No. 1 South Carolina pulls away from Bulldogs in 85-66 contest
Having built some momentum heading into SEC play, Mississippi State was humbled in the first full week of the new year.
The Bulldogs followed up a home loss to Vanderbilt to open conference play by traveling to No. 1 South Carolina on Sunday afternoon and it wasn’t a pretty result. After keeping things close in the first half, the Bulldogs were blown out in the second and dropped to 0-2 in SEC play with an 85-66 defeat.
“There’s a reason they’re number one in the country,” coach Sam Purcell said. “For us to continue to compete and fight, I feel really good getting on the bus. I’ve watched a lot of film on South Carolina and they can make it really ugly. There’s no need to panic. We’re not going to roll over, we’re going to continue to fight and boy, did we fight.”
The Bulldogs couldn’t keep pace with a Gamecock team that has been among the nation’s leaders in 3-point shooting. USC was efficient hitting 6-of-12 from long range and made 47% of its shots overall. Meanwhile, the Bulldogs were an abysmal 3-of-19 from deep and missed 15-straight shots from the first quarter into the fourth. State shot just 36% overall making only 27-of-75.
State’s biggest issue in the first two SEC games has been its inability to get production from All-SEC post players Jessika Carter and Erynn Barnum. The two had just nine points combined for the second-straight game as they were a miserable 3-of-15 from the field.
Jerkaila Jordan had another strong game, however, as the senior guard poured in 25 points on 11-of-23 shooting. Lauren Park-Lane scored 14 points on 6-of-11.
South Carolina (14-0, 2-0 SEC) had four players in double figures led by Bree Hall’s 15 points and Kamilla Cardoso had 13 points and 14 rebounds.
The Bulldogs (13-4, 0-2 SEC) had a five-point lead early in the first quarter leading 15-10 but the Gamecocks would close strong in the first frame retaking the lead and getting out to a 26-21 advantage. That lead would grow every quarter as USC had a 44-34 lead at the half and it was 62-46 after three quarters.
With the defeat, MSU has dug itself a little hole early with some tough games right on the way. State goes to Arkansas on Thursday night to take on the Razorbacks at 8 p.m. on SEC Network.
“We’ve just got to stay together but it doesn’t get any easier,” Purcell said. “We’ve got to continue to compete and fight.”
