STARKVILLE – Mississippi State had the hot hand shooting on Monday night, knocking down a program-record and SEC-record-tying 18 3-pointers to cruise to a wire-to-wire 103-76 victory against Troy at Humphrey Coliseum.

The previous record was 14 threes against Iowa State on Nov. 23, 2001. The Bulldogs’ 37 3-point attempts also set a program record, besting the previous mark of 36 against Savannah State on Feb. 8, 2007.

“First of all, it felt really good to be back at home after a nine-day layoff,” said head coach Nikki McCray-Penson. “You just never know how the team is going to come out and respond. I thought this team had a really good shootaround. We talked about getting ready to go from the jump because we didn’t play the way we needed to play in our last game. We shot the ball extremely well. Overall, it was a good bounce back game. We know that we still have room to grow, and we will continue to get better.”

State (3-1) shot 54 percent from the floor for the game while posting a 49-percent clip beyond the arc. Another area the Bulldogs excelled in was making the extra pass for an open shot. On the night, MSU assisted on 29 of its 41 baskets. It was the most assists in a game for Mississippi State since recording 29 assists against Coppin State on Nov. 18, 2018.

Rickea Jackson dropped 30 points on 11-of-20 shooting to go along with five rebounds and two assists. The National Player of the Year candidate knocked down a personal-best six treys in the outing. The performance marked the second 30-point game of her career.

Sidney Cooks also had a career game, recording a person best 26 points and six 3-pointers to go along with five rebounds. The redshirt junior fueled State’s offense early on, knocking down four threes during the first 3:19 of the game.

Aliyah Matharu rounded out the double-digit scorers with 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting and finished with five rebounds, three assists and three steals. JaMya Mingo-Young posted an all-around performance with nine assists, seven points, seven rebounds, three steals and two blocks. Myah Taylor also had nine assists without any turnovers to extend her nation-leading assist/turnover ratio to 22.0.

Alexus Dye fueled the Trojans on both ends of the floor with 20 points and 11 rebounds, while Tyasia Moore added 14 points and seven boards.

The first quarter was all Mississippi State, as the Bulldogs rattled in eight 3-pointers and shot 61 percent from the field to take an early 36-14 advantage. Cooks led the way with 14 points behind four threes, while Jackson 13 points on three 3-pointers.

MSU didn’t let up in the second stanza, outscoring the Trojans 27-18 to enter halftime with a 63-32 lead. It was the most points in the first half by Mississippi State since dropping 66 against Troy on Nov. 18, 2019.

For the half, the Bulldogs shot a blazing 56 percent from the floor and 50 percent from beyond the arc. The squad combined for 13 3-pointers made and assisted on 18 of its 25 baskets. Jackson fueled the offense with 18 points, Cooks added 17 points and Matharu chipped in 13 points.

Troy wouldn’t go away without a fight, though, as the Trojans outscored MSU in the third quarter 26-18 while going a perfect 9-for-9 from the charity stripe. State entered the final frame with an 81-58 advantage.  The Bulldogs opened the fourth quarter on 12-0 run and shot 62 percent from the floor to put the game away.

Up next, Mississippi State continues its current homestand at Humphrey Coliseum a matchup against Southern University on Friday, Dec. 18, for a 7 p.m. tip. The game will be broadcast on SEC Network+ as well as the MSU Radio Network.

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