Mississippi State keeps Golden Eagles grounded in 87-64 victory

Bulldogs dominate Southern Miss at both ends of the floor for their sixth consecutive win.

Mississippi State's Destiney McPhaul dribbles down the court in Sunday's game against Southern Miss. | Mississippi State Athletics

Mississippi State coach Sam Purcell has talked recently about wanting Destiney McPhaul to be the main dog on the team.

Sunday’s game against Southern Miss showed she can fill that role.

McPhaul, one of only two returning players for the Bulldogs, orchestrated an offense made 47 percent of its shots from the floor. Whether cutting down the line and dishing out an assist underneath the basket, or draining a pull-up three-pointer, McPhaul was able to do it.

She finished the game with 14 points on 5-of-9 including 3-for-6 from beyond the three point line.

Overall, it was a great game for Mississippi State who has now won six-straight games to improve to 10-1 this season.

The only time Southern Miss led the Bulldogs was when it scored the first points of the game. But a pressing defense from the Bulldogs kept the Golden Eagles off their game.

Southern Miss made just 23 field goals in the game, with a 35 shooting percent. The Golden Eagles also had 12 turnovers, five of which were steals by Mississippi State.

The Golden Eagles were outmatched in almost every statistical category.

The Bulldogs outrebounded Southern Miss 55-30, had more trips to the charity stripe, more assists, more fast break points, more points in the paint and several others.

Favor Nwaedozi had a career day against Southern Miss, leading the Bulldogs in scoring with 21 points and entering the record books with 23 rebounds. Chandler Prater also had a double-double in Sunday’s game, scoring 18 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.

Trayanna Crisp was the fourth Bulldog to reach double digit points, scoring 12 on 4-of-9 shooting.

Into the record books

Nwaedozi had one of her best games in her short time in Starkville. Her 21 points is her highest this season and her 23 rebounds is the most by a Bulldog since last season when Madina Okot had 23 and sixth-most in program history.

The program record for most rebounds in a single game is 26 held by Sophie Ratliff in a 1988 game against Shorter.

Injured Bulldog

Senior forward Kharyssa Richardson did not play in Sunday’s game. She had suffered a minor injury this week and was held out, mostly as a precaution.

Next up

Mississippi State won’t have as long of a break between games this time. The Bulldogs will host Alabama State at Humphrey Coliseum this Wednesday. Tipoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on SECN+.