STARKVILLE — Don’t expect Teaira McCowan to defer to very many people.
At 6-foot-7, McCowan, a center from Brenham, Texas, is believed to be the tallest player to wear a Mississippi State women’s basketball uniform.
But as a freshman, McCowan is learning how to fall in line behind her elders, namely junior center Chinwe Okorie. McCowan showed Tuesday she is a quick study and that she is able to follow Okorie’s thinking after she was asked how much production MSU could expect from its centers this season.
“Points would be like 12 and rebounds would be like 15,” McCowan said.
When informed Okorie said she would set the total points and rebounds for the Bulldogs’ centers at more than 23 and 20, McCowan changed her tune.
“I would just go up by five,” McCowan said. “If Chinwe thinks can be better than 12 and 15, she is right.”
McCowan is smart to defer to Okorie because the 6-5 veteran likely took her answer from the production the centers delivered Oct. 29 in MSU’s Maroon-White scrimmage at Humphrey Coliseum. McCowan made an impression in her debut with 15 points and 13 rebounds, while Okorie had eight points and seven rebounds.
Both players and senior forward/center Sherise Williams could play prominent roles in the front court this season as MSU searches for someone to eat up the 26.4 minutes per game Martha Alwal averaged last season. Alwal, an All-SEC defender, averaged 9.5 points and 6.6 rebounds last season. She also had 71 blocked shots in MSU’s record-breaking 27-7 season.
This season, MSU coach Vic Schaefer has said he isn’t expecting his centers to be the team’s leading scorers. Instead, he wants them to play defense, to rebound, and to help clog up the middle and make guards think twice when they contemplate driving the lane against the Bulldogs. That’s why he isn’t setting the bar as high as Okorie’s projection or McCowan’s revised estimate.
“I think with this team and our inside game, if we could count on them to just get somewhere between 10 and 15 points just on layups and stick-backs among Chinwe and (Teaira McCowan) and (Sherise Williams), (that would be ideal),” Schaefer said. “Sherise’s range is a little bit better than the other two, but if we could get just stick-backs and the defensive piece they bring, especially Teaira McCowan and Chinwe altering shots and blocking shots, you’ve got that piece.”
MSU will have its last chance to see how far its centers have come at 7 p.m. Tuesday when it takes on Mississippi College at Humphrey Coliseum. The game will be the team’s only exhibition matchup before it takes on Samford at 5:15 p.m. Friday in its season opener. The game is part of a doubleheader with the MSU men’s basketball team at Humphrey Coliseum. Coach Ben Howland’s Bulldogs will take on Eastern Washington at 8 p.m. (SEC Network).
But don’t think McCowan and Okorie are going to settle for lower production levels because Schaefer isn’t pressuring them average 30 and 20. In fact, McCowan said Schaefer’s expectations will motivate the centers to do even better.
“I think it puts more pressure on us because if a coach says he doesn’t have expectations, you shouldn’t settle for less,” McCowan said. “You should set a goal for yourself and build on those goals every game you play.”
McCowan said she has the confidence she can meet any scoring and rebounding goals the coaches set for her. She said she has gained confidence because the coaches have praised her for her hard work and how far she has come since arrived on campus. With two inches on Okorie, McCowan is equally strong and athletic. Both post players can get up and down the floor quickly and have long arms that help them take up even more space in the paint.
While McCowan and Okorie likely will make significant contributions on defense, their offensive games continue to evolve. Both players have worked hard on improving their footwork and touch around the basket. Their size should enable them to carve out space on the low block on just about every team on the schedule. Their challenge will be to handle double-teams and to play within themselves and take shots that are in their range. They also will be expected to crash the boards to clean up misses by their teammates.
“I know I have come a long way because when I first got here, I couldn’t keep up with anybody,” McCowan said. “I have gotten more in college shape.”
Okorie feels she has progressed, too. She said she has learned to be more patient around the basket and to pick her spot on the backboard so she has a better chance to score. Last season, Okorie averaged 3.4 points and 3.7 rebounds a game. She started 21 of 34 games and shot 42.6 percent from the field in 13.0 minutes per game.
“I am just looking forward to grabbing as many rebounds as I can and to put back every stick-back I can,” Okorie said. “I want to make those soft touches on the glass and making sure the ball doesn’t come back out.”
Whether it is Okorie, McCowan, or Williams, Schaefer likes the size and potential of his centers. He hopes they continue to make life difficult for their teammates by grabbing every rebound they can.
“Teaira takes up a lot of the room in there and she’s going to get a lot of rebounds. I don’t know if I have a specific number,” Schaefer said. “Some nights are going to be better than others. When you have that big aircraft carrier inside, and we happen to have two of them, I think it really allows you to create more pressure on the perimeter and there is less heartache on penetration because even if you give up penetration, there’s 6-5 and 6-7 standing there.
“Hopefully it will continue to allow us to be that pressure defensive team we like to be with a little less heartache of people getting to the rim and finishing. Martha was a great helper, but sometimes she helped too much to a fault and they would dump it down and we’d give up that layup. We are trying to teach that happy medium with both of them, especially Teaira. She sometimes doesn’t go to help, but I think it’s because she doesn’t realize how much help she can be right now. We don’t have to put pressure on them to score. They just need to clean up stuff we miss, play good defense and be great defensive rebounders.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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