KATY, TEXAS - Senior guard Jerkaila Jordan poured in 24 points to lead Mississippi State to a 71-68 win over Clemson in its first game at the 2023 Van Chancellor Classic on Friday at the Merrell Center.

With the win, Mississippi State improves to 6-0 on the season.

The 24 points from Jordan marks her 24th career 20-plus point game and the third of the season. She finished 11-18 from the field, in addition to five assists and five rebounds in 31 minutes. She is also the lone Bulldog to record five-plus rebounds in all five games.

Graduate student guard Lauren Park-Lane added a point-assist double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds in 34 minutes. It marks her 13th career point-assist double-double. Graduate student center Jessika Carter finished with her fifth-straight double-digit scoring outing with 12 points and four rebounds in 32 minutes.

In back-and-forth first half in which Mississippi State never trailed, all 10 Bulldogs saw action. Mississippi State flexed its length inside with 20 points in the paint to offset a barrage of first-half threes from Clemson.

Mississippi State took a 39-38 lead into the locker room behind 11 early points from Jordan. Jordan knocked down a buzzer-beating pull-up jumper from right inside the arc that gave Mississippi State a 26-20 advantage in the third quarter and a 65-58 lead heading into the final period.

Jordan and Carter combined for 17 points on 8-13 from the field in the third quarter. A pull-up jumper from Park-Lane opened up the largest lead of the contests for the Bulldogs at 74-64 with 6:15 minutes left in regulation.

Clemson immediately responded with a 9-0 run over the next 2:39 minutes of action that brought the margin back to one possession at 74-73. Senior guard Darrione Rogers knocked down a deep three from the left corner with 2:53 left in regulation that halted the late spark and pushed the score back to 77-73. Rogers finished with 10 points in 27 minutes off the bench.

Mississippi State shot 50 percent or above from the field in the third game this season and are 9-0 under Purcell when hitting the mark.

The Bulldogs have outrebounded all six opponents this season and are outrebounding their opponents by 19.0 per game. Mississippi State is 27-2 when outrebounding their opponent under head coach Sam Purcell.

Mississippi State returns to action to take on Arkansas Pine-Bluff at 3:45 p.m. in game two of the classic on Saturday.