STARKVILLE — The schedule says this is the end.
In years past, the finality already would have hit Martha Alwal, Kendra Grant, and Jerica James. As freshmen and sophomores with the Mississippi State women’s basketball team, those three saw the end of the regular season and the Southeastern Conference tournament the following week as a time to close one chapter, to get ready for a break, and to look ahead to the next season.
At 1 p.m. today, what once was an ending is simply the end of one phase and the beginning of a new journey, one Alwal, Grant, James, and Savannah Carter believe can last for a while.
Alwal, Carter, Grant, and James will be honored today prior to No. 11 MSU’s game against Ole Miss at Humphrey Coliseum. SportSouth will broadcast the game, which is being billed as a “Black Out.” Fans are encouraged to wear black to the game. The first 250 fans also will receive free limited edition T-shirts.
“There is not enough time today to speak and really give as much credit as these kids deserve,” Schaefer said. “They have done so much for this program in the three years we have been here. I am so proud of them and what they have accomplished. It has been an honor to coach them, and it really has been fun to watch them grow up and become young women. I am going to be really proud of them when they graduate from Mississippi State. All four are going to be very successful in this world.”
Schaefer said he appreciates the trust and confidence all four seniors have shown in him and in the members of his coaching staff. James, a point guard from Wynne, Arkansas, said it is difficult to imagine that the day is finally here. She said she and her classmates want to make the most of it because they have plenty of work to do later this month.
Grant, a guard from Richland, and Alwal, a center from Worthington, Minnesota, used the word “bittersweet” when asked about the significance of what could be their final game at Humphrey Coliseum. As quickly as they used a word like “last,” the seniors turned the page and looked ahead to what is to come.
Carter, a junior college transfer from Tulsa, Oklahoma, summed it up best when she referenced “Started from the Bottom,” a song by Drake. The song’s chorus has a line, “Started from the bottom now we’re here,” and talks about one man’s evolution and how he and his team have arrived.
“We really did start from the bottom together, and we are really here going from not being heard of to the world knowing who we are,” Carter said. “There is no end-of-the-road situation when it comes to us. I love them dearly.”
Grant admitted she had no idea MSU could move from where it was to where it is today. She said it is a credit to the hard work of the coaches and the younger players who came in and helped change the program’s culture.
Schaefer credited the seniors because he knows how teams can break if everyone isn’t on the same page. This season, the seniors have been a key ingredient to a chemistry that has helped MSU set a record for wins in a season (25) and equal the mark for SEC wins (10).
“I think that is part of their overall maturity and evolution as a young woman in realizing there is a lot more than what you sometimes think you can do. There is more,” Schaefer said. “For these four, there is more. That is all I have ever wanted for them. I have said that from day one. I will be the happiest guy and the proudest guy on earth for them because I have really wanted it awfully bad for them. I know what that journey has been like for them during their time here, and I am excited that there is a dividend and a pay day at the end that is very warranted. I am encouraged that they see the big picture and realize that (today) is not it. It is not. We have a lot of basketball in front of us.”
Schaefer said Alwal, Grant, and James were in the locker room when the team returned from the SEC tournament following the 63-36 loss to Alabama that ended the 2012-13 season, his first at the school. The loss was one of the most disappointing setbacks Schaefer has had in his coaching career in part because MSU had defeated Alabama by 24 points in the final weeks of the regular season. From that point, Schaefer said change was the operative word in the program to prevent games like that from happening again.
“Those three (Alwal, Grant, and James) had to change, and they did,” Schaefer said. “They went to work. They got better. They improved their skill set. They changed how they approached certain things, so you have to realize that and it is a special group.”
Carter arrived with Schaefer’s first recruiting class, a nationally ranked group that set everyone on notice that change was going to happen, so you had better get on board or you were going to be left behind. Schaefer said Carter was an essential part of that change in that she brought an intensity, a toughness, and a competitive spirt that challenged everyone around her to raise their level.
One year later, MSU went 22-14 and advanced to the quarterfinals of the Women’s National Invitation Tournament. Another nationally ranked recruiting class followed — led by Victoria Vivians, the state’s all-time leading prep basketball scorer — that has helped take the team to the next level. MSU defeated Mercer, Arkansas State, West Virginia, and Western Kentucky to win the Preseason WNIT and begin a non-conference run that saw it go 15-0 and re-enter the national rankings.
The momentum has continued through the conference season. Picked in the preseason poll to finish eighth, MSU (25-5, 10-5 SEC) enters today’s game with a chance to lock up the No. 3 seed in the SEC tournament and a double bye to the quarterfinals. The Bulldogs also could be in position to play host to the first and second rounds of the NCAA tournament for the first time. Following a Thursday night of upsets, ESPN’s Charlie Creme moved MSU up to a No. 16 seed in his latest Bracketology. That seed means MSU would get a chance to pack Humphrey Coliseum at least one more time and give the seniors another opportunity to play in front of the fans who have helped the program shatter the attendance record.
Two more home games in the NCAA tournament would be a fitting way for a group of seniors that has forged a legacy to write a new chapter. First, though, MSU has to bounce back from a 69-50 loss to No. 2 South Carolina on Thursday and take care of business against Ole Miss (17-11, 7-8).
“I wouldn’t say we took it for granted, but in those situations you have to lay it all on the floor,” James said. “I can’t say everyone did that. It was quite obvious we could have played harder. There were a couple of possessions we could have been smarter because we witnessed it. We have played really good games, and I don’t think they got our best game.”
Said Alwal, “I think it was a really good teaching lesson because before we just thought we were really, really good. Now we know what a top-two team looks like and we want to get there, so we need to play like South Carolina because they play every possession. They won a lot of 50-50 balls, so we need to do the same thing. We can’t be content with where we are. We want to work harder and do more to become the great team I know we can be.”
When you consider Alwal, Grant, and James combined for 17 points (on 7-of-34 shooting) and MSU shot 22.6 percent from the field in a season-ending loss to Alabama in 2013, you can see why the seniors don’t want to see it end this year. Coming off the loss to South Carolina, Schaefer is confident the seniors and the rest of the Bulldogs will be ready to meet the challenge of their archrival.
“I think they will respond fine,” Schaefer said. “I will be disappointed if they don’t come out with and play with a purpose and play with a focus and an intensity.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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