Mississippi State women's basketball's time in Greenville has come to an end. After getting a crucial first round win over Missouri on Wednesday, the Bulldogs were matched up with their in-state rivals, the Ole Miss Rebels, on Thursday in the SEC Women's Basketball Tournament.
Just like the first matchup between these two programs this season, things did not go to plan for the Bulldogs, who lost 85-73. State's record is now 21-11.
To the surprise of no one, turnovers proved costly for Mississippi State
We're a broken record at this point talking about turnovers being the death of Bulldog women's basketball, but once again, that was a key factor in the final outcome. State turned the ball over 21 times, leading to 20 points for Ole Miss. To expect anything other than MSU to turn the ball over an astronomical amount of times would be foolish at this point, but as long as it keeps costing them games, it's going to be harped on.
The Bulldogs had an oddly poor defensive performance against Ole Miss
While committing turnovers at far too high a pace was nothing out of the ordinary, Mississippi State didn't look right on the defensive end of the court, especially considering their opponent. The Bulldogs have been a solid defensive team this season, while Ole Miss hasn't at all impressed offensively.
You wouldn't know it with how things went on Thursday night. The Rebels shot nearly 53% from the floor and were 35% from three. Two Rebels, Madison Scott and Kennedy Todd-Williams, went for 20 points while a pair of bench players scored double-figures. Ole Miss is a high-level defensive team in their own right, so if they're playing that well offensively, they're hard to beat.
Mississippi State women's basketball now waits to learn their NCAA Tournament destination
Beating Missouri on Wednesday ended any speculation as to whether or not Mississippi State would reach the NCAA Tournament. That win locked them in. But it also gave them the opportunity to potentially improve their positioning in the Big Dance if they could make a run in the SEC Tournament.
They failed to do so and will now wait for Selection Sunday on March 16 to learn their NCAA Tournament destination. That destination looks likely to be Los Angeles. The Bulldogs will probably land as a 9-seed, meaning their opening weekend host would be a 1-seed. They can't be matched with projected 1-seeds Texas or South Carolina, so with both USC and UCLA in position to earn 1-seeds, State would be LA-bound. We'll know for sure 10 days from now.