‘She’s dialed in’: Mississippi State’s Montague coming off strong outing in Baton Rouge

STARKVILLE — Quanirah Montague played just one minute and 19 seconds in Mississippi State’s loss at Missouri on Jan. 27 and did not register any statistics, with head coach Sam Purcell giving Kayla Thomas more playing time in the post as Madina Okot’s backup.

That came four days after Montague did not check in until there were four minutes left in the first half against Auburn, while Thomas entered the game after just 10 seconds when Okot had a brief injury scare.

But on the road against a top-10 LSU team on Sunday, Montague was on the floor for 17 minutes, her most playing time in a month. She and the Bulldogs’ second unit helped spark a big MSU run in the second quarter that had the Tigers sweating going into halftime.

“I’m really proud of (Montague) right now. She’s dialed in,” Purcell said Wednesday. “I actually talked to her mom the other day just about how hard she’s working behind the scenes.”

Montague entered the game with the Bulldogs trailing 11-3 after less than five minutes, then made her biggest impact over the last five minutes of the first half. She traveled twice during that stretch but made her first five field goal attempts of the game and also blocked a layup from Aalyah Del Rosario.

Two of her layups in the second quarter came off steals, and just before the buzzer, she rebounded Chandler Prater’s missed layup and tipped the ball back up and in, trimming what had once been an 18-point MSU deficit to six.

A former four-star recruit, Montague was a top-50 national prospect, the third-best player in New Jersey and the No. 6 post player in the country according to ESPN. She played behind Jessika Carter and Erynn Barnum as a freshman, and now Okot has swooped in as the starting center. But with 10 points, nine rebounds and two steals in less than half the game Sunday, Montague is making her case for more time on the court.

“Success comes when you put in the work and you’re truly dialed in,” Purcell said. “She’s been coming in, doing extra workouts, and she just has the look where she knows she can help contribute to this team. It’s coming on at the right time. Just really excited about where she’s at right now and how hungry she’s playing.”

Scouting Arkansas

The Bulldogs (16-7, 3-6 Southeastern Conference) have twice bounced back with wins after losing two games in a row this year, and they will need to do it again tonight at Humphrey Coliseum against the Razorbacks (9-15, 2-7). Arkansas is the lowest-ranked SEC team in the NET at No. 132, but the Razorbacks do have the conference’s leading scorer in Izzy Higginbottom, who is fifth in the country with 24.3 points per game.

One superstar does not a great team make, however, and Monday night was a perfect example. Higginbottom scored 40 points but could not prevent Arkansas from losing 108-78 at home to Florida. The Razorbacks have by far the SEC’s worst scoring defense, and — critical from an MSU perspective — they force the fewest turnovers per game in the conference. The Bulldogs will not find a more favorable matchup the rest of the year than this one.

“(Higginbottom) has the green light the entire game. The ball is in her hands, the offense is based for her,” Purcell said. “When she’s not getting major attempts, she’s able to find a way to get free ones at the line. When you have a scoring mentality like she does, the next thing you know she can sneak up and put (up) 40 points.”

Arkansas was without its next two leading scorers, Kiki Smith and Carly Keats, against Florida, and Purcell said he expects both to be back for Thursday’s game. But even at full strength, the Razorbacks have losses to five mid- and low-major teams and have allowed at least 100 points twice.

“We’re going to have our hands full. If (Higginbottom) scores 40, we have to make sure everybody else doesn’t go off,” Purcell said. “We have to be ready for a new-look Arkansas and a team that’s hungry to come off a loss.”