Mississippi State Women's Basketball Thumps Kennesaw State, 91-50

Bulldogs forward Jessika Carter dominates in her first game back from injury.

The Mississippi State women's basketball team needed to reignite its hot start to the season against Kennesaw State after losing their past two games.

And that they did.

The Bulldogs played as if they were still 8-0 on Monday night, as they dominated the Owls 91-50.

One key piece missing in the two-game skid was forward Jessika Carter, who was out for three games due to an injury. She returned on Monday night and finished with a career-high 31 points on a jaw-dropping 14-of-19 shooting from the field and team-high 13 rebounds.

Carter made her presence very early, as she ended the first half with a team-high 15 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the field and added seven rebounds. It was clear that the Bulldogs' offensive game plan for the first 20 minutes revolved around getting the ball inside to Carter as much as possible.

Of course, other players contributed to the 44 first-half points (including 18 from outside of the paint), as guard Jerkaila Jordan and forward Erynn Barnum each tallied eight points. However, the story on the offensive side of the ball was not about the Bulldogs' very solid 51.5 percent shooting from the field, but rather their 12 assists on 17 made shots. Guards Lauren Park-Lane and Mjracle Sheppard combined for 10 of those assists.

The Bulldogs' stellar offensive production in the first half was heavily influenced by their stout defense. Sheppard collected a season-high six steals a bit before the first 20 minutes ended. Mississippi State collectively forced 15 turnovers and scored 21 points off of them.

The Jessika Carter Show continued into the second half, as she earned her 31st career double-double (second-most among active players in the SEC) late in the third quarter. 31 is the magical number, as Carter's 31st point midway through the fourth quarter created a new career-high while donning the maroon and white.

Jordan recorded 19 points and four steals, while Sheppard added eight points and seven steals. Sheppard and Park-Lane were the main contributors to creating the buckets as they each distributed nine assists.

The rest of the bench played the final few minutes due to the large margin and all nine Bulldogs scored on Monday night.

Mississippi State appears to be back to itself, but the Bulldogs need to uphold that notion in their next game against 5-3 Jackson State on Thursday.