How Mississippi State shut down dangerous California offense for first round win

Shortly after a jubilant celebration inside Sam Purcell’s house last Sunday, it was time to get to work.

Mississippi State (22-11) heard its name called for the NCAA Tournament, and Purcell’s mind immediately started turning when the matchup appeared. He anticipated a potential showdown with TCU or Louisville due to the obvious storylines—his past at Louisville and former player Hailey Van Lith now at TCU.

Instead, the Bulldogs were headed to Los Angeles, with the California Golden Bears first on the agenda. It was a team Purcell was already familiar with, but his staff wasted no time diving into preparations after the Selection Show.

Purcell leaned on his experience at Louisville under coach Jeff Walz to get ready. During nearly a decade with the Cardinals, he refined his scouting abilities as Walz relied heavily on his staff for game preparation. Now, Purcell is doing the same.

“If you give me time, I think that’s what I’ve been known for my whole career—putting game plans together,” Purcell said. “I’m a firm believer that proper planning prevents piss-poor performance. We had a well-oiled scout that we stuck to, whereas in the SEC Tournament, you don’t have enough time to break things down. We don’t have an off-day. We play on Sundays, and our off-day is a school day, so we go full-time.”

Rested Bulldog team prepared for round one

After the Bulldogs’ loss to Ole Miss in the SEC Tournament on March 6, Purcell gave his team four days off for Spring Break. He wanted them to return fresh, energized, and ready to lock back in. The result? First-round success.

Mississippi State entered the week rejuvenated and ready to gameplan for Cal. Charmin Smith had been rebuilding her program since the departure of Lindsay Gottlieb, enduring four straight losing seasons before turning things around.

After finishing 17-13 last year, Smith led Cal to a 24-7 regular-season record. The 25 total wins this season marked the program’s best since 2012-13, when Gottlieb guided the Bears to their only Final Four appearance.

Cal had already knocked off SEC teams Auburn and Alabama and posted a 12-6 record in the competitive ACC, highlighted by a key victory over NC State. The Bears’ biggest strength was their three-point shooting, ranking 16th nationally with an average of nine made threes per game.

Purcell knew his team had to win on the defensive end. Nearly a full week to prepare gave him confidence that the Bulldogs could limit Cal’s strengths.

“We are a big scouting report defensive team. I’ve been able to hire three former head coaches,” Purcell said. “So with the time we had, I think we went through about 15 games. That’s how detailed we were. The only thing we were missing was their social security numbers. We knew their tendencies, which way they wanted to go. It was really cool to see my young women dialed in, willing to absorb the information, but most importantly, apply it.”

Cal had made 10 or more three-pointers in 13 games this season. Purcell studied the stats and found only two teams that had held them to four threes or fewer—losses at Clemson and Duke.

The Duke game, in particular, stood out. Kara Lawson’s Blue Devils blew out the Bears 72-38, holding them to their lowest point total of the year while limiting them to just 2-of-12 from three-point range.

With the help of assistant coaches Tony Dukes and Victoria Vivians, along with the Bulldog practice squad, Mississippi State held Cal to just 3-of-21 from deep—their lowest percentage of the season. Top shooters Lulu Twidale and Ioanna Krimili combined for just 3-of-16 from beyond the arc. It was only the second time all season the Bears were held under 50 points.

“We think Cal is one of the best halfcourt offensive teams in the country. But we felt that if we could disrupt them, take them out of their set plays, and force them to rely on other options, we might have a fighting chance,” Purcell said. “Most importantly, if we wore them down, their mistakes might lead to shots with tired legs instead of fresh ones. I think you saw that (Saturday). When you play good teams, sometimes you need a little luck, and we had that—but we also put in a lot of hard work.”

The difference-maker was the relentless pressure and toughness Mississippi State applied at every position. The Bulldogs denied good looks from deep and constantly disrupted Cal’s halfcourt offense with active hands.

State forced 24 turnovers, including 15 steals and six blocks. Those led to 17 points off turnovers, keeping the Bears completely out of rhythm all game long.

Jerkaila Jordan had four steals and two blocks, Madina Okot added three steals and two blocks, and Chandler Prater chipped in three steals as well. It was a complete team effort, a clear return on investment after a week of dedicated preparation.

“Our emphasis this week was defense. We knew defense was going to win us games,” Jordan said. “Jumping out strong, being very active defensively—we worked on that in practice, keeping our hands up. They are great passers and a very smart team. They can pick you apart.

“We locked in from the first quarter, built an early lead, and made sure we stayed solid all four quarters.”

If the Bulldogs can replicate that performance, they’ll have a shot at dancing into the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2019. Mississippi State will face No. 1 seed USC on Monday night at 9 p.m. CT.