STARKVILLE — The statute of limitations for members of the Mississippi State women’s basketball team to think about “moral” victories no longer exists.
It isn’t known the last date the Bulldogs were allowed to have those thoughts. It might have been March 30, 2014, when MSU lost to South Florida 60-58 on a last-second 3-pointer by Courtney Williams in the quarterfinals of the Women’s National Invitation Tournament. That game capped a 22-14 season that heightened expectations for the 2014-15 season and the arrival of another nationally ranked recruiting class, one that featured Victoria Vivians, the state’s all-time leading scorer.
Vivians and the Bulldogs haven’t disappointed. A Preseason WNIT title was part of a 15-0 start that helped MSU climb back into the national rankings. MSU has solidified its position as one of the nation’s top 20 programs through the ups and downs of a loss at Vanderbilt, a double-overtime loss to LSU, a thrilling win at Ole Miss, a bounce-back victory against Vanderbilt, a confidence-building loss at Tennessee, and another thrilling win against Texas A&M.
The latest result — a 92-90 double-overtime loss on Thursday at No. 10 Kentucky — has No. 13 MSU eager to get back on the court. The loss marked the second-straight season MSU failed to corral an offensive rebound or to get one more stop on defense to seal the deal against the Wildcats. That’s why MSU coach Vic Schaefer is eager to see how his team responds at 3 p.m. today (SEC Network) when it plays host to Florida (12-12, 4-7 Southeastern Conference) at Humphrey Coliseum.
“I think everybody in the country is impressed with Mississippi State and how we compete and all of that mess, but, at the end of the day, it is still a loss,” Schaefer said. “As I said last night in media, after 30 years I am way past moral victories in my career, and as proud as I am of my kids — and I told them that after the game — we still lost the game, and we lost it in areas we can control. Those are things a top-15 team goes in there and doesn’t have those issues because we certainly made enough plays in a lot of other areas to win the game.”
Schaefer said Friday he had watched a replay of the loss and had a hard time stomaching what he saw. Despite a plethora of big-time plays, MSU committed an equal number of mistakes that cost it a chance at one of the program’s best road victories in the SEC. MSU committed 27 turnovers that led to 33 points for Kentucky (33-14 edge in points off turnovers). Schaefer said more than half of those turnovers were unforced or self-inflicted.
MSU (23-4, 8-4) also was 24 of 36 from the free-throw line (66.7 percent) and had a 57-46 rebounding edge, but its inability to get an offensive rebound in the final two minutes of regulation led to a basket by Azia Bishop. Jelleah Sidney’s offensive rebound at the end of the second overtime proved even more costly, as it led to a short jump shot by Makayla Epps (game-high 42 points) with one second to go that gave the Wildcats the win.
“We just reinforced we are a top-15 team, in my opinion, what we did offensively,” Schaefer said. “Defensively with the turnovers and the missed free throws, no. Those are things top-15 teams would do in that part of the game, too, and we didn’t do it.”
MSU has regular-season games at No. 1 South Carolina, at Alabama, and at home against Ole Miss before the SEC tournament on March 4-8 in North Little Rock, Arkansas. MSU is tied with LSU at 8-4, but it is fifth in the league standings because LSU holds the tiebreaker thanks to its win in Starkville. MSU holds the tiebreaker against Texas A&M (7-4) thanks to its win. The top four teams in the SEC earn a double bye until Friday. Schaefer understands even a one-game difference in the five-day event can make a huge difference, so he hopes his team is ready to bounce back today and do what it has to do to control its destiny.
Vivians (career-high 39 points) showed Thursday she was ready to shoulder a huge load. The 6-foot-1 freshman forward had a 3-pointer late in regulation that tied the game. She added another trey with 27 seconds to go in the first OT that gave MSU an 82-81 lead. She also added eight rebounds and played a strong defensive game, according to Schaefer.
“I don’t think I have seen (a freshman) get 39, and I don’t think I have ever seen one get 29, like Morgan (William) had earlier in the year,” Schaefer said. “I’d say those are one-two in performances. If there is a better freshman in the country, I would like to see it. Victoria has had great ballgames on opponents’ floors. I was real disappointed she wasn’t (SEC) Freshman of the Week a week ago. She did it against pretty good competition on the road. She does it again last night on the road against No. 10. She just competed her tail off, played great defensively, she was active. She is really, really talented, as we all know. I really believe that (game-winning) shot she makes against A&M is just going to propel her into big things.”
Unfortunately, Schaefer said MSU didn’t back up its play on offense with equally strong play in other facets. While William, who drove the length of the court for a layup with two seconds remaining to send the game into OT, had 13 points, four rebounds, and six assists, she had eight turnovers, including giveaways on back-to-back possessions in the second OT when MSU had chances to extend a lead.
Dominique Dillingham had four points, 12 rebounds, three steals, and three assists, but the sophomore guard was 1 of 9 from the field and 1 of 5 from the free-throw line. Senior center Martha Alwal had 21 points and eight rebounds, but she had zero offensive rebounds. She was under the basket on the final play when MSU was unable to get a defensive rebound or to catch the pass Sidney made falling out of bounds to Epps for the clincher.
“Martha has to understand and realize where she is right now. This is her contract year,” Schaefer said. “She has to run the floor, she has to play defense, she has to rebound. She had zero offensive rebounds last night. One of the things we will show them today is who is going to the offensive boards. She is not going to like the film today, but that is the accountability piece I will keep harping on these kids to the horn sounds in our last game.
“With Martha, I am not giving up on her. I am going to coach her until the last horn sounds. (The SEC Network’s) Carolyn Peck was pretty hard on her last night and right on everything that was said. The thing that wasn’t right was I wasn’t pulling Martha because she had four fouls. I was pulling Martha because I have a better player on the bench (Chinwe Okorie) for that end of the floor, and that is disappointing. But that is where we are, and I am trying to win ballgames.”
An 11-steal effort by Kentucky helped it beat MSU in dramatic fashion for the second year in a row. Last season, Kentucky used offensive rebounds by Jennifer O’Neill and Samarie Walker in the final 50 seconds of regulation to force OT en route to an 81-74 victory in Starkville.
Florida is coming off a 51-48 victory against No. 24 Georgia. It was the Gators’ first win in Athens, Georgia, since 2004. Florida forced 28 turnovers to get the win that pushed into a group of five teams with seven SEC losses.
Sophomore forward Ronni Williams (9.7 points per game) leads the team in scoring. She is one of six players averaging at least 7.1 ppg.
“They are really good,” Schaefer said. “I don’t want them to ruin our parade, but they are good enough to ruin a lot of peoples’ season, so we’re going to have to play well.”
Schaefer doesn’t want to see a repeat of either game against Kentucky any time soon, which is why he said MSU has to correct the areas that it can control to deny opponents from winning games late.
“One more free throw, one less turnover, one more rebound and we are sitting here today in a whole lot different mood,” Schaefer said. “We are a top-15 team, but we have to figure out a way to close that game out and get that win. … The pats on the back after playing games well, it’s great, but it is not who I am, and I don’t want it to be who my players are. We are about winning. We are about results.”
NOTES: Schaefer said he things senior guard Kendra Grant will be ready to go today. Grant didn’t travel to Kentucky due to the stomach flu. Schaefer also said junior forward Sherise Williams has been bothered recently by the illness, as has associate head coach Johnnie Harris. “This is the sickest team I have ever had in 30 years,” Schaefer said. … The matchup will be MSU’s Breast Cancer Awareness Game. Fans are encouraged to wear pink. Five hundred free pink T-shirts also will be given away.
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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