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Big second half leads Bulldogs to 73-66 win at Auburn in regular season finale

3rupauk8_400x400by:Robbie Faulk•about 21 hours•

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Jerkaila Jordan (Photo by Mississippi State Athletics)

A seven-point halftime deficit was overcome by a strong second half from Mississippi State at Auburn to close out the regular season.

After scoring just 24 points in the first half, State’s offense exploded for 45 second-half points and secured a 73-66 win.

It was a complete turnaround from a rough first half offensively for the Bulldogs. State turned the ball over nine times in the first quarter to fall back 17-9. Though the Bulldogs made up some ground in the second quarter, AU took a 31-24 lead into the half.

The Bulldogs came out of the locker room on fire and went on a 10-0 run as Debreasha Powe hit two three-points to lead the way. It got State a 34-33 lead and the Bulldogs would keep it the rest of the ball game.

MSU pushed the lead out to 66-57 with 2:06 remaining before the Tigers would cut it to 66-62 on a three-pointer from Mar’shaun Bostic with just over 1 minute left. State hit big free throws down the stretch to seal it from there.  

State was led by Eniya Russell as the senior put together one of her better performances in SEC play. Russell came off the bench and poured in a team-high 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting with 5-of-6 makes from the free throw line. Russell also had six rebounds and just one turnover in the game.

“If we get her going, watch out. Boy, was she good for us after losing both of our point guards (to foul trouble). (Jerkaila Jordan and Russell) are big-time players.”

Speaking of Jordan, she also came up big in the fourth quarter and scored seven of her 17 points in that frame. Jordna was just 5-of-15 from the field but hit 6-of-9 free throws with eight rebounds, three assists and just one turnover.

Chandler Prater had 12 points and was 6-of-6 from the line while Powe finished with 11 points and hit a trio of threes. Madina Okot had just six points but pulled down 14 rebounds.

State (20-10, 7-9 SEC) finished the game shooting 49% from the field with a 5-of-14 day from three and 18-of-22 from the free throw line. Turnovers would again hamper the team most of the way, however, as the Bulldogs had 23 in the game and it led to 20 points for Auburn.

The Bulldogs locked in the 10 seed for next week’s SEC Tournament but had not had their opponent set by the time of this writing.

“I don’t care who we play at this point. We just got 20 wins, we’re battling the toughest teams in the league, and we just got a win in the last 5 minutes. It was our poise and balanced where we simplified and made plays. Just proud of who they were and that they stuck together.”

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