# 2021–22 Mississippi State Bulldogs women's basketball team

The 2021–22 Mississippi State Bulldogs women's basketball team represented Mississippi State University during the 2021–22 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Bulldogs, led by first-year interim head coach Doug Novak, played their home games at Humphrey Coliseum and competed as members of the Southeastern Conference (SEC).

## Previous season

The Bulldogs finished the season 10–9 (5–7 SEC) to finish in ninth place in the conference. Head coach Nikki McCray-Penson stepped down on October 12, 2021, for health reasons.

## Offseason
### Departures

Mississippi State Departures :
| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| JaMya Mingo-Young | 0 | G | 5'8" | Sophomore | Bogalusa, LA | Transferred to Alabama |
| Aliyah Matharu | 3 | G | 5'7" | Sophomore | Washington, D.C. | Transferred to Texas |
| Sidney Cooks | 10 | F/C | 6'4" | RS Junior | Kenosha, WI | Transferred to Seton Hall |
| Xaria Wiggins | 11 | G | 6'1" | Junior | Virginia Beach, VA | Transferred to Auburn |
| Yemiyah Morris | 20 | C | 6'6" | Senior | San Bernardino, CA | Transferred to West Virginia |
| Madison Hayes | 21 | G | 6'0" | Freshman | Chattanooga, TN | Transferred to NC State |

### 2021 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight |
| Kn'isha Godfrey G | Tampa, FL | Tampa Bay Technical HS | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) | N/A |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: ESPN grade: 93 ||||||
| Jasmine Shavers G | Mequite, TX | John Horn HS | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) | N/A |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: ESPN grade: 92 ||||||
| Mia Moore G | Alpharetta, GA | St. Francis HS | 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) | N/A |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: ESPN grade: 90 ||||||
| Denae Carter F | Philadelphia, PA | Saint Basil Academy | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | N/A |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: ||||||

### Incoming transfers

Mississippi State Incoming Transfers :
| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Year | Hometown | Previous school |
| Anastasia Hayes | 0 | G | 5'7" | RS Senior | Murfreesboro, TN | Middle Tennessee |
| JerKaila Jordan | 2 | G | 5'9" | Sophomore | New Orleans, LA | Tulane |
| Aislynn Hayes | 10 | G | 5'6" | Junior | Murfreesboro, TN | Middle Tennessee |
| Alasia Hayes | 15 | G | 5'7" | Sophomore | Murfreesboro, TN | Notre Dame |
| Ashley Jones | 24 | G | 5'7" | RS Junior | Philadelphia, PA | Temple |
| Raven Farley | 44 | F | 6'4" | RS Senior | Elizabeth, NJ | St. John's |

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition |||||||||
| November 1, 2021* 6:00 pm | | Mississippi College | W 94–47 | | 22 – Jackson | 11 – Farley | 9 – Taylor | Humphrey Coliseum (1,106) Starkville, MS |
| Non-conference regular season |||||||||
| November 9, 2021* 6:00 pm, SECN+ | | Alabama State | W 91–62 | 1–0 | 26 – Jackson | 11 – D. Carter | 11 – Taylor | Humphrey Coliseum (4,439) Starkville, MS |
| November 12, 2021* 6:00 pm, SECN+ | | South Dakota State | W 76–71 | 2–0 | 23 – Jackson | 11 – Jordan | 7 – Taylor | Humphrey Coliseum (4,720) Starkville, MS |
| November 14, 2021* 5:00 pm, SECN+ | | Alcorn State | W 86–63 | 3–0 | 26 – Jordan | 12 – Thompson | 9 – Taylor | Humphrey Coliseum (4,541) Starkville, MS |
| November 22, 2021* 6:00 pm, SECN+ | | Bethune–Cookman | W 94–53 | 4–0 | 20 – Jordan | 13 – Farley | 7 – Taylor | Humphrey Coliseum (4,558) Starkville, MS |
| November 25, 2021* 11:00 am, FloSports | | vs. Dayton Daytona Beach Invitational | W 65–54 | 5–0 | 20 – Jackson | 9 – D. Carter | 1 – Tied | Ocean Center Daytona Beach, FL |
| November 27, 2021* 3:30 pm, FloSports | | vs. No. 12 Michigan Daytona Beach Invitational | L 48–64 | 5–1 | 18 – Jordan | 8 – Jordan | 3 – Taylor | Ocean Center Daytona Beach, FL |
| December 1, 2021* 6:00 pm, SECN+ | | McNeese State | W 102–55 | 6–1 | 40 – Jackson | 14 – D. Carter | 10 – Taylor | Humphrey Coliseum (4,557) Starkville, MS |
| December 4, 2021* 2:00 pm, BSOK | | at Oklahoma Big 12/SEC Challenge | L 63–94 | 6–2 | 21 – An. Hayes | 8 – Jackson | 2 – Tied | Lloyd Noble Center (1,400) Norman, OK |
| December 12, 2021* 2:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at UT Martin | W 54–37 | 7–2 | 19 – Jackson | 9 – Farley | 6 – Taylor | Kathleen and Tom Elam Center (1,379) Martin, TN |
| December 18, 2021* 2:00 pm, SECN+ | | Troy | L 66–73 | 7–3 | 25 – Jackson | 12 – D. Carter | 4 – Taylor | Humphrey Coliseum (4,561) Starkville, MS |
| December 19, 2021* 4:00 pm, SECN | | Jackson State | W 74–66 | 8–3 | 24 – Jackson | 13 – D. Carter | 7 – Taylor | Humphrey Coliseum (5,736) Starkville, MS |
| December 20, 2021* 2:30 pm, SECN+ | | South Carolina State | W 85–47 | 9–3 | 15 – Thompson | 14 – D. Carter | 8 – Taylor | Humphrey Coliseum (4,296) Starkville, MS |
| SEC regular season |||||||||
| January 2, 2022 5:00 pm, SECN+ | | at No. 1 South Carolina | L 68–80 | 9–4 (0–1) | 16 – Jordan | 8 – D. Carter | 2 – Taylor | Colonial Life Arena (11,403) Columbia, SC |
| January 6, 2022 6:00 pm, SECN+ | | at Alabama | W 65–62 | 10–4 (1–1) | 22 – An. Hayes | 10 – D. Carter | 6 – Taylor | Coleman Coliseum (1,922) Tuscaloosa, AL |
| January 9, 2022 2:00 pm, SECN+ | | Vanderbilt | W 70–63 | 11–4 (2–1) | 31 – An. Hayes | 7 – D. Carter | 6 – Taylor | Humphrey Coliseum (4,417) Starkville, MS |
| January 16, 2022 2:00 pm, SECN | | at Ole Miss | L 71–86 | 11–5 (2–2) | 24 – An. Hayes | 5 – Jackson | 5 – Ai. Hayes | SJB Pavilion (2,260) Oxford, MS |
| January 20, 2022 6:00 pm, SECN+ | | No. 13 Georgia | L 63–66 | 11–6 (2–3) | 27 – Jackson | 10 – D. Carter | 3 – Tied | Humphrey Coliseum (4,961) Starkville, MS |
| January 23, 2022 3:00 pm, SECN | | at Arkansas | L 54–74 | 11–7 (2–4) | 17 – An. Hayes | 8 – D. Carter | 3 – Taylor | Bud Walton Arena (4,177) Fayetteville, AR |
| January 27, 2022 5:30 pm, SECN | | Missouri | W 77–62 | 12–7 (3–4) | 27 – Thompson | 5 – Tied | 8 – Taylor | Humphrey Coliseum (4,426) Starkville, MS |
| January 30, 2022 3:00 pm, SECN | | Texas A&M | W 78–58 | 13–7 (4–4) | 22 – An. Hayes | 9 – Jordan | 7 – An. Hayes | Humphrey Coliseum (4,673) Starkville, MS |
| February 3, 2022 7:00 pm, SECN+ | | at Auburn | W 70–65 | 14–7 (5–4) | 26 – An. Hayes | 9 – An. Hayes | 4 – An. Hayes | Auburn Arena (1,924) Auburn, AL |
| February 10, 2022 5:30 pm, SECN+ | | No. 19 Florida Rescheduled from December 30 | L 64–73 | 14–8 (5–5) | 22 – An. Hayes | 10 – Jordan | 7 – Taylor | Humphrey Coliseum (4,630) Starkville, MS |
| February 13, 2022 3:00 pm, SECN | | Ole Miss | W 70–59 | 15–8 (6–5) | 21 – An. Hayes | 5 – Kohl | 2 – Tied | Humphrey Coliseum (5,100) Starkville, MS |
| February 15, 2022 5:00 pm, SECN+ | | at Kentucky Rescheduled from January 13 | L 74–81 | 15–9 (6–6) | 21 – An. Hayes | 6 – Thompson | 8 – Taylor | Memorial Coliseum (3,688) Lexington, KY |
| February 17, 2022 6:00 pm, SECN+ | | No. 11 LSU | L 59–71 | 15–10 (6–7) | 17 – An. Hayes | 11 – Kohl | 5 – An. Hayes | Humphrey Coliseum (4,601) Starkville, MS |
| February 20, 2022 2:00 pm, SECN+ | | at Missouri | L 66–76 | 15–11 (6–8) | 21 – Thompson | 6 – Kohl | 5 – Taylor | Mizzou Arena Columbia, MO |
| February 24, 2022 5:30 pm, SECN+ | | at No. 16 Tennessee | L 64–86 | 15–12 (6–9) | 18 – An. Hayes | 5 – Tied | 4 – Tied | Thompson–Boling Arena (7,009) Knoxville, TN |
| February 27, 2022 5:00 pm, SECN | | Arkansas | L 79–87 | 15–13 (6–10) | 20 – An. Hayes | 18 – Kohl | 7 – Taylor | Humphrey Coliseum (4,840) Starkville, MS |
| SEC Tournament |||||||||
| March 3, 2022 6:00 pm, SECN | (10) | vs. (7) Kentucky Second Round | L 67–83 | 15–14 | 21 – Jordan | 8 – Thompson | 7 – Taylor | Bridgestone Arena Nashville, TN |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. |||||||||