Mississippi State women's basketball falls to No. 12 Michigan for Doug Novak's first loss as interim coach

For Mississippi State women’s basketball still discovering what it does best — and how to play that way for 40 minutes — the final game of the Daytona Beach Invitational put to the test how the Bulldogs were progressing.

Mississippi State (5-1) had won its first five games, including Thursday against Dayton. But against No. 12 Michigan (7-0), the shortcomings that hadn’t resulted in defeat finally ended that streak. The Wolverines beat the Bulldogs, 64-48, to deliver Doug Novak the first loss of his tenue as Mississippi State’s interim coach.

The Bulldogs didn’t go quietly. They pushed the pace in transition — an area they need to exploit because of their lack of size — to embark on an 8-0 run at one point in the fourth quarter to narrow the deficit to five points.

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But those spurts didn’t last long enough. Still, forward Rickea Jackson and guard JerKaila Jordan continued strong starts to their seasons, combining for 31 points, and there are positives to take away from the loss.

The Bulldogs didn’t win. But they played a ranked opponent tightly until late, and after an offseason defined by change, that can be encouraging.

"I thought we battled and hung in there for a while," Novak said. "And then they exposed some of our deficiencies and we couldn't stretch them on the offensive side."

Michigan's Naz Hillmon took over

Novak was asked this week how the Bulldogs matched up with forward Naz Hillmon, the reigning the Big Ten player of the year.

“We don’t match up with her at all,” Novak said.

With forward Jessika Carter still away from the team, the Bulldogs often employ a small-ball lineup. Jackson can be the most imposing presence on the floor, but even at 6-foot-2, Jackson isn’t the prototypical post defender.

Novak said the Bulldogs would have to find ways to clog the lane, and it worked early on, with Hillmon starting 0-for-4 from the field. But Hillmon took off later, finishing with 18 points and 10 rebounds.

"When it's all said and done, we didn't do too bad of a job on her," Novak said. "She was (6-for-15), maybe three turnovers. She's just relentless. I would enjoy watching her if I wasn't coaching against her."

Free throw shooting

The chances for Mississippi State were slim, but at the free throw line with a little over two minutes remaining, guard Myah Taylor had two shots. Making those would’ve slimmed the deficit to single digits.

Instead, Taylor clanked both attempts.

That has been a season-long issue for the Bulldogs. Novak said earlier this week that his team is shooting “Shaq-like numbers at the line,” making 54% of its attempts in the first five games. That number lowered to 50% on Saturday, missing seven shots.

Lack of bench scoring

Mississippi State relied on Jordan, Jackson and guard Anastasia Hayes to score 40 of the team's 48 points. Forward Denae Carter scored two points — the only points any bench player scored.

The Bulldogs don't have many options at their disposal. Novak said guard KN'isha Godfrey has entered her name into the transfer portal and wants to transfer "somewhere closer to home." Jasmine Shavers already transferred away, announcing her decision to join Texas Tech. And guard Alasia Hayes is still recovering from an offseason leg injury.

"I don't think we have that many players sitting on the bench right now," Novak said. "I don't care where the points come from, but obviously we want to get more points than they have, so whether it's the bench or the starters or whoever."

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Mississippi State women's basketball loses to No. 12 Michigan