Thompson steps in for Jackson, leads MSU women past Missouri
Jan. 28—STARKVILLE — Amidst the questions surrounding the direction of the program, Mississippi State women's basketball continued its season Thursday night with a home matchup against Missouri.
It was the fourth time MSU has taken the floor without Rickea Jackson this season, but it was the first since the SEC's leading scorer entered the transfer portal — leaving State as a bubble team now looking to make up a loss of 20 points per game.
Mississippi State made the transition look seamless with a 77-62 win against Mizzou. Here's how the Bulldogs got it done:
Enter Caterrion Thompson
Graduate guard Caterrion Thompson stepped into Jackson's spot for her third start of the season.
Thompson averaged five points in 17 minutes per game this season. On an MSU team which shot an SEC-worst 26.6 percent from deep entering the game, Thompson's 31 percent clip ranked second on the team.
Her shooting has been streaky as she shot 3-of-4 from deep in a loss Sunday at Arkansas, but in the two games prior she missed all four attempts. In the game prior — a win against Vanderbilt on Jan. 9 — she made two of four attempts.
The momentum from Arkansas carried as Thompson opened the game making four of her six attempts from deep in the first quarter. She finished making seven of her 12 3-pointers toward a season-high 27 points.
"While it was a fantastic game that she played, it's not that big of a surprise because of what she has been showing us in practice," interim head coach Doug Novak said.
Hayes sisters show out
Anastasia Hayes has been at her best when Jackson has been out. In three prior games without Jackson, Hayes averaged 24.3 points compared to her 17.6 points per game overall.
Her success as the team's top threat continued Thursday as she collected another 24 points to go along with five assists and five rebounds.
"It doesn't matter who is out or not," she said postgame. "I know that I do need to step up, but I'm willing to do whatever I can to get the team win."
Anastasia's 3-of-4 shooting from deep contributed to MSU's 14-of-27 clip on 3-pointers against Missouri — breaking a previous season-high of 13 makes in a game for State.
Her sister Aislynn Hayes did her part as well, shooting 3-of-5 from deep en route to nine points — two below her season-high.
Bulldogs turnover key battle
Mississippi State took advantage of sloppy play by Mizzou, forcing 20 turnovers.
State scored 24 points off those turnovers compared to Missouri's eight points off MSU's 10 turnovers.
The turnover column is a point of emphasis for every college basketball team, but it serves of utmost importance for an undersized MSU team.
Denae Carter — checking it at 6-feet — is MSU's top interior threat. With her routinely playing the 5, MSU is typically outmatched and outrebounded.
Missouri won the rebounding battle 34-22, but with MSU's avoiding carelessness with the ball it could make up for its struggles on the boards with its advantage in turnovers.
"We're small. We know that. That's not a mystery. It didn't happen overnight," Novak said. "We're just gonna lose some of those battles. We've gotta keep it a little bit closer, but we have to win the possesion game, we need to get a few steals and we cannot turn that ball over."
STEFAN KRAJISNIK is the Mississippi State athletics reporter for the Daily Journal. Contact him at stefan.krajisnik@djournal.com.
