STARKVILLE — It’s easier to “live it” when you have been through the grind.
After two seasons of building and waiting for two of his recruiting classes to mature, Vic Schaefer and the rest of his coaching staff are reaping the rewards of the Mississippi State women’s basketball team’s experience. It’s evident in multiple ways — in a program-best No. 4 ranking in The Associated Press and USA Today polls, as well as a 15-0 record.
But experience doesn’t guarantee success.
Instead, top-five rankings and unblemished records are earned by paying attention to the details, or the “little things,” as Schaefer is fond of saying. In past years, a majority of those details had to do with defense and making life miserable for opponents. While Schaefer and his players still enjoy making life tough on opponents, MSU’s maturation as an offensive team has had a major effect on the squad’s second-best start in program history.
MSU enters its game against Arkansas (11-3, 0-1 Southeastern Conference) at 7 tonight at Bud Walton Arena as the SEC’s top-shooting team (48.3 percent) from the field. That percentage is the highest in Schaefer’s five seasons in Starkville. It points to the Bulldogs’ willingness to make the extra pass and the time the players have invested to get better. Of the 12 players in the regular rotation, 11 are shooting career-best percentages from the field. Sophomore center Teaira McCowan, who shot 49.5 percent last season and is shooting 47.2 in 2016-17, is close to making it a clean sweep.
Schaefer agreed that results don’t automatically come because a team is more experienced. The veteran coach said the Bulldogs have a better understanding of the game and the importance of turning a good shot into a great one. He feels the Bulldogs have heard the coaches preach about that concept long enough that they are doing it more and more this season.
“I think most of what we are doing well right now is because we have a veteran team,” Schaefer said. “They have been through the ringer. They know what is coming and what to do.”
MSU improved to 15-0 with a 74-48 victory against LSU on Sunday at Humphrey Coliseum. The victory helped MSU remain one of three undefeated teams in the nation. Connecticut and Virginia Tech are the others. The Bulldogs extended their winning streak by shooting 57.1 percent from the field. It was their highest field goal percentage against a SEC team since Feb. 16, 2003. The Bulldogs have eclipsed the 45-percent mark from the field in 11 games, including back-to-back contests above 50 percent. MSU’s 48.2 percent is 11th in the nation.
Senior Breanna Richardson, who is averaging 7.9 ppg. and shooting a team-best 60.5 percent from the field, said the team’s confidence has helped it execute at a high level.
“I guess it is probably a year of maturity and then another year of playing together,” Richardson said. “We kind of know each other a little bit more than other teams might because they might be younger. Us being older gives us a more chemistry.”
MSU lost one senior — Sherise Williams — to graduation from its program-best 28-win season last year. The returning of all five starters from the 2015-16 team paved the way for the Bulldogs to be picked second in the SEC preseason poll. Still, MSU has found a way to use that experience to elevate its game, to incorporate junior transfer Roshunda Johnson and freshmen Jacaira “Iggy” Allen and Ameshya Williams into the mix, and to overcome a series of bumps in the road that included losing senior guard Dominique Dillingham to six games due to knee surgery.
“We have depth at each position,” Richardson said. “Day in and day out, you don’t know who is going to play, so everybody plays every day. We are just used to playing with each other at this point, so if somebody is out, somebody else steps up.”
MSU’s attention to detail on offense has been crucial, but it showed Sunday it might be ready to give Schaefer the kind of defense he has come to expect from his teams. The Bulldogs held the Tigers to 19 points in the first half, limited them to their lowest field goal percentage (34) of the season, and forced them into a season-high 20 turnovers. Dillingham also played her usual role of pest by drawing two charges.
Richardson feels MSU had its spurts of playing well on defense. She said the Bulldogs did a good job on Raigyne Moncrief, the Tigers’ leading scorer, holding her to 12 points, which was below her season average of 14.8 ppg.
Schaefer noticed a difference in his team’s defensive execution after challenging his players to improve their play on that end of the floor. In fact, he said prior to the game he told his players he didn’t think they were very good defensively.
“Somebody asked me what is one of the things you really feel you can really work on and get better at, and I still say it is the defensive end,” Schaefer said. “The girls watched film (Tuesday), and the pieces of film we watched you don’t walk away from that film session going, ‘Man, we were really good defensively Sunday.’ But in spurts and at times we were really good.”
Schaefer said Sunday there was enough he could pull from the game against LSU that he could use to convince the players there is a long way to go before MSU becomes the dominant team he feels it has the potential to be. That’s why the team’s maturity is such a key ingredient because older teams often will put the extra work in that is needed to move from good to great. Schaefer hopes that is the case with a deep team that won 11 non-conference games on the road or at neutral sites and traveled more than 17,000 miles as a warmup for SEC play.
“You can win a lot of games being a quote unquote good team,” Schaefer said. “I think if you’re going to win a championship one of the things you have to do is rebound. We have got to become better rebounding, and we are not bad at it, but we have to be better at it. That is the piece I am seeing improvement in every day.
“With this team, they’re accountable. They understand accountability. It is not personal to them anymore. They understand when the coaches ants them to be accountable for something, they get it. I think that is the beauty of this team. … If you’re going to be a great team, that’s the piece you have to have from your veterans. They have to be accountable.”
NOTE: The game can be heard on WKBB-FM 100.9 and on WCNA-FM 95.9 in the Tupelo, Corinth, and Oxford areas. … A victory would help MSU even the series with Arkansas at 18. MSU has won the last five meetings, including two wins last season. … Arkansas is coming off a 73-64 loss to Ole Miss on Sunday in Oxford. Jessica Jackson leads Arkansas in scoring (17.6 ppg.) and rebounding (7.0). Malica Monk averages 10.2 ppg. for the Razorbacks, who shoot 44.1 percent from the field, including 36.4 percent from 3-point range.
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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