Mississippi State women miss March Madness, excluded from 2024 NCAA Tournament
Mississippi State women's basketball's late-season collapse will cost the Bulldogs a place in March Madness.
The Bulldogs (21-11) did not receive a bid from the NCAA Tournament selection committee, which announced the field of 68 on Sunday night.
Coach Sam Purcell cracked the Big Dance in his first season on the job, leading Mississippi State to a pair of tournament wins after starting in the play-in last year.
His second season was undone by a stretch of six losses in seven games to close the campaign.
With their season on the line in the first round of the SEC tournament, the Bulldogs turned in a noncompetitive showing in a 72-56 loss to Texas A&M, another bubble team.
There were a handful of noteworthy missed opportunities for Mississippi State, headlined by a blown eight-point lead with under six minutes remaining in a road game at Ole Miss that would have netted the Bulldogs a Quadrant 1 win.
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Mississippi State nabbed four Quad 1 wins − including a memorable home upset of LSU − but went 5-4 in Quad 2 games.
Leading scorer Jerkaila Jordan has another season of eligibility left should she elect to use it, but star center Jessika Carter is now out of eligibility.
Stefan Krajisnik is the Mississippi State beat writer for the Clarion Ledger. Contact him at skrajisnik@gannett.com or follow him on the X platform, formerly known as Twitter, @skrajisnik3.
This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Mississippi State women miss March Madness, excluded from NCAA Tournament
