Instant Reaction: Mississippi State dominates Samford 112-54

In the Bulldogs' first game since coming back from their holiday break, they showed little signs of rust with a big win before starting SEC play this week.

Mississippi State senior Kharyssa Richardson dribbles down court against Samford in Sunday's win at Humphrey Coliseum. | Mississippi State Athletics

Mississippi State women's basketball wrapped up its non-conference schedule Sunday with a 112-54 win against Samford. The Bulldogs will enter SEC play with a 13-1 overall record.

Here's our writer's reaction to Sunday's big win:

First Half Reaction

First half went about as well as Mississippi State could’ve hoped for. The Bulldogs led 51-26 at halftime and made 57.9 percent of its field goals and 40 percent three-pointers.

Defensively, the Bulldogs held Samford to 12 and 14 points in the first two quarters and limited Samford to 10-of-32 from the field, including 4-of-19 from three-point range.

Mississippi State also dominated at the boards, out-rebounding Samford 29-11, and won the turnover battle 7-5 (10-5 points off turnovers).

Favour Nwaedozi is on her way to another double-double with 13 points and seven rebounds in the first 20 minutes. Jaylah Lampley led Mississippi State in scoring in the first half with 14 points. Chandler Prater also had seven rebounds for the Bulldogs.

If Mississippi State coach Sam Purcell needed something bad to fix in the second half, it would be Mississippi State going scoreless in the final 2:08 of the first half. Then again, the Bulldogs did hold Samford to just one three-pointer in that same timespan.

Second Half Reaction

Apparently Purcell wasn’t too pleased with that scoring drought and whatever he said at halftime worked.

The Bulldogs opened the second half on a 16-2 run and whatever miraculous comeback hopes Samford disappeared. Included in that run was a dunk attempt from Madison Francis, who came up a finger tip away from successfully completing the act.

4⃣0⃣'s GOT UPS! pic.twitter.com/LJKBLV4LuW

— Mississippi State Women's Basketball (@HailStateWBK) December 28, 2025

Francis was one of four Bulldogs to record double-double performances. She had 23 points and 11 rebounds, as well as four blocks.

Nwaedozi led the Bulldogs in scoring with 30 points, and recorded her seventh double-double of the season with XX rebounds.

Lampley also had a double-double with 24 points (10-12 field goals) and 10 rebounds. Chandler Prater is the third Bulldog to record a double-double, ending the game with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Destiney McPhaul almost joined the double-double club Sunday with 10 assists and X points.

The112 points is the first 100-point game for Mississippi State since last season’s game against Chicago State (102-42). The point total also ranks as the fifth-most points scored in a game for Mississippi State. The all-time record is 124 points during the 2019-20 season.

Next up

Now, things start to get interesting for Mississippi State.

The Bulldogs are finished with the non-conference portion of their schedule and will play its first SEC game on Thursday.

Mississippi State will host Auburn in the conference-opener for both teams at 6:30 p.m. Thursday. The game will be streamed on SECN+.