Mississippi
Miss Mississippi and Miss Mississippi's Teen are heading to Orlando for Miss America
JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) – Miss Mississippi Becky Williams and Miss Mississippi’s Teen Brooke Bumgarner will head to Orlando, Florida Friday for the Miss America competition.
The national competition begins December 31st and Bumgarner hopes to make history by becoming the first national winner for this state in the teen competition. Williams hopes she will be the candidate to win Miss America since the last state winner in 1986 when Susan Aikin won the Miss America Crown.
On New Year’s Eve, the Miss America contestants, including Miss Mississippi Becky Williams will arrive in Orlando. Miss America 2025 will be crowned January 5th. There have been four winners from this state including, Mary Ann Mobley, Lynda Lee Meade, Cheryl Prewitt, and Miss America 1986 Susan Aiken.
Williams said, “The Miss Mississippi Corporation has changed my life. My experience in competing just these three years has been life-changing. I’m not the same person I was when I started and to even have the opportunity to compete at Miss Mississippi is one thing. To win is another and on top of that, I get to represent my entire state. I get to represent the volunteers of Miss Mississippi. I get to represent the state of Mississippi.”
Williams has been preparing for the national competition since she was crowned in June. She has also kept busy promoting her Community Service Initiative Make a Move.
“Preparing for Miss America has been a little different than getting ready for Miss Mississippi because now I am Miss Mississippi and it’s a full-time job. I’m on the road, I’m all across the state throughout my entire year, so these past six months I’ve been every which way but still fitting in time in dance studios across the state. I’m so thankful to my dance families in Meridian, in Hattiesburg, and in Jackson for giving me the space to practice, so that’s been really helpful but you know when it comes to interview prep, when it comes to doing the job of Miss America, I’m getting ready every single day because that’s what I do right now as Miss Mississippi”, said Williams.
The first night of the preliminary competition for Miss America’s Teen is New Year’s Eve. Brooke Bumgarner of Madison has been preparing and is hoping to make history as the first winner for Mississippi.
Bumgarner said, “She will win a $50,000 dollar scholarship which is an incredible blessing and she also wins a year-long of experiences that not everybody gets to take on and that’s such a rare opportunity and it’s been such an honor to watch the new leadership at Miss America really take our program to the next level and allow Miss America’s Teen to go through so many incredible life-changing experiences.”
Preliminary competition for Miss America begins New Year’s Night. The teen winner will be crowned January 4th.
“Only 51 girls a year are going to be able to go to the national pageant and that’s, it’s incredible to think that I am one of those 51 and I have the opportunity to make friends with people from all across the nation”, said Bumgarner.
The New Miss America will be crowned Sunday, January 5th.
Williams said, “You know it’s so humbling to be able to say that I’m the face of Mississippi when it comes to this competition so I get the chance to show everyone what we have to offer.”
The new Miss America will be awarded 60 thousand dollars in scholarships. This will be the 103rd Anniversary for Miss America which is the world’s largest scholarship program for women.
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Samantha Ricketts credits Mississippi State’s ‘grit’ for rally vs OU softball in Game 1
OU softball alum and Mississippi State coach Samantha Ricketts talks about the Bulldogs’ 11-9 comeback win Friday in Game 1 of the NCAA Norman Super Regional.
Mississippi State softball’s NCAA Tournament super regional against Oklahoma was a David vs. Goliath scenario.
The Bulldogs were on the hunt for their first Women’s College World Series appearance. The No. 3 Sooners were looking for their 10th straight.
Few expected Mississippi State (43-19) to even win a game in the best-of-three series, let alone eliminate Oklahoma (52-10) from the tournament on its home field.
But that’s exactly what happened when the Bulldogs beat the Sooners 6-0 in Game 3 at Love’s Field on May 24, advancing to the WCWS for the first time.
They’ll face No. 11 seed Texas Tech (57-7) on May 28 (11 a.m. CT, ESPN) at Devon Park in Oklahoma City in the first round of the double-elimination tournament.
“An underdog is still a frickin dog,” pitcher Delainey Everett said in a TV interview after pitching a three-hit shutout. “We knew it. We were on the bus. Oh my gosh. Everything that we worked for came through today and we ain’t done yet.”
By encouraging her team to lean into the underdog mentality, coach Samantha Ricketts created an environment in which MSU could play “loose (and) free” in the game that could have been its final one of the season.
“A big message today was just staying present in the moment and understanding that this is a situation that it’s not life or death,” Ricketts said. “At the end of the day, it’s softball, and we’re going to go out there and give it everything we’ve got and have fun.”
This messaging helped to keep the players settled even when the crowd’s cheers grew in volume in support of the Sooners.
After losing 7-1 in Game 2, Mississippi State recorded nine hits, including two home runs, in Game 3 and struck out just once. The Bulldogs scored their first run in the first inning and never let up offensively.
“We definitely embraced it,” said Kinley Keller, who had two hits and three RBIs. “And I think just staying grounded is a big thing for us, and we knew we were going to punch them first and just play what we know we can play.”
For MSU and Ricketts, it didn’t matter that most of the crowd and the fans at home were not expecting them to knock off the eight-time national champions. All they needed was each other.
“Just so proud of this group,” Ricketts said. “When nobody believed in us, they believed in themselves and in each other. It was the 25 in the dugout and the parents over in the stands.”
Tia Reid covers Jackson State sports for the Clarion Ledger. Email her at treid@usatodayco.com and follow her on X @tiareid65.
NORMAN — The schedule for Sunday’s winner-take-all Game 3 in the Norman Super Regional is set.
Oklahoma will battle Mississippi State at 1:30 p.m. at Love’s Field, and the game will be broadcast on ESPN.
The Bulldogs roared back in Friday’s series-opener to notch an 11-9 victory over 3-seeded OU to put Patty Gasso’s team on the brink of elimination.
But the Sooners responded emphatically on Saturday.
Oklahoma plated seven runs in the top of the third inning to get a foothold in the series, and Audrey Lowry was excellent in the circle to bring home a 7-1 win.
How to Watch Game 3 of the Norman Super Regional
- When: Sunday, May 24
- Where: Love’s Field
- Time: 1:30 p.m.
- Channel: ESPN
The winner of Sunday’s contest will advance to the 2026 Women’s College World Series, where they will play either 6-seeded Florida or 11-seeded Texas Tech next Thursday, as the Gators and the Red Raiders will also clash in a Game 3 in the Gainesville Super Regional on Sunday.
Friday’s defeat was Oklahoma’s first in a Super Regional since 2015, and it snapped a 31-game NCAA Tournament winning streak at home. It was also the first NCAA Tournament game that the Sooners had lost at Love’s Field.
A victory on Sunday would see OU get back to the WCWS in Oklahoma City for the 10th-straight tournament. The last time the Sooners were not in the WCWS field was 2015.
Friday was Mississippi State’s first Super Regional win in program history. The Bulldogs’ only other trip to a Super Regional came in 2022, where Mississippi State lost both games to Arizona.
Former OU star and current Mississippi State head coach Samantha Ricketts is looking to take the Bulldogs to their first WCWS in program history with a win on Sunday.
Both coaching staffs will have big pitching decisions to make on Sunday.
Lowry only needed 87 pitches to notch the victory on Saturday, but Mississippi State did score five runs on six hits in 1 1/3 innings of work by Lowry on Friday.
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The Bulldogs also saw OU right-hander Miali Guachino and senior Sydney Berzon on Friday.
Conversely, Oklahoma’s hitters have gotten good looks at each of Mississippi State’s key pitchers.
Alyssa Faircloth started on Friday for the Bulldogs, and she allowed five runs on five hits and issued three walks in 2 1/3 innings. Peja Goold, the other top starter for Mississippi State, gave up a monster home run to Kendall Wells on Friday and threw just 17 pitches.
Saturday was worse for Mississippi State.
Goold started and lasted 2 2/3 innings. She gave up most of the damage in the third, finishing with five runs and five walks allowed while OU posted three hits. Goold threw 66 pitches on Saturday before Ricketts went to Faircloth.
Faircloth pitched 4 1/3 innings, allowing two runs and a walk on three hits, but she threw 72 pitches in the loss.
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