STARKVILLE — Selfless and relentless.
Those are words Vic Schaefer holds near and dear to his heart. Those words also might be the best ones the Mississippi State women’s basketball coach can use when asked how he wants his players to play.
Through 17 games, No. 14 MSU has lived up to those expectations without a blemish. The Bulldogs have overcome injuries, inexperience, and youth to get off to a program-best 17-0 start, which includes a 2-0 mark in the Southeastern Conference.
But Schaefer knows his team is scratching the surface of its potential.
“I think this team has a chance to be really, really good,” Schaefer said. “I told you in the very beginning I thought I had a top-25 basketball team, but we talked about it with them and I have mentioned it to y’all, No. 17-25 is real fluid. Those teams pop in and out of there all of the time. Once you crack into that top 15, 12, 10, those teams are usually there to stay. Once you get into that group, that’s a pretty consistent group that is there for the long haul.”
MSU climbed three spots this week and is ranked No. 14 in The Associated Press Top 25 entering its game against Arkansas (10-4, 0-2) at 8 tonight at Humphrey Coliseum. Fox Sports Net South will broadcast the game live. The Bulldogs also moved up to No. 15 in this week’s USA Today coaches poll.
Still, Schaefer said Tuesday the Bulldogs are a work in progress on offense. Despite leading the SEC in scoring at 81.6 points per game, MSU has managed only 64 and 53 points in its first two league games. That’s why he cringed Tuesday when he admitted he had to bypass work on defense in practice that day for a concerted effort on offense to help correct his team’s issues.
“I think what has happened is not only you are going against better players, but you also are going against better coaches, so the game plans are changing from the opponents,” Schaefer said. “They are playing us differently, and I have players they are playing differently. (Senior center) Martha (Alwal) is their No. 1 stop. (Freshman guard) Victoria (Vivians) is their No. 2 stop. Victoria gets everybody’s best guard on the perimeter to defend her, and everybody is putting two on Martha. We have to do a better job of ball reversal. Martha has to score quicker, before the double gets there, and we have to go harder on offense.”
Alwal didn’t attempt a shot and didn’t score in a 53-47 victory against Missouri on Sunday in Columbia, Missouri. Vivians, the team’s leading scorer at 15.2 ppg., had nine points in the win. She matched her season-low with five against Georgia.
“It is a work in progress,” Schaefer said of Vivians. “I cut out an article about a player from another SEC school that is in the same boat as she is in. Defense is the hardest part. … I think for her the speed of the game and understanding the importance of playing at that end is the biggest adjustment, and it is for all of our freshmen.
“It is going to be a work in progress for her all year. I thought she was better after I pulled her in the first half against Missouri. When she came back in, I thought she was much better.”
Schaefer said MSU isn’t playing as hard on offense as it is playing on defense, which is unusual because he feels players typically go harder on the end of the floor they enjoy more. He said the challenge is to get Alwal back playing like she was when she was a first-team All-SEC performer and the league’s co-Defensive Player of the Year.
Schaefer also said senior guard Savannah Carter, who has been bothered with leg ailments, has to realize she probably never is going to be 100 percent again and that she has to find a way to make it happen at 85 percent. He said that is crucial because Carter’s 85 percent is pretty good.
With that being said, Schaefer wants all of his players to continue to be selfless and relentless. With depth at every position and a roster that can go 14 deep, Schaefer knows he has plenty of options if someone is having an off night or if he needs a spark. He said the players have to keep supporting and pushing each other to get better if the Bulldogs are going to continue their winning ways.
“Our biggest opponent sometimes might be ourselves and trying to stay out of our way and the ‘I’ that sometimes can get in the way because kids want to play,” Schaefer said. “I am not worried about complacency with my youngsters. I am worried about the zero in our record. Let’s be honest, were probably not going to win them all. But when that day does come, when we walk off the floor, whenever that night is, I don’t want it to be from apprehension or hesitancy. I want it to be that they were better than us, not that we were so tied up and worried about the zero that we couldn’t function.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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