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Turnaround for the ages leads Mississippi State to SEC Tournament win over Missouri

3rupauk8_400x400by:Robbie Faulk•about 12 hours•

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Kayla Thomas and Mississippi State celebrate an SEC Tournament win (Photo by Mississippi State Athletics)

Mississippi State had been one and done in the SEC Tournament for the last four seasons coming into Wednesday night’s first round game and the Bulldogs were headed for a fifth-straight early exit.

Trailing by 14 points with over 8 minutes left in the third quarter, something snapped in the Bulldogs. State would start turning the Missouri Tigers over and they would start scoring and neither of those two things stopped for a long time.

MSU went on an incredible 31-0 run over the course of 11 minutes and took a double digit deficit and turned it into a 75-55 win. After trailing 46-32 with 8:28 left in the third, the Bulldogs outscored Missouri 43-9 to end the game.

In the second half, State shot 63% and made 5-of-8 three-pointers. Destiney McPhaul was the catalyst from long range as she scored 16 points in the final two quarters and shot an amazing 6-for-6 from the field and hit all four of her three-pointers.

The Bulldogs finished shooting 50% from the field with a 30-for-60 game and made 8-of-22 from long range. State also clamped down on the Tigers after a tough first half and held them to just 6-of-31 shooting in the second half and 1-for-11 from three.

It was a drastic turnaround from where things stood in the first half as the Bulldogs struggled to find their footing consistently. State fell behind 20-18 at the end of the first quarter and were down 39-32 at the break. It got worse out of the locker room as Mizzou went on a 7-0 run to push the lead out to 14 before the Bulldogs clawed back into it.

Four different players scored in double figures led by Jerkaila Jordan’s 21 points on 9-of-13 shooting and she had six rebounds. Jordan scored 14 of those points in the first half and was desperate for some help and she would get it.

McPhaul was the one that got the Bulldogs going and she finished with 19 points on 7-of-9 shooting and 4-of-5 threes with the big second half doing the job. Her long three-point heave at the end of the third quarter would put the icing on the cake of what was a 20-0 run to end the frame and had State out to a nine-point advantage.

Madina Okot ended the game with 12 points on 4-of-6 and eight rebounds to go with three blocks and two steals. Eniya Russell had 10 points, five rebounds and five assists.

The win all but stamps an NCAA Tournament berth for a Bulldog team that was safely in the recent projections. Now State (21-10) can push itself up the seeding line if it can grab more wins.

A huge opportunity presents itself on Thursday night at 5 p.m. as the Bulldogs have a rematch with Ole Miss (19-9). The Rebels are playing for a chance to host in the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament and sit at No. 12 in the NET Rankings giving MSU a Quad I opportunity.

The game can be seen on SEC Network.

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