Sam Purcell, women's hoops ready for a big road trip with Tournament implications
Mississippi State women’s basketball coach Sam Purcell and his squad are gearing up for the biggest road test of the early season ahead of their matchup with Belmont and a spot in the 2023 Van Chancellor Classic in Houston, Texas.
Belmont is no slouch
Belmont is a school that regularly makes an NCAA Tournament appearance on both the men’s and women’s side and typically finishes much higher than the rest of their conference in the ever-important NET rankings. The Bruins made it to the tournament last year under head coach Bart Brooks, and are expected to make another run this season.
Purcell detailed exactly why this game is so important in a media availability on Friday.
“We actually laid (NET games) out before the season started,” said Purcell, “and I keep it honest with our team, because there is a responsibility to educate them now…because again, there’s a selection committee, and I told them…(the selection committee) is judging you and ranking you on difference of score.”
Belmont has made the tournament every year under Brooks (since 2017), and Purcell knows that his teams can’t be slept on.
“I have so much respect for Bart Brooks, who I’ve known since my assistant days at Louisville when he was at DePaul,” said Purcell. “(He’s) just a really smart coach, a great guy, a family guy, and it’s been fun to watch his journey as a head coach and take a program that is known for big wins over power five teams.”
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It’s tournament season already? Kind of.
Aside from the non-conference test with Belmont, Mississippi State will play in the Van Chancellor Classic against more stiff competition. The kicker here, though, is that MSU will play three games in three days over the span of that tournament. Purcell said that in this situation, his team’s adaptability is paramount.
“(Adaptability) is huge, because I think that’s what coaching is all about,” said Purcell. “I always joke about it. I think dumb coaches only play one way, and I’m like ‘okay, what if that one way isn’t working?’ I think that’s dumb, so for us to have multiple ways that we can get after it I think makes it hard for our opponents.”
Mississippi State is set to square off against Clemson on Nov. 24, Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Nov. 25 and Tulsa on Nov. 26 before returning home to The Hump to face off against the University of Miami in the SEC/ACC Challenge. The game against Miami can be found on the SEC Network +, and tips off at 6:15 p.m.
