Sam Purcell, Mississippi State women's basketball seek to extend win streak vs struggling MVSU
By Ethan Lee
Sam Purcell and the Mississippi State women’s basketball team are looking to extend their four game winning streak when they take on the Mississippi Valley State Devilettes on Thursday evening.
In case you haven’t been keeping up so far, the Mississippi State basketball team boasts a 12-2 record while the Devilettes have struggled so far (recording just a 1-10 start through their first 11 games this season).
It’s been well over a month since the Devilettes won a game as MVSU’s lone victory happened to come all the way back on November 16 (when MVSU faced off against McNeese State). Since then? Well, the Devilettes have dropped nine consecutive games and none of the losses have been any closer than nine points.
That’s largely because MVSU is only averaging 52.4 points per game and the Devilettes are shooting a paltry 31.9 percent from the field. From behind the three point line, MVSU is shooting just 26.3 percent.
If you find yourself asking if rebounding is something MVSU seems to do well, you should know that it’s also been a major issue for the Devilettes as opponents tend to grab over 16 more rebounds than MVSU does in an average game.
Oh, and MVSU is averaging 19.4 turnovers per game. They’re just having a really rough season.
Mississippi State basketball: Bulldogs should be able to beat struggling MVSU
Mississippi State, meanwhile at 12-2 and winners of four straight, has looked solid as of late and a lot of that success can be attributed to the way the Bulldogs are playing as they smother folks on the defensive end of things.
State is holding its foes to just 58.4 points per game and opponents are shooting just 37.1 percent from the field. Mississippi State is also outrebounding foes by nearly 12 rebounds per game.
On the offensive side of things, MSU has plenty of weapons (and is led by Jerkaila Jordan, who is scoring 17.2 points per game all while shooting 47.1 percent from the floor and 31.9 percent from deep). Jessika Carter, one of the most talented players in the country, is averaging 15.1 points per game and 9.5 rebounds per game.
Lauren Park-Lane, who just made Mississippi State basketball history by shooting a ton of three pointers, is also obviously a huge threat. And then there’s Debreasha Powe, who is averaging over 11 points per game. That’s a formidable bunch of averaging double digits scoring all while MVSU only has one player scoring in the double digits per game.
If the Mississippi State Bulldogs can shut down Sh'Diamond McKnight, MVSU doesn’t really have a plan b when it comes to scoring a ton of points.
MSU’s talent and cohesion should be more than enough to set the Bulldogs up as a heavy favorite to win this game. And a nice win over MVSU would set the Bulldogs up nicely before Southeastern Conference play begins up in January.