Shepherd scores 20, No. 25 Mississippi State women pull away from Arkansas-Pine Bluff 77-68

KATY, Texas — Jerkaila Jordan scored 20 points, Erynn Barnum added a double-double and No. 25 Mississippi State held off Arkansas-Pine Bluff 77-68 on Saturday in the Van Chancellor Classic.

The Golden Lions (1-4) trailed by 10 at halftime but were only down three with less than eight minutes to play before a late 6-0 burst gave the Bulldogs (7-0) a 75-63 lead with 1:12 to play.

Debreasha Powe had 15 points with four 3-pointers and Lauren Park-Lane scored 12 with eight assists for Mississippi State. Barnum had 12 points and 12 rebounds.

Zaay Green had 19 points, seven rebounds and seven assists for the Golden Lions and Coriah Beck added 13 points.

Kaila Walker hit a 3-pointer to pull UAPB within 69-63 with 3:15 to play. Barnum scored on a putback for MSU and after the Golden Lions had an offensive foul, Jessika Carter made a pair of free throws. After another UAPB miss, Powe added another second-chance basket for the 12-point lead.

Beck’s 3-pointer ended the run and another offensive rebound led to two more second-chance free throws by Jordan.

Mississippi State ended up with 24 second-chance points.

Jordan hit a 3-pointer to start a 12-1 run and her layup finished it for a 39-29 MSU lead with 2:36 left before halftime. It was 43-23 at the break

The Golden Lions led most of the first quarter before Mjracle Shepherd’s layup just before the buzzer tied it at 20.

The Bulldogs wrap up the tournament against Tulsa and UAPB faces Clemson.

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