STARKVILLE — Victoria Vivians feels like she and her freshman teammates on the Mississippi State women’s basketball team are well ahead of the curve.
“Our communication is outstanding,” said Vivians, a 6-foot-1 forward who was a standout at Scott Central High School. “The summer was really huge for this team. We were always together. We got to play some games together (on an international tour). It’s like it has clicked from day one. Our togetherness is special.”
With several seniors sidelined by injury, MSU coach Vic Schaefer has had to force his talented freshman class into the spotlight early. The results have been impressive, as evidenced by Vivians’ game-high 23 points and 52 points from freshmen Friday night in a 97-66 victory against Mercer in an opening-round game of the Preseason Women’s National Invitational Tournament played before a crowd of 2,531 at Humphrey Coliseum.
MSU (1-0) will play host to Arkansas State (1-0) at 6 tonight in a second-round WNIT matchup.
“What you are seeing from these young players is special,” Schaefer said. “For them to be at this point in their understanding of the game is really phenomenal. We beat a really a good team by 30-plus points. It’s a double-edge sword when you have to play this many young players early. I don’t think people realize how a young a basketball team this really is.”
MSU struggled to build a lead in the first half. The Bulldogs led by four before ending the half on a 10-2 run to take a 41-29 halftime lead. Full-court pressure kick-started a 19-5 run to start the second half that removed doubt about the outcome.
“Some players were a little tight before the game started,” MSU sophomore forward Ketara Chapel said. “Sometimes you look for a senior to lead and you look around and now it’s all on you. The defense was really good in the second half. That is what turned the game. When we made those stops, it got everybody going.”
The Bulldogs forced the Bears into 15 second-half turnovers, including three five-second calls.
“When you see players, young players, getting excited and jumping up and down because they get a five-second call, that’s great,” Schaefer said. “That’s a buy-in of what you are doing on the defensive end. When you get that, the whole building is energized. I feel like the offense is going to come naturally.”
It came naturally for Vivians. After scoring 20 points in an exhibition win against Arkansas-Fort Smith, Vivians followed that performance with a 7-for-17 night from the field, including a 7-of-7 stretch from the free-throw line. Classmate Morgan William had 19 points, including a 6-of-6 effort from the line.
“Our goal is to be aggressive on the offensive end,” William said. “We want to drive the ball to the goal and get fouled. The coaches are always talking to us about being physical. The team led the nation in free throws last year, and that is what coach wants us to do. He wants us to go to the goal and get to the line.”
In the second half, MSU had a stretch where it had an and-one opportunity on seven of 10 possessions. MSU hit 23 of 28 free throws and drew 23 fouls. Mercer had 21 turnovers and three assists.
“That is called taking what you are doing in practice out onto the court during a game,” Schaefer said. “We can be a physical team. We led the nation in free-throw percentage last season. We have the personnel do that. It shows you a little bit about where our freshman are. That they are able to take what we work so hard on in practice out onto the court is really big.
“The defensive intensity and full-court pressure was really big in the second half.”
Chapel said her expectations of the freshmen has grown since the first summer workouts.
“We had some success last year,” Chapel said. “Now we have all of these new players and they can really play. (Vivians) talked about the togetherness, and that is true for the whole team. We think we can get something special going when we make shots, play defense, and really do what we have been coached to do.”
Chapel added 14 points, while Sherise Williams had a team-high nine rebounds.
Schaefer felt even better late Friday night than he thought he would earlier in the day. The third-year coach called the team’s shootaround “the worst I’ve been around in 30 years of coaching.”
“I guess that is what I am going to get with freshmen,” Schaefer said. “We could not have looked worse. Then you start dreading the game because you don’t know how the players will respond. We started slow, but I think that had everything to do with it being the first game. We had a large crowd. It was a new environment.
“In the second half, we played very well.”
Arkansas State opened WNIT play with a 92-60 win against Jackson State at home Friday night.
“We have an outstanding team coming in here (tonight),” Schaefer said. “The question is can you play this well twice in three days. That is the challenge. We will see.”
n Ole Miss 92, Grambling State 67: At Oxford, In front of a crowd of 5,696, including a number of area school kids, Tia Faleru had 23 points and a career-high 17 rebounds to lead the Rebels.
The crowd was the second largest on hand to watch an Ole Miss women’s basketball game.
Freshman Toree Thompson had 15 points in her collegiate debut, while fellow freshman A’Queen Hayes added 11. Oxford’s Erika Sisk had 14.
“There is a big difference from last year,” Ole Miss coach Matt Insell said. “The problem is there is a lot of youth on our team. Our freshman, at times, play like freshman. I hope they got it out of their systems today. Shandricka Sessom was really uptight and nervous. Toree Thompson, Kiara Golden and Kelsey Briggs were all a little nervous too. But, it was their first college game. Hopefully they got that out of their system and will be ready for the next game. But, that is part of it and they got to play good minutes.”
Leading by just eight at halftime, Ole Miss took it up a notch in the second half, spearheaded by Faleru’s 17 second-half points. In the second half, Ole Miss leaned on their rebounding, tallying 24 rebounds in the second half en route to a 50-34 rebounding advantage.
Ole Miss will play host to Mississippi Valley State at 2 p.m. today at Tad Smith Coliseum.
n Alabama 60, Florida A&M 44: At Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Sophomore Ashley Williams had 21 points and 11 rebounds for the sixth double-double of her career Friday to pace the Crimson Tide to their season-opening victory at Coleman Coliseum.
The game was the first the women’s basketball team has played in Coleman Coliseum since it moved back in Foster Auditorium at the end of the 2010-11 season. Alabama is 17-2 when opening the season in Tuscaloosa.
Freshmen Hannah Cook and Meoshonti Knight added 10 points apiece. Alabama shot 36.1 percent (22 of 61) from the field and limited Florida A&M to 27.3 percent (18 of 66). The Crimson Tide outrebounded the Rattlers 55-45 and outscored Florida A&M 32-14 in the paint.
Alabama will play host to No. 7 Duke at 7 tonight (SEC Network) at Foster Auditorium.
Follow Scott Walters on Twitter @dispatchscott
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
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