STARKVILLE — Breanna Richardson did a great job Sunday hiding tired legs.
On a day the Mississippi State women’s basketball team matched a single-season record for wins, Richardson showed why she is so important to the Bulldogs’ success. The 6-foot-1 sophomore forward tied for game-high scoring honors with 16 points, grabbed six rebounds, and had three assists to lead then-No. 13 MSU to a 75-62 victory against Florida before a season-high crowd of 5,183 at Humphrey Coliseum.
“We just have to come out and be aggressive,” Richardson said. “Like (MSU) coach (Vic Schaefer) said, we started off dead, so I felt like we needed some offense, so I needed to attack and finish.”
The victory helped MSU, which slipped to No. 14 in this week’s The Associated Press Top 25, improve to 24-4 and 9-4 in the Southeastern Conference. The overall win total matches the marks set by the 2002-03 and the 1999-2000 teams. This year’s squad has three regular-season games remaining to eclipse the overall win record and the single-season standard of 10 SEC victories (in a 14-game schedule) set by the 2002-03 team.
For Richardson, the effort marked the fifth time this season she has led or tied for team-high scoring honors. If you look deeper inside the numbers, Richardson’s 5-for-10 shooting effort from the field was the eighth time in a SEC game this season she has attempted 10 or more shots. That mark is the highest on the team, even though she is fourth on the team in scoring at 9.0 points per game.
Richardson set the tone early in the first half. After two turnovers and a missed shot in the team’s first three possessions, Richardson attacked the basket with a strong drive on the left lane that hit the back of the rim and deflected out. She scored the Bulldogs’ first points two shots later by powering up in the lane. Later in the half, she showed her versatility when she took a pass from Morgan William and drained a 3-pointer. The trey was part of a 6-for-12 effort in the first half by the Bulldogs (9 of 19 for the game) that helped them snap a nine-game losing streak to the Gators (12-13, 4-8).
MSU sophomore guard Dominique Dillingham said MSU has a different dimension when Richardson starts game aggressively.
“I definitely think it gives us energy and it makes everybody else get that attack mind-set,” Dillingham said. “It really helps the team that she can step out and hit the three and attack. It opens the floor up for us a lot, too.”
Richardson said she used an ice bath after a “tough” practice Friday on the heels of an even tougher 92-90 double-overtime loss at then-No. 10 Kentucky to get her legs back. Richardson said she stayed in the ice bath for about eight minutes and felt rejuvenated.
Richardson’s production Sunday came in 30 minutes in her ninth-straight start. MSU is 4-2 in SEC games Richardson has played 30 or more minutes. It was her seventh double-figure scoring game in the SEC. One of those is a double-double.
“We’re dying on the vine (early in Sunday’s game) and that is who I am going to,” Schaefer said. “I have a lot of confidence in Breanna Richardson.”
Schaefer said he likes that Richardson often is aggressive and takes the ball to the basket when he calls a play for her. Schaefer has said several times this season he wants Richardson to try to cut down on her turnovers, but that is made difficult by the fact that so much of what the Bulldogs do is run through Richardson’s position, the power forward, or four. On Sunday, Richardson had three turnovers to go with her three assists. She is second on the team with 68 turnovers.
Still, Schaefer likes Richardson’s versatility, especially her ability to stretch defenses when she is on the court with 6-4 senior center Martha Alwal, who attracts plenty of attention on defense.
“That just opens up a whole new game for us,” Schaefer said. “Bre felt bad about the (Texas) A&M game. She couldn’t make some shots (in a 2-for-13 shooting effort from the field) and they didn’t guard her, but what I noticed was she was back in the gym the next day working on that part, standing out there shooting those shots.
“She helped us win the Ole Miss game because she made a couple out there. You have to appreciate a player that sees what needs to be worked on and does it on her own.”
Richardson started 31 of 36 games last season to help MSU finish 22-14 and advance to the quarterfinals of the Women’s National Invitation Tournament. She had 18 double-figure scoring games (four double-doubles) and was named to the SEC’s All-Freshman team after she finished third on the team in scoring (9.5 ppg.).
This season, classmate Ketara Chapel started the first 19 games. But Richardson has played at least 20 minutes in all but one game in 2015 (16 in a win against Alabama on Jan. 18). She is shooting 44 percent from the field in SEC games, which is third on the team (among regulars) behind Alwal and Chinwe Okorie.
Richardson smiled when asked what part of her game has improved the most since the beginning of the season. She offered a glimpse into her thinking when she said she still wants to work on her defense. Schaefer said Richardson is an offensive-minded player who is a “tremendous” rebounder, which is part of the reason he knows she can do more and that she has the potential to be a special player.
“I am probably as hard on Bre as anybody on our team because I think she has so much more in her,” Schaefer said. “She is physical. She has a great SEC body, and offensively she is confident. If I could ever put the defensive piece (in place), and she is not bad defensively, and have her be that great help defender, that is the total package for her. She will get there. I don’t think there is any doubt she will get there, but I have a lot of faith in her.
“You see the light bulb (coming on to signify she has a better understanding of her importance to the team) now, but I am waiting for the high beam to get on. When that comes on, you’re not going to be able to guard her.”
n Vivians named SEC Freshman of the Week: At Birmingham, Alabama, MSU’s Victoria Vivians and South Carolina’s A’ja Wilson shared the SEC’s Freshman of the Week honors.
Vivians had 39 points Thursday in a 92-90 double-overtime loss to Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky, and had 10 points Sunday in the win against Florida. The honor is her third freshman of the season, and the second straight for the Bulldogs. William claimed her second distinction last week.
MSU will play Alabama at 2 p.m. Sunday (SEC Network +) at Foster Auditorium.
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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