Mississippi State women's basketball caught a bad case of the Mondays. The Bulldogs lost at Missouri Monday night 78-77 on a buzzer-beater. State had the ball up one in the closing seconds, but a turnover gave the Tigers a chance at a winning shot. A prayer from the baseline would connect at the horn, and Missouri, who entered the game at 11-10 and 0-6 in the SEC, would stun the Bulldogs. State is now 16-6 (3-5 SEC) on the year.
Jerkaila Jordan carried Mississippi State in a losing effort
If not for Jerkaila Jordan, the Bulldogs wouldn't have even been competitive in Columbia Monday night. Jordan literally scored more than half of State's points, going for a career-high 40, the most by any player in the SEC this season. Jordan was 13-21 from the field, including 5-9 from beyond the arc. She also was second on the team with eight rebounds. Madina Okot and Denim DeShields both had good performances, but Jordan carried this team. It's a shame her performance was tainted with a loss.
Free throw shooting ended up being a deciding factor in Bulldogs' loss to Tigers
This game was ultimately decided at the free throw line. Missouri handled their business at the charity stripe, going 20-23. But Mississippi State? Not so much. State was 14-24 at the line, and while Jerkaila Jordan deserves praise for a remarkable game (again, State has no shot without her going off), the Bulldogs needed more from her on foul shots. She was 9-17 at the line. That's not to put it on her. There were two other missed free throws that, if made, would've won State the game. When the margins are thin, it's the little things that matter, and MSU didn't do enough there.
This was a damaging loss for the perception of Mississippi State women's basketball
This is a tough loss for Sam Purcell. Losing to a team that was previously 0-6 in the SEC was never going to be deemed acceptable. But taking that loss to drop to 3-5 in the conference, having looked mostly unimpressive to this point, after a disappointing finish last season, understandably, is going to have fans on edge. Technically speaking, this won't be that damaging of a loss to State's tournament resume. Missouri was 78th in the NET despite their poor record. But the optics are bad. Bulldog fans expect a contending program, and that's not what they're getting.