The Alabama women’s basketball team became the 13th opponent to fall to the Mississippi State Bulldogs inside Humphrey Coliseum on Sunday afternoon. In the process, the Crimson Tide’s four-game winning streak was lost, as was the program-best streak of five road games won in a row in SEC play. 

Alabama (20-7, 9-5 SEC) led just twice in the contest and could not come back from a halftime deficit of 17 points. The final score was 60-45. 

Mississippi State (19-8, 8-6 SEC) picked up a huge win, its fourth in the last five matchups. The Bulldogs simply outplayed the Crimson Tide for a large portion of the game. After the first quarter, things were not particularly close. Mississippi State gained a double-digit lead at the 8:05 mark of the second quarter and didn’t let up. 

The Crimson Tide went on a 10-0 run in the final minutes of the fourth quarter to cut the deficit to 11, but Mississippi State held strong. 

“I thought [Mississippi State] played with a tremendous amount of energy,” Alabama head coach Kristy Curry said. “We just allowed them to dictate us and be physical with us, and we didn’t respond very well. … We just had a hard day. It was just one of those days, and it’s all going to be about our response.” 

Alabama shot just 29% from the field in the game. Of the 17 makes for the Crimson Tide, eight came from long range. Brittany Davis led Alabama scorers with 14 points on six field goals. The Bulldogs, by contrast, hit on 52% of the attempts from the field. Alabama was outrebounded 40 to 30. 

Neither squad was particularly effective from the free throw line. Alabama went 3-of-8. Mississippi State went 2-of-7. The Bulldogs’ JerKaila Jordan went 10-of-15 from the field and had 24 points to lead all scorers. 

“You’ve got to pick yourself up on a day like today, and just try to move forward,” said Curry. She noted that her team battled and created late stops and turnovers, but that Mississippi State saw a lot of its shots fall, particularly late in the shot clock and in the first half. 

One category on which Alabama did have the edge was offensive rebounding, with 12 to Mississippi State’s eight. The Crimson Tide also had three more steals. However, these statistics were not enough to get the visitors truly back into the game following a tough start. The versatility in scoring that Alabama had seen in its last few contests was not present on Sunday, to the detriment of the team. Apart from Davis, Aaliyah Nye was the only other Crimson Tide player in double figures, breaking a streak of three games in which four or more players scored 10 or more points. 

The next game for Alabama is also going to be on the road, and it is the penultimate game of the regular season. The Crimson Tide will face Florida on Thursday, Feb. 23. Tipoff is scheduled for 5 p.m. CT. 

Questions or comments? Email Blake Byler (Sports Editor) at [email protected]