Mississippi State Bulldogs women's basketball

Mississippi State Bulldogs
women's basketball
Mississippi State Bulldogs; women's basketball
	2025–26 Mississippi State Bulldogs women's basketball team
University	Mississippi State University
First season	1974-1975
Head coach	Sam Purcell (4th season)
Location	Starkville, Mississippi
Arena	Humphrey Coliseum ; (capacity: 10,575)
Conference	SEC
Nickname	Lady Bulldogs
Colors	Maroon and white;
All-time record	744–611 (.549)
NCAA Division I tournament runner-up
	2017, 2018
Final Four	2017, 2018
Other NCAA Division I tournament results
Final Four	2017, 2018
Elite Eight	2017, 2018, 2019
Sweet Sixteen	2010, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019
Appearances	1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009, 2010, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2023, 2025
Conference tournament champions
	2019
Conference regular-season champions
	2018, 2019
Uniforms
Home	Away

The Mississippi State Bulldogs women's basketball program represents Mississippi State University in Starkville, Mississippi, in women's NCAA Division I basketball. The Bulldogs play in the Southeastern Conference. The program is notable for ending the UConn Huskies record 111-game winning streak by beating them 66-64 in overtime in the Final Four of the 2017 NCAA tournament. The buzzer beater shot that put the Bulldogs in front of the Huskies came from the smallest player on the court, the 5-foot-5 inch junior, Morgan William.^[2]

Head coaches

Name	Years	Record
Libba Birmingham	1974–1977	29–38
Peggy Collins	1977–1984	91–103
Eddie Vaughn	1984–1985	8–19
Brenda Paul	1985–1989	52–56
Jerry Henderson	1989–1995	62–101
Sharon Fanning-Otis	1995–2012	281–232
Vic Schaefer	2012–2020	221–62
Nikki McCray-Penson	2020–2021	10–9
Doug Novak (Interim)	2021–2022	15–14
Sam Purcell	2022–present	67–35

Roster

2025–26 Mississippi State Bulldogs women's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Year	Previous school	Hometown
G	1	Destiney McPhaul	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)	RS Sr	West Catholic Preparatory HS	Philadelphia, PA
G/F	5	Chandler Prater	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	Sr	North Kansas City HS	Kansas City, MO
C	13	Rocío Jiménez	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	RS So	Central Pointe Christian Academy	Elías Piña, Dominican Republic
F	tbd	Kharyssa Richardson	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	Sr	Ole Miss	Douglasville, GA
G	tbd	Jaylah Lampley	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	Fr	Lawrence Central HS	Indianapolis, IN
F	tbd	Madison Francis	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	Fr	Lancaster Central HS	Lancaster, NY
F	tbd	Nataliyah Gray	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	Fr	Alief Taylor HS	Houston, TX

Head coach

Sam Purcell (Auburn)

Assistant coach(es)

Fred Castro (Oklahoma)
Anita Howard (Armstrong State)
Samantha Williams (Auburn)
Victoria Vivians (Mississippi State)
Tony Dukes (Clayton State)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Player awards

National awards

Players

USBWA Freshman of the Year^[3]

LaToya Thomas – 2000

Senior CLASS Award

LaToya Thomas – 2003

Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award

Tan White – 2005

Ann Meyers Drysdale Award

Victoria Vivians – 2018

Naismith Defensive Player of the Year

Teaira McCowan – 2018

Elite 90 Award (top GPA among upperclass players at the Final Four)

Jordan Danberry – 2018

Coaches

Naismith Award

Vic Schaefer – 2018

WBCA National Coach of the Year

Vic Schaefer – 2018

SEC awards

Player of the Year

LaToya Thomas – 2002, 2003

Teaira McCowan – 2019

Freshman of the Year

LaToya Thomas – 2000

Defensive Player of the Year

Armelie Lumanu – 2010

Martha Alwal – 2014

Teaira McCowan – 2018, 2019

6th Woman of the Year

Teaira McCowan – 2017

Gillom Trophy

Player	Winning year(s)
Alexis Rack	2009, 2010
Martha Alwal	2013
Victoria Vivians	2015, 2016, 2017, 2018
Teaira McCowan	2019
Jessika Carter	2024

All-Americans

Player	Position	Playing Years
LaToya Thomas	Guard	1999–2003
Tan White	Guard	2001–2005
Alexis Rack	Guard	2006–2010
Victoria Vivians	Guard	2014–2018
Morgan William	Guard	2014–2018
Teaira McCowan	Center	2015–2019
Source: Mississippi State Media Guide CBS Sports espnW

Postseason

NCAAW tournament results

The Bulldogs have appeared in the NCAA tournament 13 times. Their combined record is 25–13.

Year	Seed	Round	Opponent	Result
1999	#7	Round of 64	#10 NC State	L 57-76
2000	#3	Round of 64 Round of 32	#14 St. Peter's #11 UAB	W 94-60 L 72-78
2002	#12	Round of 64 Round of 32	#5 Boston College #4 Texas Tech	W 65-59 L 55-77
2003	#3	Round of 64 Round of 32	#14 Manhattan #6 New Mexico	W 73-47 L 61-73
2009	#11	Round of 64 Round of 32	#6 Texas #3 Ohio State	W 71-63 L 58-64
2010	#7	Round of 64 Round of 32 Sweet Sixteen	#10 Middle Tennessee #2 Ohio State #3 Florida State	W 68-64 W 87-67 L 71-74
2015	#5	Round of 64 Round of 32	#12 Tulane #4 Duke	W 57-47 L 56-64
2016	#5	Round of 64 Round of 32 Sweet Sixteen	#12 Chattanooga #4 Michigan State #1 Connecticut	W 60-50 W 74-72 L 38-98
2017	#2	Round of 64 Round of 32 Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight Final Four National Championship	#15 Troy #7 DePaul #3 Washington #1 Baylor #1 Connecticut #1 South Carolina	W 110-69 W 92-71 W 75-64 W 94-85^OT W 66-64^OT L 55-67
2018	#1	Round of 64 Round of 32 Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight Final Four National Championship	#16 Nicholls State #9 Oklahoma State #4 NC State #3 UCLA #1 Louisville #1 Notre Dame	W 95-50 W 71-56 W 71-57 W 89-73 W 73-63^OT L 58-61
2019	#1	Round of 64 Round of 32 Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight	#16 Southern #9 Clemson #5 Arizona State #3 Oregon	W 103-46 W 85-61 W 76-53 L 84-88
2023	#11	First Four Round of 64 Round of 32	#11 Illinois #6 Creighton #3 Notre Dame	W 70-56 W 81-66 L 48–53
2025	#9	Round of 64 Round of 32	#8 California #1 USC	W 59-46 L 59-96

WBIT tournament results

The Bulldogs have appeared in the WBIT 1 times. Their combined record is 2–1.

Year	Seed	Round	Opponent	Result
2024	#2	First Round Second Round Quarterfinals	Georgia Tech #3 TCU at #1 Penn State	W 84–47 W 68–61 L 87–92

WNIT / NWIT tournament results

The Bulldogs have appeared in the WNIT and its predecessor the NWIT 7 times with a combined record of 6-8.

Year	Tourney	Round	Result
1988	NWIT	Third Round	1-2
1998	WNIT	First Round	0-1
2001	WNIT	Third Round	2-1
2005	WNIT	First Round	0-1
2007	WNIT	Third Round	1-1
2008	WNIT	Second Round	0-1
2014	WNIT	Third Round	2-1

References

↑ Mississippi State Athletic Identity Standards (PDF). September 14, 2020. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
↑ Longman, Jeré (2017-04-01). "Connecticut's 111-Game Winning Streak Ends With Loss to Mississippi State". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-04-02.
↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-04-02. Retrieved 2015-01-25.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

External links

Official website

[1] Mississippi State Athletic Identity Standards (PDF). September 14, 2020. Retrieved April 6, 2021.

[2] Longman, Jeré (2017-04-01). "Connecticut's 111-Game Winning Streak Ends With Loss to Mississippi State". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-04-02.

[3] "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-04-02. Retrieved 2015-01-25.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

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Mississippi State Bulldogs women's basketball
Venues	McCarthy Gymnasium (1974–1975) Humphrey Coliseum (1975–present)
Culture & lore	Bully "Hail State" Gillom Trophy
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25 2025–26 2026–27
NCAA Final Four appearances in italics

Southeastern Conference women's basketball
Teams	Alabama Crimson Tide Arkansas Razorbacks Auburn Tigers Florida Gators Georgia Lady Bulldogs Kentucky Wildcats LSU Tigers Mississippi State Bulldogs Missouri Tigers Oklahoma Sooners Ole Miss Rebels South Carolina Gamecocks Tennessee Lady Volunteers Texas Longhorns Texas A&M Aggies Vanderbilt Commodores
Championships & awards	SEC women's basketball tournament Player of the Year Freshman of the Year Defensive Player of the Year
Conference challenges	Big 12/SEC Women's Challenge (2013–2023) ACC–SEC Challenge (2023–present) Coast-to-Coast Challenge (2024–present)
Seasons	1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25 2025–26

Head coaches

Roster

Player awards

National awards

Players

Coaches

SEC awards

Gillom Trophy

All-Americans

Postseason

NCAAW tournament results

WBIT tournament results

WNIT / NWIT tournament results

See also

References

External links