Skip to main content

State looks to get back on track with women's hoops homestand beginning Thursday night

3rupauk8_400x400by:Robbie Faulkabout 9 hours

RobbieFaulkOn3

purcell13
Sam Purcell (Photo by Mississippi State Athletics)

A couple of opportunities have slipped through Mississippi State’s fingers in recent weeks, but the women’s basketball team has no time to let it linger.

State has four  losses in the last five games in SEC play and two of those were in games against Ole Miss and Missouri where the Bulldogs had their chances for wins. Despite that, they sit at 16-7 on the year and 3-6 in the SEC as the midway point of the schedule hits and wins have to come quickly for the team to make postseason play.

Two opportunities come this week for the Bulldogs as they host Arkansas on Thursday night and No. 23 Alabama on Sunday. Humphrey Coliseum has been good to the Bulldogs over the years and Sam Purcell needs it to be that way again on Thursday against the Razorbacks.  

More importantly, he needs his team to be back to hitting on all cylinders.

“Anytime you’re a coach and come off a loss, that next day you come back to work you find out a lot about your team,” Purcell said. “Immediately when I came back to work, the energy was unbelievable. My team knows where each individual can step up and hold each other accountable.”

Bulldogs slip up last week after promising win

The last time that State was in Starkville was two weeks ago when the Bulldogs delivered the biggest blowout in SEC play in several years. State knocked off Auburn 96-56 in arguably the most complete performance in the Purcell era, but the Bulldogs followed it up with a buzzer-beating loss to last place Missouri and a double-digit defeat to LSU.

Next up is a Razorback team that is struggling (9-15, 2-7 SEC), but it’s a team that presents a dangerous task due to the offense that they run. Mike Neighbors is in year eight with the Hogs and his team is heading for its fourth-straight losing season in SEC play. It hasn’t stopped them from routinely having a couple of players that can light up the scoreboard.

This year, that player is senior Izzy Higginbottom who transferred in from Arkansas State and she throws in 24.3 points per contest with 3.75 assists per game and 4.3 rebounds. JUCO transfer Kiki Smith averages 10.5 points a game, but the rest of the team hasn’t been able to get in double figures or rebound consistently enough to compete in league play.

If the Razorbacks get a road win, Higginbotom will be the key.

“Mike has done a really good job giving her the greenlight the entire game. She’s able to put up 20 to 30 shots a game but what’s most impressive is how crafty she is. When she’s not getting major attempts, she’s able to get to the line,” Purcell said of Higginbottom.

“We’re going to have our hands full. If she scores 40, we’ve got to make sure everybody else doesn’t go off. I expect them to be healthy, so we’ve got to be ready for a new-look Arkansas.”

As for the Bulldogs, there have been a few more players that have been threats throughout the year. Jerkaila Jordan has obviously been the catalyst with her 16.5 points per game and 6.0 rebounds and she’s a week removed from scoring a career-high 40 points against Missouri.

Eniya Russell is having the best season of her career with 13.1 points per game, 4.0 assists and 4.9 rebounds and Madina Okot is pushing towards a double-double per contest with 11.2 points and 9.2 rebounds.

Purcell is also getting some help from players that have been on the bench with Destiney McPhaul a regular boost and Quanirah Montague coming off a double-digit performance against LSU. Chandler Prater got her first start of the year on Sunday over Russell and both seemed to benefit from that.

Thursday will tell fans whether or not Purcell is comfortable continuing that or switching back to his regular lineup.

“We’re at that part of the year where we’re just mixing things up,” Purcell said. “Anytime you don’t win, it provides opportunities to change matchups, and I thought Chandler with that group was providing good energy, especially on the defensive end. We went with the call to mix it up and see if we couldn’t get different rotations.”

Thursday night’s game is set for 6:30 p.m. on SEC Network+.

You may also like