STARKVILLE — Welcome to the NCAA tournament, Mississippi State.
Gary Blair isn’t on the NCAA tournament selection committee, but the Texas A&M women’s basketball coach took the liberty Sunday to dispel any notion MSU will suffer any drama as March Madness approaches.
No. 17 MSU can thank Victoria Vivians for helping it punch its proverbial ticket because it was her 3-pointer from the left corner with 55 seconds remaining that propelled it to a 63-61 overtime victory against No. 14 Texas A&M before a crowd of 4,651 at Humphrey Coliseum.
MSU (23-3, 8-3 Southeastern Conference) didn’t secure the victory until Savannah Carter contested a jump shot by Courtney Walker (game-high 25 points) with 21 seconds left. Carter tracked down the rebound following a scramble for the loose ball and hit 1 of 2 free throws with two seconds to go to seal the deal. With five SEC regular-season games remaining, the victory secured at least a .500 league finish for MSU. It also erased the memory of an 81-33 loss to Texas A&M in 2013 and a 73-35 loss to the Aggies in 2014.
“I am proud of coach Schaefer and the staff,” Blair said. “They have done a heck of a job, but this was a ballgame today we let a freshman shoot a three from the corner because we didn’t chase her hard enough, but when we ran the same play at the end of the ballgame No. 51 (Savannah Carter) was on her like glue. Were their screens better, or was there just a little bit more heart on chasing the shooter? And then she misses the shot.”
In the past 15 years, only eight SEC teams that finished .500 in the regular season have failed to qualify for the NCAA tournament. None of those teams, even with their results from postseason competition, posted 20 wins, which
apparently would make it all but certain MSU will earn a return trip to the NCAA tournament for the first time since the 2009-10 season. Blair referenced that Sharon Fanning-Otis coached team, which advanced to the program’s first Sweet 16, in his post-game remarks when he praised MSU coach Vic Schaefer and his staff for getting the Bulldogs back to the “Big Dance.” Schaefer served for six years as an assistant and as an associate head coach under Blair at Arkansas, and then worked nine seasons as an associate head coach for Blair at Texas A&M. MSU associate head coach Johnnie Harris also served as an assistant coach at Texas A&M, which won the national title in 2011. MSU assistant coach Aqua Franklin, director of operations Maryann Baker, and director of scouting/video coordinator Skylar Collins played for the Aggies.
Now in his third season at MSU, Schaefer said he was overjoyed to see his players fight through adversity on an afternoon in which they shot 32.3 percent (20 of 62) from the field, shot 58.8 percent (20 of 34) from the free-throw line, and committed 14 turnovers. The field goal percentage was the second-lowest mark of the season, while the free throw percentage was the third lowest.
“It is so rewarding to see where we were three years ago to where we are now, and I said this from the very beginning with our team. I don’t think I have said it outside our locker room, but I really want to get this team to the NCAA tournament for those seniors that we inherited,” Schaefer said. “I want it for our whole team and our program, but those three seniors — Jerica James, Kendra Grant, and Martha Alwal — are really special to me. I have to give them a lot of credit.”
Alwal (16 points, 10 rebounds) had her second double-double of the season (33rd of her career) to pace the Bulldogs in scoring. The 6-foot-4 center also had three blocked shots to pace MSU.
But freshman Morgan William (15 points, career-high six rebounds, two steals) and Vivians played huge roles to help the veterans and the program get back to the NCAA tournament. They also hooked up on what could be the Bulldogs’ biggest play of the season. Trailing 61-59, William looked to initiate the offense on the left side of the floor, but Schaefer called her over to the other side right in front of him. With William in place, Schaefer said “go” to Vivians, who was in the right corner. The 6-1 freshman from Carthage sprinted the baseline with defender Courtney Williams trailing her. She took the pass from William, pivoted as she reached the 3-point line, squared her shoulders and used her quick release to launch a dagger.
“I was just saying I have to make this shot,” Vivians said. “It was for us to take the lead and have a chance to win, so I guess I ran my heart out to get over there and get the open shot and shoot it and make it.”
Vivians had made only one field goal to that point in the game after being plagued by foul trouble. But Schaefer said he didn’t hesitate to call Vivians’ number when the Bulldogs needed someone to make a play.
“When I saw her on the floor and I saw how they were guarding her, I knew she was going to get a good look down there,” Schaefer said. “She did. She was wide open. Martha set a great screen on the back side and she got plenty of room. She has that bounce in her step. She is a rhythm shooter, and when she turned it loose I knew it was in.”
Schaefer said the Bulldogs work on sets like that one over and over in practice. He smiled and said Vivians sometimes jogs on offense, but he said she went all out in the final minute to light the fuse in Humphrey Coliseum.
Blair also didn’t see any reason not to go to Vivians, who entered the game as a 37-percent shooter from the field and MSU’s leading scorer (14.6 points per game).
“That is the only shot she made in the second half,” Blair said. “This kid is a winner. She is going to be a great player in the league, but she is not hurting for confidence, and she hasn’t met a shot she didn’t like. I’d want her shooting the ball, too. … That is why she is a McDonald’s All-American or whatever … If she didn’t make (which she didn’t), that is a joke, too, but she is a pretty damn good player.”
Schaefer also praised the play of William, a 5-5 point guard from Birmingham, Alabama. William took the game over in the second half when Texas A&M tightened its defense on Alwal inside. She scored six of the team’s eight points in a stretch late in the second half that helped the Bulldogs creep all of the way back from an eight-point deficit. The first basket came on a drive. The second came on a crossover dribble in the lane. The third evoked memories of Calvin Murphy, as William started her shot from her right hip and then rained a tear drop over the help defender.
“She is a fierce competitor,” Schaefer said. “She just kept battling and battling. I told her going in, ‘Baby, there is nobody that can guard you,’ and there is not. If you get her the right rub (off a screen), it is very difficult for the other team.”
Still, MSU trailed 53-50 after Walker scored on a second-chance shot with 2 minutes, 20 seconds remaining. Alwal hit 1 of 2 free throws (MSU was 11 of 20 from the free-throw line in the second half) to cut into the lead. She then assisted Kendra Grant on a jump shot from the top of the key that tied the game at 53.
Both teams had chances to win the game in regulation. William missed a 3-pointer, while Williams missed a 3-pointer from the corner and a jump shot just before time expired. Walker had 19 of her points in the first half on 6-of-11 shooting from the field.
“I was more comfortable with what we were doing in the first half,” Walker said. “I was more relaxed. In the second half, I just kind of got a little frustrated, I guess, and I started taking bad shots.”
In overtime, Carter set the tone on defense. With Texas A&M leading 61-57 and with the ball, Carter contested a jump shot by Walker and helped force a miss. The defensive play set the stage for Breanna Richardson to score on a drive with 1:34 left that cut the deficit in half.
Carter also corralled rebound off a missed shot by Williams under the basket but couldn’t keep her footing under the basket and fell out of bounds for a turnover that gave the ball back to Texas A&M. Carter said she was trying to call timeout — or motion to William that she needed to call timeout — but her mouthpiece was stuck in her mouth, which made it impossible for her to get the words out. Turns out it didn’t matter because Carter delivered another solid defensive possession on the Aggies’ next trip.
“I never really think about the previous play,” Carter said. “I knew it was (Walker) or Williams that was going to get the ball, and I figured Walker was going to get the ball because she had been hot all game.
“In practice, we worked on contesting shots every day because that is what they are known for — their mid-range shots. I know they don’t go in 100 percent for the layups because we have Martha and Chinwe (Okorie) down there, so I knew she would stop a little short because she had been doing that all game. I knew to keep my hands straight up and jump straight up if I had to and contest the shot.”
Combined with Vivians’ 3-pointer, Carter’s defensive stand and her hustle with William to track down the loose ball at the end of overtime proved to be fitting plays to set MSU on its way back to the NCAA tournament.
“Mississippi State made the play to tie it up to go into overtime and they made the three here. Give them credit,” Blair said.
MSU will play No. 11 Kentucky at 6 p.m. Thursday (SEC Network) in Lexington, Kentucky.
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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