By the Numbers: Why Mississippi State Came Up Short Against Alabama

Despite the loss to No. 23 Alabama, Mississippi State showed signs that point toward a strong finish. Here are four key stats.

Mississippi State's Favour Nwaedozi tries to make a basket against No. 23 Alabama during Sunday's game. | Mississippi State Athletics

Mississippi State women’s basketball team avoided winter storm Fern to get its Sunday game in.

The Bulldogs, though, couldn’t avoid No. 23 Alabama retaking the lead every time they built one in an 85-78 loss.

Here are four important stats from Sunday’s game that explain why Mississippi State lost, but should still feel good about the rest of the season.

52%

That was Alabama’s field goal percentage for the game. The Crimson Tide was 26-of-50 from the field, 13-of-21 on three-pointers and 20-of-24 on free throws.

Beating a team shooting like that requires an equal or even better shooting performance from the Bulldogs, which didn’t happen. They shot 45.2% from the field and was only 4-of-16 from the beyond the arch.

“You have to tip your hat to (Alabama),” Mississippi State coach Sam Purcell said in his postgame radio interview. “The 29 points they scored in the fourth quarter were the dagger, and that is what I am going to talk to my team about. There were some possessions we did not execute, and that gave them hope. They also had some tough possessions but did a good job of pivoting and finding the open teammate, and that was the ball game in those last five minutes.”

6

That’s how many other statistical categories Mississippi State out-performed Alabama in, including:

• Points off turnovers (19-16);
• Points in the paint (36-24);
• Second chance points (17-6);
• Fast break points (16-5);
• Bench points (22-15); and
• Total rebounds (34-30).

Those are all good things that should give the Bulldogs hope and optimism about the remainder of their season.

4

That’s how many Bulldogs reached double digit points scored. Junior Favour Nwaedozi had a team-high 19 points, freshman Madison Francis had 16 and senior Trayanna Crisp had 11. Freshman Jaylah Lampley had 14 points coming off the bench on 6-of-9 shooting from the field and 2-of-4 from three-point range.

Having multiple scoring threats will be beneficial to the Bulldogs in the final month of the regular season and postseason tournaments.

29

Both Mississippi State and Alabama scored that many points in a single quarter of Sunday’s game.

The Bulldogs, though, scored 29 in the third quarter but Alabama outscored them 29-18 in the final 10 minutes which was “the dagger” Purcell mentioned.

“I love my team, and it obviously sucks right now because we couldn't find a way to get back-to-back ranked wins,” Purcell said. “There was never any doubt that we could, and I am hurting for those kids in the locker room. We just have to capitalize on little things. You got to make some outside shots. There were a few moments during the game. (Alabama) capitalized on our mistakes, and that was the difference. They seized the moment, and unfortunately, we couldn't.”