GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) — Jerkaila Jordan scored 21 points, Destiney McPhaul added a career-high 19 and No. 10 seed Mississippi State used a 31-0 second-half run to beat No. 15 seed Missouri 75-55 on Wednesday night to give coach Sam Purcell his first SEC Tournament victory.
Mississippi State (21-10) will play No. 7 seed Ole Miss on Thursday in the second round. The Bulldogs lost to the Rebels 71-63 on Jan. 19.
The Bulldogs trailed 46-32 with 8:28 left in the third quarter before taking its first lead, 49-47, since it was 18-17 and closing the frame on a 20-0 run.
McPhaul sank a 3-pointer from near midcourt just before the third-quarter buzzer to extend the lead to 56-47. McPhaul also made two 3-pointers from the corner in the opening four minutes of the fourth.
Jordan added a jumper from the free-throw line to make it a 30-0 run that ended at 31.
Missouri missed 18 straight shots until Grace Slaughter made a shot in the lane with 4:39 left. The Tigers also finished with 20 turnovers.
Madina Okot had 12 points and eight rebounds, and Eniya Russell scored 10 for Mississippi State. McPhaul was 4 of 5 from 3-point range before being helped off the court late.
Ashton Judd led Missouri (14-18) with 15 points. Slaughter, averaging a team-high 15.2 points per game, was held to eight on 3-of-10 shooting.
Judd scored 15 points in the first half to help Missouri build a 39-32 lead. Jordan paced Mississippi State with 14 points.
Missouri coach Robin Pingeton, the 2016-17 SEC coach of the year, announced on Feb. 26 that she would step down at the end of the season.
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