Another amazing atmosphere tonight for women's basketball. Impressed that Mississippi State fans showed up on a Monday night with their team unranked. Players were amped up and boy did they deliver tonight.
Most impactful player of the game was Mjracle Sheppard off the bench. She was a menace defensively and harassed Poa/Hailey Van Lith all night. She finished with 12 points, 6 steals, 5 assists and 4 rebounds. Outstanding game for her. Also a really big showing from DePaul transfer Rogers off the bench, she made some timely 3s and nailed a huge one late to push the lead from 70-67 to 73-67. She definitely outplayed her fellow DePaul transfer (Morrow) tonight. Jordan was also massive, leading the way with 24 points.
Angel Reese did Angel Reese things, I thought she played well on both ends but didn't get nearly enough help from the rest of the team. She shut down Carter and put up 20/18 and had 5 steals. Missed her share of shots but can't ask for much more out of your star. Flaujae was also excellent when she took the ball to the basket. More offense needs to run through her. Morrow didn't have her best game, she missed a ton of shots she normally makes.
Hailey Van Lith, Poa and Williams all really struggled. Hailey Van Lith looked more dialed in defensively but got beat off the dribble a few times and just wasn't able to contribute much offensively. She didn't have as many bad TOs tonight but she doesn't do much to help the team get into rhythm. Again, she looks lost and uncomfortable at the PG spot like she did vs. SC. Poa was completely rattled by Sheppard all night. Williams stats were better than I expected but she didn't make a big impact and was turnover prone. Most significant, they had no answer for Mississippi State's guards. Jordan/Sheppard/Rogers combined 55 points on 21-36 shooting. LSU isn't going to win games if they can't guard opposing guards.
If they can't right the ship, I think they're at real risk of not hosting the first 2 rounds. One or 2 more bad losses and they're in a really tough spot.