Mississippi State’s clash with LSU to feature multiple reunions

Last year, Darrione Rogers was Aneesah Morrow’s co-star at DePaul, with the duo helping the Blue Demons lead the Big East in scoring offense as Morrow finished second in the conference in points per game with Rogers in fourth.

The Chicago natives have both found new homes this season in the Southeastern Conference, and will play against each other for the first time in their collegiate careers on Monday night when Rogers and Mississippi State host Morrow and No. 9 LSU.

“I respect Aneesah as a player. We had a great relationship,” Rogers said. “But we have not spoken or anything, so at the end of the day, I wish her nothing but the best. She’s at LSU, I’m at Mississippi State, no bad blood. We’re both competitors. When we step on the court, she’s going to try to win and do what it takes for her team to win, and I’m going to try to lead my team to a victory.”

The defending national champion Tigers also added star point guard Hailey Van Lith from Louisville in the transfer portal, and Van Lith’s time with the Cardinals overlapped with that of Bulldogs head coach Sam Purcell, who was a longtime Louisville assistant coach before taking the MSU job in 2022.

Purcell was the Cardinals’ recruiting coordinator when Van Lith was going through her recruiting process, and the two have maintained a strong relationship.

“I know that kid like the back of my hand. She’s special,” Purcell said. “She keeps reaching out, she checks on my kids and my family. Her parents are awesome. We’ll hug, and she knows it’s nothing but love, but when the lights come on, we’ll both be going at each other because that’s who we are.”

The Bulldogs (16-5, 3-3 SEC) have a full week to prepare for LSU after their road win over Florida this past Monday, while the Tigers (18-3, 5-2) are coming off a home loss to No. 1 South Carolina on Thursday night in which they led for nearly 33 minutes. With LSU star Angel Reese battling foul trouble and ultimately fouling out with four minutes left, the Gamecocks took control late and outscored the Tigers 24-14 in the fourth quarter.

Reese, who played her first two college seasons at Maryland, leads LSU with 19.6 points and 11.9 rebounds per game, both of which are second in the SEC. Morrow is fourth in the conference in scoring with 18 points per game, and Mikaylah Williams is the Tigers’ 3-point specialist, having made 41 of her 100 attempts this season. Van Lith is fourth in the SEC in assists with 4.5 per contest.

“They had the No. 1 transfer class in the country (and) they had the No. 1 high school recruiting class in the country,” Purcell said. “They’re a lot like us where they had some injuries, and what’s scary is that team is playing their best basketball.”

MSU is in a better place on the injury front with the return of Nyayongah Gony, who played eight minutes against the Gators in her first action since early December. Gony gives the Bulldogs more depth in the paint alongside Jessika Carter and Erynn Barnum, which will be critical against an LSU team that has the best rebounding margin in the SEC, pulling down 15.3 more boards per game than their opponents.

The Tigers also have the third-best overall offense in the country, putting up more than 90 points per game, and are in the top three in the conference in field goal percentage, free throw percentage, assists and steals. They also force 21.6 turnovers per contest, the most in the SEC.

LSU opened the season with a home loss to a Colorado team that has since risen to No. 3 in the AP poll, then reeled off 16 straight wins before falling at Auburn on Jan. 14. The Tigers then blew out Alabama and Arkansas before dropping Thursday’s home showdown to South Carolina.

“We’re looking forward to hosting them here at our place,” Purcell said. “It’s as simple as this: You have to rebound. The way they’re able to get after it, looking at last year’s box score, we gave up 24 second-chance points. That’s game. Our team knows that, we have to be tough, and most importantly, we have to be a four-quarter team.”