Mississippi State women's basketball winning streak vs Vanderbilt snapped at The Hump

STARKVILLE — Since 2012, Vanderbilt has entered Humphrey Coliseum five times and never walked out with a win. That drought spanning nearly 12 years came to an end Thursday when the Commodores took down Mississippi State women's basketball to open SEC play with a 71-66 win.

For MSU, defense was the issue. Vanderbilt sat at or above 50% shooting from the field for the majority of the game and led for more than 32 minutes. The Bulldogs used a 10-5 run in the fourth quarter to even the score at 58, but as was the case throughout the game, the Commodores quickly countered with a 6-0 run of their own to pull away.

"There were so many opportunities that we had that we'll go back — it's going to be a tough film session," Mississippi State coach Sam Purcell said after the game.

The Bulldogs had won nine consecutive games overall in the series against Vanderbilt, dating to January 2015.

Iyana Moore led the Commodores with 29 points. Jordyn Oliver had nine rebounds and four steals.

"It wasn't Vandy of the old," Purcell said. "It's Vandy of the new. They had our respect."

Runs fuel, hurt Mississippi State early

As is the basketball cliché, the first half was a game of runs. After trading buckets early, Vanderbilt used a 7-0 run to build a lead as large as seven in the first quarter. MSU didn’t take the lead until an and-1 from guard Jerkaila Jordan early in the second.

That conversion was part of a 14-3 run that helped build a seven-point edge for the Bulldogs. However, Vanderbilt closed the half on a 15-5 run to take a three-point advantage.

"I thought we went for home runs," Purcell said. "There were probably three or four possessions where you could feel the energy in the building when we got a huge rebound and then we took off in transition and just turned it over. We let that affect us. I just think Vanderbilt stayed in the moment."

The Commodores shot nearly 54% from the field in the first half, led by Moore, who scored 14 of her 29 points in the opening 20 minutes.

Jordan paced MSU with 10 of her 21 points in the first half. Jessika Carter added six points in the opening quarter but was held scoreless after that.

Frontcourt help could be coming soon for the Bulldogs

Mississippi State’s frontcourt has been riddled by injury, with Ramani Parker out for the season because of a knee injury. Carter, Erynn Barnum, Quanirah Montague and Nyayongah Gony have missed time for various reasons.

Besides Parker and Gony, the rest of the group has returned to action. Gony, who hasn’t played since a Dec. 3 loss at Chattanooga, could be back in the mix soon. She wasn’t in uniform Thursday, but she was no longer in a walking boot.

On Dec. 11, Purcell said Gony was expected to be out four weeks.

ON A MISSION: Inside Jerkaila Jordan's motivation to prove Mississippi State basketball has SEC's top guard

What’s next on Mississippi State’s schedule?

MSU has back-to-back road games starting Sunday (noon CT, ESPN) with a trip to No. 1 South Carolina (13-0, 1-0 SEC). The Gamecocks are coming off a win Thursday at Florida.

"If you're a competitor, you love these moments," Purcell said. "For us to be on ESPN at South Carolina, obviously we know we have a tall task ahead, but I know I've got a locker room full of fighters."

Mississippi State then will play at Arkansas on Jan. 11 (8 p.m., SEC Network) before returning home to face rival Ole Miss on Jan. 14 (4 p.m., SEC Network/ESPN2).

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's basketball drops SEC opener vs Vanderbilt