Madison Francis Named SEC Freshman of the Week After Breakout Performances

Mississippi State freshman Madison Francis earned SEC Freshman of the Week after standout performances, signaling a potential turning point for the Bulldogs.

Mississippi State's Madison Francis (40) goes for a layup during a women's college basketball game between Ole Miss and Mississippi State at the Sandy and John Black Pavilion in Oxford, Miss. on Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. | Bruce Newman/Special to the Clarion Ledger / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Mississippi State fans remember what it felt like when the program sat at the center of the women’s basketball universe.

National championship games. National relevance. A standard that felt permanent — until it wasn’t.

The climb back has been slow, uneven, and at times frustrating. But every rebuild needs a spark, a player who makes you believe the ceiling can rise again.

Madison Francis is starting to look like that player.

The freshman forward picked up her first SEC Freshman of the Week honor on Tuesday, another line on a résumé that’s growing faster than most first-year players can keep up with. She’s already been named the Tamika Catchings USBWA National Freshman of the Week, and now the SEC is catching up to what Mississippi State has known for months: Francis is special.

And more importantly, she’s the kind of special that can change a program’s trajectory.

Her week alone tells the story. Francis averaged 14.5 points, 9.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 2.0 blocks, and 1.5 steals, numbers that would be impressive for a seasoned veteran, let alone someone still adjusting to the speed and physicality of the SEC. But it wasn’t just the stat lines — it was the moments.

Mississippi State hadn’t beaten a ranked opponent since 2020. That drought ended against No. 15 Tennessee, and Francis was at the center of it. Twelve points, ten rebounds, three blocks, three assists, and a presence that made the Lady Vols uncomfortable all night. It was her sixth double-double, the most of any SEC freshman this season, and it felt like a performance pulled straight from the program’s glory years — the kind of toughness and versatility that once defined Mississippi State basketball.

Then came Missouri. Seventeen points. A career-high three made threes. One rebound shy of another double-double. Another night where she looked like the most dynamic freshman on the floor — because she usually is.

Francis now has 16 double-figure scoring games, second-most among SEC freshmen, and she’s doing it while anchoring the defense as one of the nation’s elite shot blockers. Her 2.9 blocks per game rank first in the SEC and third nationally. She’s rejected three or more shots in 12 games, a number that puts her among the best rim protectors in the country, not just among freshmen.

That’s the part that should make Mississippi State fans sit up a little straighter. Scoring freshmen come and go. But freshmen who can score, rebound, defend, stretch the floor, and control a game physically? Those are the ones who change the arc of a program.

Those are the ones who help you dream big again.

Mississippi State isn’t back to 2017 or 2018 yet — no one is pretending otherwise. But for the first time in a while, there’s a player on the roster who looks capable of leading the Bulldogs toward something bigger than incremental progress. Francis plays with the kind of edge, versatility, and fearlessness that championship teams are built around.

And she’s only getting started.