STARKVILLE — Teaira McCowan and Anriel Howard strolled into Mississippi State’s postgame press conference and grabbed their seats directly next to each other. Howard’s face wore a plastered smile, while McCowan opted for a more subdued grin.

McCowan tallied the 55th double-double of her career, and Howard posted a double-double for the 37th time to help lift No. 7  Mississippi State to an 80-49 win against Ole Miss Sunday afternoon at Humphrey Coliseum.

Since joining Mississippi State’s lineup, McCowan has established herself as one of the Southeastern Conference’s elite post players. She ended last season as the SEC’s leading rebounder with 13.9 per game. This year, the addition of Howard — who finished No. 2 in the SEC in rebounds at Texas A&M last season (12.2) — has further solidified Mississippi State’s (19-1, 7-0) threat on the boards.

“Before I got here, I noticed that she was getting better; every year she got better,” Howard said of McCowan. “I knew that coming here, she would make me better, as well. The things that I anticipated, as far as rebounding, I knew that we would compete for the boards, and that’s good for both of us. We want to compete.”

McCowan finished with a game-high 13 rebounds, and Howard added 11. Mississippi State, which has now won 31 consecutive games at home, out-rebounded Ole Miss 43-27. 

McCowan and Howard were also dominant offensively, as McCowan added a season-high 33 points, and Howard finished with 16 points. Jordan Danberry scored 12 points and dished seven assists. Andra Espinoza-Hunter contributed with 10 points. 

Inconsistent play on defense has been an aspect of the game that has, at times, drawn the ire of head coach Vic Schaefer, but the Bulldogs for the second consecutive contest kept their opponent to under 50 points. Ole Miss (8-13, 2-5) was held to just 22 points through the first half, matching the 22 first-half points to which Mississippi State held Florida last Thursday. Ole Miss shot 36 percent from the field (18 of 50).

Ole Miss’ Crystal Allen, the SEC’s No. 2 points leader entering Sunday, finished with a team-high 15 points. La’Karis Salter — a Mississippi State transfer — ended with 13 points, and Shannon Dozier also tallied 13 points.

“The person who’s not in here is Jazzmun Holmes, and she probably had as much to with anything today defensively,” Schaefer said. “She created so many problems for them, I felt, and she did a great job of really setting the tempo defensively with her ball pressure. And again, she’s running our team, and doing a good job there.”

Mississippi State dominated in the paint to the tune of 42 points, while Ole Miss was held to 14, and the Bulldogs scored 15 points off of turnovers. Howard tallied a team-leading three steals. 

Mississippi State used a 12-2 run to end the first quarter with an 18-10 lead. McCowan opened the scoring in the second quarter with two free throws to push Mississippi State ahead 20-10 before Ole Miss’ Shanon Dozier hit a jumper to stem the Bulldogs’ run.

Mississippi State went on a 14-0 run during the span of nearly 4 minutes in the second quarter to up its lead to 41-17 with 1:50 remaining before intermission.

“I think Jazz and Jo (Jordan Howard) got interested on defense,” Schaefer said of the second-quarter surge. “They turned it up a notch, Anriel got a steal or two (and) I thought that’s when it completely changed the whole complexion of the game. And it had to do with ball pressure, passing lanes. They’re out there trying to run their offense a long way from the rim, and I think that’s kind of  when it all turned.”

The Bulldogs shot 89.9 percent from the free throw line (17 of 19). McCowan, who entered Sunday with a .755 free throw percentage, went 11 of 12 from the charity stripe.

“We work on free throws — we (have to) make 50 a day,” McCowan said. “So making that my focus, it’s paying off.”

Mississippi State went 43.9 percent from the field (29 of 66) to grab its 10th-consecutive win over Ole Miss before an announced crowd of 10,377, the fourth largest in program history.

“I’m just so proud of our crowds,” Schaefer said. “The fan support and the love that our Bulldog fans show our kids is just incredible. I walk out there before a game, before the tip, and I’m just in awe. I’m just amazed at our fans being here today on Sunday at 2 o’clock and making for an incredible atmosphere. It wouldn’t matter who or what’s going on in that building, that is an unbelievable atmosphere for college athletics; it’s an unbelievable atmosphere for pro.”

QUICK STUDY

Connecticut transfer Andra Espinoza-Hunter made her second start of the season, and her first at Humphrey Coliseum Sunday. The sophomore played 23 minutes and pulled in two rebounds to go with her 10 points. Hunter has posted double-digit scoring efforts in six games this year.

UP NEXT

Both teams return to action Thursday when Mississippi State travels to LSU (12-7, 3-4) and Ole Miss hosts Auburn (15-4, 3-4).