Mississippi State Women's Basketball Learns Opponent for SEC Tournament

Mississippi State women's basketball wrapped up the 2023-2024 regular season on Sunday with a 90-75 win over the Missouri Tigers. It was a crucial win for a Bulldogs team that had lost five-straight games. Now they turn their attention to the SEC Women's Basketball Tournament in Greenville, South Carolina.

After Sunday's action, the bracket is officially set for the SEC Tournament. Mississippi State women's basketball earned the 8-seed in the bracket and will face 9-seed Texas A&M on Thursday in the second round of the tournament.

Mississippi State women's basketball faces Texas A&M in first SEC Women's Basketball Tournament matchup

8-seed Mississippi State women's basketball first game in Greenville will come against Texas A&M. The 9-seed Aggies finished the regular season 18-11 and 6-10 in the SEC. State played A&M in College Station on February 4, winning 74-63.

MSU's offense struggled to get going for much of the game, but they exploded for 31 points in the fourth quarter to secure the road victory. Four Bulldogs scored double-figures, led by Erynn Barnum with 22. State's defense held A&M under 40% shooting and forced an incredible 22 turnovers.

This will be the second-straight year Mississippi State women's basketball plays Texas A&M in the second round of the SEC Tournament. Last year, the 13-seed Aggies upset MSU 79-72. The Bulldogs will hope for a better outing this year.

Potential matchup with South Carolina looms for Mississippi State women's basketball

If Mississippi State women's basketball can take down the Aggies, they would then face 1-seed South Carolina. The Gamecocks are the nation's #1 team. They're a perfect 29-0 and won 14/16 SEC matchups by double-digits. That includes their January 7 game with Mississippi State, which they won 85-66. The Bulldogs were competitive with South Carolina for much of the first half, but the Gamecocks were just too much.

These teams have plenty of history in the SEC Tournament. State faced South Carolina in the SEC Championship Game four times in five years under Vic Schafer, losing all four times. If they meet this year, it will happen earlier. But of course State has to get through Texas A&M first.

Mississippi State women's basketball needs at least one win in the SEC Tournament to feel good about reaching the NCAA Tournament

Mississippi State women's basketball's five-game losing streak prior to their win over Mizzou put their NCAA Tournament hopes in serious jeopardy. The Bulldogs were one of the last four teams in the field in ESPN's latest bracketology. The win over the Tigers is enough to likely keep them in the field, but it's unlikely to move them up to a safer seed.

If State wants to assure they're playing deep into March, they need to, at least, beat Texas A&M in the SEC Tournament. One win would probably be enough for the Bulldogs to feel decent. But if they lose, it's truly a 50/50 proposition as to whether or not they make the bracket.

They'll face the Aggies Thursday at 11:00 am CT.