STARKVILLE — Less than 10 days ago, Mississippi State women’s basketball coach Vic Schaefer talked about reverting to a “gruff old bear” in an attempt to affect a change in his team.
MSU’s fourth-year head coach was understandably disappointed with his players following a lackluster showing in an 81-41 victory against Southeastern Louisiana on Dec. 28. He said he didn’t want to coach the Bulldogs that way, but he suggested a possible change because he was tired of seeing inconsistent performances from his squad.
“We still have some issues with our intensity defensively at certain positions, and our inability to guard the ball off the bounce, all of those things are concerning,” Schaefer said after the victory.
Two games later, Schaefer struck a different tone Tuesday as his team finalized preparations for its Southeastern Conference home opener. Instead of resignation in his voice, Schaefer was upbeat as he gushed about his team’s toughness and its ability to answer challenges.
“They knew it,” Schaefer said. “I have got pretty intelligent kids. They don’t sugar coat things. They understand when I tell them we have to look in the mirror. … We knew we didn’t play well against Southeast(ern Louisiana). Give them credit, but, at the same time, there is a certain way we like to do things and we didn’t do them that night. My kids knew the competition was fixin’ to increase considerably, and as I have said before, I think that piques their interest. They were really focused against South Florida, especially defensively. Against Florida, we came out and really stayed on the offensive for three quarters.”
Schaefer hopes No. 7 MSU (14-1, 1-0 SEC) will be able to play with that same kind of focus at 7:30 tonight when it plays host to Auburn (11-3, 1-0) at Humphrey Coliseum. The game will be available on SEC Network+ as part of that channel’s whip-around coverage, which will feature action from all SEC games tonight.
Schaefer acknowledged his “paranoia” as a coach might lead him to believe MSU is going to continue on a roller-coaster ride of ups and downs. But coaches often take a pessimistic outlook in an attempt to keep their players motivated. In this case, MSU responded from a 40-point victory by practicing on the Tuesday morning following the game against Southeastern Louisiana and then traveling to Jacksonville. Schaefer said the team practiced again after it arrived to help it prepare for its second game against a nationally ranked opponent.
Schaefer said MSU set the tone on defense by forcing 24 turnovers in a 68-58 victory against then-No. 20 USF on Dec. 30, 2015. It backed that effort up by forcing Florida into a season-high 32 turnovers in a 76-70 victory Sunday in Gainesville, Florida.
“I think our kids realize the level you have to play at to have some success,” Schaefer said. “I was extremely proud of how businesslike our kids took these last two ballgames. Their approach was outstanding. Their preparation was good, and their work ethic, their focus was really, really good.”
Those numbers reflect part of the reason for MSU’s success. The Bulldogs are third in the SEC in scoring defense (52.5 points per game), fifth in field goal percentage defense (35.1 percent), and third in 3-point field goal percentage (25 percent). MSU held USF to 32.4 percent shooting from the field and Florida to 37.3 percent.
Auburn likely will put MSU’s ability to take care of the basketball to the test. The Bulldogs are third in the SEC in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.2), but the Tigers are forcing an average of 22.2 turnovers per game. Auburn has forced nine opponents into 20 or more turnovers. Ten times the Tigers have scored 20 or more points off those turnovers.
On the flip side, Auburn has committed 20 or more turnovers five times. Schaefer expects Auburn to play a zone press and to fall back into a 3-2 or a 2-3 zone. On Sunday, Auburn used that defense to force 26 turnovers in a come-from-behind 66-61 victory against then-No. 7 Kentucky. Junior guard Brandy Montgomery had a 27 points and seven rebounds, while SEC Player of the Week Tra’Cee Tanner had all of her 17 points in the second half to help the Tigers, who have all five starters back from last season, rally from a 17-point deficit in the second quarter.
Montgomery leads the SEC in scoring at 18.4 ppg., while Tanner is 12th (14.1 ppg.) and junior forward Katie Frerking is 20th (12.2). Frerking is third in the league in steals (2.7), while Montgomery is fourth (2.6). Auburn, which went 13-18 (3-13 SEC) last season, is third in the SEC with 12.4 steals per game.
Schaefer is always anxious to see how the Bulldogs respond in their SEC home opener. He expects a big crowd for the team’s first home game of 2016, and hopes the Bulldogs can play with the same kind of intensity they showed in the last two games to extend their winning streak to 10 games.
Ten days ago, the viability of that winning streak was in jeopardy. But after victories against two quality opponents, MSU has plenty of momentum entering its only Thursday-Sunday home games in the SEC. That’s why Schaefer sounded a lot more confident about his team’s ability to play with the focus needed to win in the league. He didn’t think it was surprising because senior Sherise Williams and juniors Dominique Dillingham, Breanna Richardson, and Ketara Chapel help set the tone for the team.
“There is a discipline it takes to play at this level every play,” Schaefer said. “If you ask any coach in this league — no matter what sport — there is a discipline that it takes to win in this league consistently, and you have to win play by play, possession by possession.
“We’re playing a few kids a lot of minutes, and when the fatigue sets in, that’s when the discipline kind of gets hard to recollect, but we’re fighting our way through it right now. That is why I was so proud of how we played the last two games on the road because we easily could have been fatigued, could have been tired, but we weren’t. We fought through it and had great focus.”
n Ole Miss travels to LSU At Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the Rebels (9-5, 1-0) will try to build on a big victory in their SEC opener at 7:30 tonight (SEC Network) when they take on the Tigers (6-8, 0-1) at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
Ole Miss is coming off a 55-52 victory against Vanderbilt on Sunday. Erika Sisk converted a three-point play with 1.5 seconds remaining to help Ole Miss complete the rally in its final game in Tad Smith Coliseum.
Ole Miss will lay host to Florida on Sunday in its first game in the Pavilion at Ole Miss.
LSU is coming off a 62-45 loss to Alabama on Sunday.
n Alabama will play at Kentucky: At Lexington, Kentucky, the Crimson Tide (12-2, 1-0) also will try to build on their first league victory at 6 tonight when they take on the No. 10 Wildcats (11-1, 0-1) at Memorial Coliseum.
Alabama women’s basketball team (12-2, 1-0 SEC) hits the road for the first time in Southeastern Conference play this week when it travels to Lexington, Ky., to take on the 10th-ranked Kentucky Wildcats (11-1, 0-1 SEC) in Memorial Coliseum. The game will be part of the SEC Network’s whip-around coverage.
Kentucky is coming off a 66-61 loss to Auburn on Sunday.
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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