fellow senior transfer, Prater has a different style of play than Russell and is averaging 5.8 points and 4.3 rebounds. Her two starts have seen her net 20 points and 15 rebounds including a season-high tying 14 points against Arkansas.
“The kid is just tough. Everybody can’t shoot the ball. Who is willing to do the little thing? Chandler does that with toughness and with a smile on her face,” Purcell said of Prater. “I’m just really happy with the way that she’s playing right now. She’s working hard behind the scenes and there’s no doubt her best basketball is ahead of her.”
Bulldogs searching for resume-building win against Bama
With the Super Bowl coming on Sunday evening, the Bulldogs have a chance to have a Super Sunday of their own. Accomplishing that will be a tall task.
No. 23 Alabama (19-5, 6-4 SEC) comes to Starkville for a 1 p.m. tip on SEC Network and the Crimson Tide bring a dangerous team inside the Humphrey Coliseum. Kristy Curry has been steady with the Crimson Tide since her arrival in 2013, but the coach is now building a championship contender at her school.
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Curry won 179 games in seven years at Purdue with three Sweet 16 appearances and another 130 wins came at Texas Tech in seven years. At Bama, it took Curry four years to have a winning record and now she’s on the verge of four-straight seasons of 20 or more wins and three-straight winning seasons in SEC play.
“I have a lot of respect for Kristie. She’s a Hall of Fame coach who has won over 100 games at all three schools. She’s a woman of class in the way that they run their program,” Purcell said. “They have returned experience and one of the top guards in the transfer portal. If you don’t bring it, they can embarrass you. If I’ve got to play them, there’s no better place to play them than at home.”
Both teams are looking for resume-building wins on Sunday. For the Tide, a victory on the road at Ole Miss stands out on their resume while the Bulldogs have a top 15 victory over Oklahoma.
This would be a second top 25 NET win for the Bulldogs who sit at 32 in the rankings. Limiting a stacked lineup will be the challenge. The Tide has 16.8 points a game from veteran Sarah Ashlee Barker, 15.7 points from Arkansas Pine-Bluff transfer Zaay Green, 14.3 points and 45% 3-point shooting from Aaliyah Nye and Essence Cody has 10.8 points and 6.7 rebounds.
“It’s a big game. We know what to expect. Alabama is a great team and it’s a next game mentality,” Powe said. “We have to make sure we stay consistent and locked in for this big game on Sunday.”
