Jessika Carter is Mississippi State’s forgotten all-American.
On a team in which sophomore forward Rickea Jackson receives the bulk of headlines, Carter’s dynamism is sometimes lost in the day-to-day. But in Thursday’s 68-56 win over a scrappy Florida team, Carter led MSU offensively with a 25-point, 15-rebound display that helped the Bulldogs through a sloppy close in Gainesville.
“Coach Nikki (McCray-Penson) wanted them to get the ball inside, and that’s what they did,” she explained postgame. “I took a lot of forced shots on the outside, and I should’ve stayed in the paint — it was working for me in the paint.”
While Carter was largely dominant Thursday, it was another chapter for the ever-perplexing player in how effective she can be when clicking yet how inefficient she’s been when challenged with stiff competition over the past year-plus.
Squaring off mostly with 6-foot-4 Gators forward Faith Dut, Carter was aggressive in getting to the hoop for much of Thursday’s contest after a slow first quarter. She forced her way into opportunities for layups while grinding off errant shots to earn MSU extra possessions en route to her fifth double-double of the year.
Yet as was the case in meager efforts past, Carter got her points, sure, but it was another night in which her numbers might have skyrocketed had she not found herself fading away from the rim and failing to use the size advantage former head coach Vic Schaefer pleaded with her to use more often a year ago.
Rather than attacking Dut possession after possession, Carter settled early. She clanked free throw-line jumpers off the front of the iron or bricked them entirely as she ebbed and flowed with her offensive aggression.
Postgame, the Waverly Hall, Georgia, product donned an ear-to-ear grin as she conceded Thursday’s contest turned for her when she began listening to head coach McCray-Penson’s insistence that she get deeper in the post. With one of the shier, more guarded personalities on MSU’s roster, it was a refreshing, albeit momentary, glimpse into how Carter is evolving under her new head coach.
“She was like ‘Coach, if I settle for my fadeaway, get me,’ and I got her,” McCray-Penson said. “I’m sure you probably heard me.”
In all reality, Thursday was a game MSU and Carter should have dominated. The Bulldogs have won eight straight games against the Gators — a streak that dates back to the 2012-13 campaign — while Carter has flashed an all-American level of play against inferior competition all winter. But Thursday also served as a reminder of how necessary her dominance is to MSU’s success.
During the Bulldogs’ loss to Kentucky, Carter finished with 14 points and 13 rebounds on 5-of-12 shooting, but stalled in a 1 of 7 start from the field in a matchup that, on paper, she had every advantage over Wildcats forward Dre’Una Edwards.
To a further extent, Carter was downright invisible in MSU’s Southeastern Conference Tournament final loss to South Carolina last spring, where she notched just five points and eight rebounds as she was largely locked up by then-Gamecocks freshman Aliyah Boston.
In losses to Kentucky and No. 21 South Florida, Carter averaged 14.5 points and 11 rebounds per contest. Over MSU’s seven wins? She’s averaging an astounding 18.1 points and 9.4 rebounds per game.
Thursday, Carter looked the part of the all-SEC candidate she was pegged as in the preseason. In upcoming games against No. 5 South Carolina and No. 8 Texas A&M later this month, she’ll have to carry that play throughout for the Bulldogs to have a chance at challenging for SEC supremacy.
“This is just getting her ready for those games,” McCray-Penson said of Thursday’s performance. “She’s got to be consistent every night. It doesn’t matter who it is. Whether it’s Kentucky, Alabama, South Carolina, she’s got to be a dominant force for us every night.”
Ben Portnoy reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @bportnoy15.
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