STARKVILLE — Breanna Richardson didn’t hesitate.
It didn’t matter that the Mississippi State women’s basketball team was leading Ole Miss by 28 points with less than five minutes remaining. It also didn’t enter Richardson’s mind she was seeing her first action after a hard fall to the floor against Auburn forced her to miss two games.
The only thing Richardson thought about was gaining possession of the loose ball.
Richardson’s quick reaction with 4 minutes, 7 seconds remaining Monday night helped MSU gain control and call a timeout that didn’t play a big role in No. 10 MSU’s 79-51 victory at Humphrey Coliseum. In the bigger picture, though, Richardson’s hustle and quick thinking reflected a focus and an aggressiveness that the Bulldogs are going to need as they approach the toughest portion of their schedule.
Richardson had eight points and seven rebounds in 17 minutes Monday to help MSU bounce back from a loss to then-No. 24 Missouri that snapped the team’s 11-game winning streak. She and MSU (17-2, 4-1 Southeastern Conference) will try to use the momentum they gained from recording the program’s largest margin of victory in the series against Ole Miss at 6 p.m. Thursday when it plays at Georgia (13-5, 1-4).
“I guess we’re just used to playing hard and getting on the ground for all loose balls with coach (Vic) Schaefer,” Richardson said. “I didn’t really think about my head.”
Richardson said she enjoyed being back on the court after missing games against Arkansas and Missouri. The 6-foot-1 junior forward from Conyers, Georgia, suffered a concussion when she crashed to the court after grabbing a rebound. She returned to the court with intensity and didn’t hesitate to take the basketball aggressively to the basket. Her best stretch came in the fourth quarter when she had a blocked shot and then ran the floor to take a pass from Jazzmun Holmes for a layup. On the next possession, Richardson went hard to the rim and converted a three-point play. She missed a drive on the next trip but reacted quickly to re-gain possession and give the Bulldogs a chance to call timeout.
Her eight-point performance was her biggest scoring output in her last seven games. Through 19 games, Richardson is averaging 5.9 points and 4.0 rebounds in 16 minutes. She also is shooting 35.3 percent from the field.
Those numbers are down from last season, when she averaged 8.5 points and 6.1 rebounds per game and shot 43.9 percent from the field in 19.6 minutes per game in the first 19 games. She finished the season averaging 8.4 points and 5.7 rebounds, but she played some of her best basketball down the stretch. She started 14 of the Bulldogs’ final 15 games and had six double-digit scoring games. On the flip side, Richardson had two scoreless games, one game in which she scored one point, and another in which she scored three. Schaefer has said repeatedly through the last two seasons he needs production and consistency from Richardson and classmate Ketara Chapel at the four position, or power forward. He praised Richardson for her effort in her first game back.
“It’s nice to have Breanna Richardson back,” Schaefer said. “We missed her. We managed to get through that little stretch without her OK, but it is good to have her back. She brings a lot of athleticism and some toughness and some rebounding to the table. I thought she did a great job tonight.”
Richardson said she doesn’t mind being the team’s biggest cheerleader when she is on the bench, but she admitted it was tough watching the Bulldogs the last two games, especially at Missouri. She said she was excited to play with the energy she showed against Ole Miss and hopes she can continue to bring it the rest of the season. Richardson showed some of the same work ethic in a 76-70 win at Florida on Jan. 3, scoring 11 points, grabbing three offensive rebounds, and making two steals. She also played well in MSU’s only other loss at then-No. 6 Texas with eight points. She was 6 of 10 from the free-throw line and added six rebounds and three steals.
But Richardson continues to work through turnover issues. She had four in 16 minutes against Texas and four against Florida in 28 minutes. She had two assists and one turnover against Ole Miss and didn’t appear to let it or any of her missed shots from the field alter her focus or sap her energy.
“I am just playing. I am not really worrying about anything,” Richardson said. “A lot of people told me I haven’t been playing like me and I have been out there thinking too much. I guess I am just coming out here and trying not to think too much and going with the flow.”
Richardson said she has heard the comments from teammates, friends, coaches, and her parents. She said she hasn’t been playing like she wants to and is “trying to get back to the old Bre.”
The “old Bre” played some of her best basketball as a freshman, when she averaged a career-best 9.5 points and 5.9 rebounds. She started 31 games in her first season at MSU, but since then she has been in and out of the starting lineup as Schaefer searches for the most productive player at that position. Richardson has shown flashes of that consistency. The most recent stretch came last season, when she scored in double figures five times in a span of six games to re-gain her starting spot. She played in 30 or more minutes in eight of the Bulldogs’ final 15 games.
With games against No. 2 South Carolina and No. 18 Tennessee as well as road games against Arkansas and LSU in the next few weeks, Richardson knows she will need to play with the same resolve she showed against Ole Miss. She said she thought she was showing that focus in practice prior to suffering the concussion, and hopes to return to that form the rest of the season.
“I just play with a little chip on my shoulder now,” Richardson said. “I think sitting out allowed me to see a lot of things and understand the game a little better. When I come back, I know how to apply them and play even better.
“It goes back to coming in and practicing hard every day. Practice goes into the game, so if I come in and work hard every day, it will translate to the game.”
n NOTES: MSU slipped four spots to No. 10 in this week’s USA Today Top 25. It also is No. 10 in The Associated Press Top 25, which was released Monday. … At 4 p.m. Sunday (ESPN2), MSU will try to make “History At The Hump” with 10,000 fans for its game against No. 2 South Carolina. MSU had a crowd of 7,128 Monday for its victory against Ole Miss. It was the second-largest crowd in program history.
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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