Mississippi State
5-0
Dayton
3-2
Women’s Hoops Opens Daytona Beach Invitational in Strong Fashion
November 25, 2021 | Women's Basketball
STARKVILLE – Behind a dominating fourth quarter, Mississippi State defeated Dayton 65-54 to open the Daytona Beach Invitational on Thursday. The victory extends State's early-season winning streak to five, creating a potential clash of undefeated teams when Mississippi State and No. 12/9 Michigan meet on Saturday to close out the invitational.
For the fourth time this season, and 14th time in her career, Rickea Jackson scored at least 20-points in an outing to lead all scorers while adding four rebounds to her totals. Joining Jackson with double-digit points was Myah Taylor, who posted a season-high 16, followed by 11 from Anastasia Hayes, who also grabbed seven boards, tying a season-best she set against Bethune-Cookman.
"Uncharacteristically, we turned the ball over the first four possessions, which we don't do," interim head coach Doug Novak said. "But we did match their physicality. I thought we were really tough on the defensive end and maybe took away some of their rhythm."
State got a fast start in Daytona Beach, using a 9-0 run to build an early lead over Dayton. The second quarter was all State, as the Bulldogs scored 13 of the first 16 points to grow their lead to a game-high 12-points midway through the second.
The final five minutes of the second, and the third quarter, belonged to the Flyers as Dayton cut MSU's lead down to just two. A Jackson triple to start the fourth started a fierce rally for the Bulldogs as they used their second 9-0 run of the game to extend their lead back out to 11 with just over seven minutes to play. Dayton would get no closer than six points the rest of the way as State held on for the 11-point victory to move to 5-0 on the young season.
Despite being outsized, State won the battle of the boards with 45 rebounds to Dayton's 36 while also dominating the points in the paint, 40-28. MSU shot 42% from the field and 65% from the charity stripe. Raven Farley and Denae Carter each added two blocked shots. Carter, who also had a game-high nine rebounds, now leads the team in blocked shots (11) and total rebounds (37).
With the win, Mississippi State has now won three straight early-season tournament games and owns a record of 26-1 in early season tournaments since the 2014-15 season.
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Up Next
Mississippi State will close out the Daytona Beach Invitational on Saturday, Nov. 27, when they take on No. 12/9 Michigan at 3:30 p.m. CT. The Wolverines will take on No. 16/19 Oregon State at 6:45 p.m. ET on Friday.
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For the most up-to-date information on the Bulldogs, follow MSU women's basketball on Twitter, like them on Facebook, and join them on Instagram by searching for "HailStateWBK.
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