STARKVILLE — The sting remains.
Instead of celebrating four seniors who have been a part of so many records, the Mississippi State women’s basketball team suffered its worst loss of the season Sunday in an 82-64 loss to Tennessee before a sold-out Humphrey Coliseum.
The loss denied MSU (27-3, 13-3 Southeastern Conference) a chance to earn a share of the first SEC regular-season title in program history. It also left the Bulldogs with a two-game losing streak to end the regular season.
But MSU coach Vic Schaefer isn’t worried. The veteran coach is convinced he knows how “to fix” the issues that have plagued the Bulldogs in the last two games.
“I am fired up and ready for the week,” Schaefer said Tuesday at a media availability. “What is done is done. It is in the past. We have two new seasons in front of us, and one of them is his weekend. We got to get through the weekend. If you can get through this tournament and win this one, you can win the next one because it is a gauntlet coming up.”
“I have a lot of confidence in this group. I feel like they’re going to bounce back.”
No. 6 MSU has used its position as a top-four seed to make the most of its double bye and work on technique to help it prepare for the winner of today’s game between seventh-seeded LSU and 10th-seeded Ole Miss at 5 p.m. Friday (SEC Network) in the quarterfinals of the SEC tournament in Greenville, South Carolina.
Schaefer said it is important for the Bulldogs not to dwell on what could have happened at the end of the regular season, when they were all alone in first place and then lost their last two at then-No. 22 Kentucky in overtime and at home to Tennessee. He said everybody in the media room likely would have accepted a 27-3 record and a 13-3 mark in the SEC prior to the season. A year ago, MSU was 24-6 and 11-5 entering the SEC tournament. The Bulldogs have made a three-game overall improvement against a tougher schedule and have continued to set records. They climbed as high as No. 3 in The Associated Press poll and No. 2 in the USA Today Coaches Poll before slipping to No. 6 and No. 7 in those polls this week following their losses.
“The sting of it is you had a chance to win an SEC championship,” Schaefer said. “That is the sting. That’s what kind of makes it a little bit worse than it is. That is the piece we all have to get past. We have to get past the sting and realize we have had a great year, but we have so much in front of us, so much still that we can do, so many things we can accomplish, and we have the tools to do it, so let’s get back to work and let’s go do it.”
Schaefer said he wasn’t sure if a team led by seniors Ketara Chapel, Dominique Dillingham, Chinwe Okorie, and Breanna Richardson would be better equipped to bounce back from the last two losses better than a younger team. But he feels his players have been with him long enough and have watched enough film to know when things aren’t right. He said he and his players have to make sure they focus a little harder and correct their mistakes for the next step.
Junior Victoria Vivians said those problems have been on both sides of the ball. She said MSU had too breakdowns and turnovers (22) in the loss to Kentucky. She said the Bulldogs didn’t come out ready to play against the Lady Volunteers, who snapped a three-game losing streak in the series.
“It hasn’t been too pleasant,” Vivians said. “Everybody has been mellow.”
Schaefer tempered his disappointment by saying the Bulldogs missed seven layups and three free throws in the first half against the Lady Volunteers. He said a few more field goals would have turned a 16-point halftime deficit into a much more manageable deficit that his team could have erased. Still, he didn’t want to get caught up in rehashing a result that can’t be changed. He credited Kentucky and Tennessee for using their great players to “expose” areas MSU needs to address. He said he would take responsibility if MSU has gotten away from the attention to detail it needs to have and he will make sure everything is back to where it needs to be for the next game.
“I will be really surprised if they don’t bounce back and have a good week and a good prep week and be ready to really turn it loose on Friday,” Schaefer said. “I don’t think it is open heart surgery. I think they see that hey, you know what, I didn’t play quite as hard as I need to be playing. I didn’t quite get out and deny as hard as I need to. My footwork here is messed up. My hedge here is not quite as good as it needs to be. It is teaching technique. That is what these two days are right now. Like I told you Sunday, I know how to fix it. When I go back and see our issues, they’re all fixable. Nothing is terminal.”
NOTE: Vivians was named one of 10 semifinalists for the Naismith Trophy Player of the Year Award, the Atlanta Tipoff Club announced Thursday. Vivians and South Carolina’s A’ja Wilson are the only two finalists from the Southeastern Conference. On Tuesday, Vivians was named a first-team All-SEC performer for the second-straight season. She finished the regular season fifth in the league in scoring (17.2 points per game).
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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