GREENVILLE, S.C. — Missed opportunities has been a haunting refrain for the Mississippi State women’s basketball team.
Ever since a three-point loss to South Carolina on Jan. 23 in Columbia, South Carolina, MSU has been waiting for a chance to hit one more 3-pointer or to draw one more foul so it could wipe the memory of that loss from its mind.
Unfortunately, the Bulldogs received another painful reminder of how difficult life in the Southeastern Conference can be.
Top-seeded South Carolina used a 19-4 fourth quarter to rally for a 59-49 victory against second-seeded MSU before a crowd of 7,715 in the championship game of the SEC tournament at Bon Secours Wellness Arena.
“It happened fast,” MSU senior guard Dominique Dillingham said. “You go down and you just try to play catch-up. It is something that just happened really fast.”
South Carolina (27-4) earned its second-straight SEC tournament title against MSU and its 10th-straight victory in the series thanks to a defensive effort that held MSU (29-4) to 2-for-14 shooting in the fourth quarter. That stand was part of a defensive effort that saw the Gamecocks hold the Bulldogs to a season-worst 35.6 percent (21-for-59) shooting from the field and a season-low point total. It was the ninth time MSU has shot less than 40 percent from the field in a game this season.
MSU entered the game as the league’s second-highest scoring team at 75.6 points per game. South Carolina was first at 76.8 ppg.
MSU’s 21 field goals were its second-fewest in a game.
“We knew when they made their run we had to make our run,” MSU sophomore center Teaira McCowan said. “We needed time to regroup. Everybody couldn’t get on the same page at the end.”
Junior point guard Morgan William tried her best to keep MSU close. William hit three-consecutive jump shots in the third quarter to tie the game at 34. The first put her over 1,000 career points. She finished with 14 points and is in 24th place all-time in school history with 1,009 points, 32 behind Robin Porter (23rd, 1,041).
McCowan then sealed A’ja Wilson deep in the lane, took a pass from Breanna Richardson, and scored as she was fouled. Her free throw gave MSU a 37-36 lead. William then had a jump shot in which she dribbled away from a double team that gave the Bulldogs a 39-38 advantage.
The spurt continued to the end of the third quarter, but the Bulldogs’ momentum vanished in the fourth quarter. Wilson capped an 8-0 run with a three-point play that gave South Carolina the lead for good, 48-45.
“They hit a three that cut it to two and then A’ja just started to get what she wanted to,” Dillingham said. “It is all about getting stops. They weren’t doing anything differently. It was just a few defensive mishaps and A’ja just got the ball where she wanted.”
MSU also appeared to get caught up in trying to come back too quickly. Schaefer even had to try to settle William down by putting his palms down and pushing down after she took a quick shot. After the game, Schaefer couldn’t find fault with his players’ effort, but he said the execution wasn’t where it needed to be.
“I just think kids are trying their hardest,” Schaefer said. “Those kids really competed and wanted to win today. Morgan tried to put us on her back there in the second half and carry us to a victory. For a long time there, she did, same thing with Teaira.
“When your leading scorer (Victoria Vivians, nine points) is not doing well, hadn’t played well in a while, we’ve been having some other kids step up. We didn’t have anybody else step up tonight. We basically had Teiara go 6-for-12 and Mo went 7-for-13. Nobody else did anything statistically speaking.”
MSU’s 14 turnovers prevented it from capitalizing in a bigger way on South Carolina’s 17.
Getting Vivians going
Vivians entered the tournament averaging a team-best 17.2 points per game.
But the junior from Carthage was largely silent in three games at the SEC tournament. She suffered through her worst shooting stretch of the season, going 8-for-30 from the field. She scored only 24 points.
“She just has to get back to making shots and being productive,” Schaefer said. “She has to make shots. That is the bottom line. She was guarded hard today. They were after her and weren’t going to give her any room to breathe. That is where she has to take her game to another level and realize that and step it up. We have to do a better job teaching her and when she is in those positions in practice and teaching her how to go create and do some things.
“That is the piece you’re trying to change with a kid that maybe has done it one way most of their life and now you’re trying to teach them and get them to do it a different way.”
Schaefer acknowledged Vivians attracted plenty of attention, but he said she has to get in the gym and work on her game to get out of a funk that followed 27- and 18-point games against Kentucky and Tennessee to end the regular season.
“We had some other kids who didn’t shoot it well, either,” Schaefer said. “I think when you’ve been here since Wednesday, your time is so limited to do those things, skill sessions. You’re always getting ready for the next game. It’s hard.”
Looking ahead to NCAA tournament
The loss cost MSU a chance to earn a No. 1 seed for the NCAA tournament.
MSU likely would have been in a mix with Connecticut, Notre Dame, Baylor, South Carolina, and Oregon State for a shot to be one of the top four seeds.
Still, MSU likely will get a No. 2 seed, which means an opportunity to play the first and second rounds of the NCAA tournament at Humphrey Coliseum in Starkville.
MSU will learn its seeding at 6 p.m. Monday, March 13, when the NCAA tournament field is announced on ESPN.
“We’re disappointed, but we know that we’re going to have a game just likes this in two or three weeks,” Dillingham said. “We’re not disappointed in the way we played, but we’re disappointed in the outcome. We’re fine, but we have so much more stuff to work on. We have to be ready in the next couple of weeks when we have our chance.”
Last season, MSU earned a chance to play in Starkville as a No. 5 seed after Michigan State, the No. 4 seed, had a conflict with its home arena and couldn’t be a host. MSU defeated Chattanooga and Michigan State to advance to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament for the second time in program history.
Vivians, Wilson named to Wooden Award ballot
Vivians and Wilson were two of 15 players selected Saturday for the national ballot for the John R. Wooden Award, which is presented annually to the most outstanding college basketball player in the country.
Connecticut leads the ballot with three players: Napheesa Collier, Katie Lou Samuelson, and Gabby Williams. Maryland’s Brionna Jones and Shatori Walker-Kimbrough, Notre Dame’s Lindsay Allen and Brianna Turner, Washington’s Kelsey Plum and Chantel Osahor, UCLA’s Jordin Canada, Ohio State’s Kelsey Mitchell, Syracuse’s Alexis Peterson, and Oregon State’s Sydney Weise also were named to the ballot.
The Pacific-12 Conference leads all leagues with four players on the ballot. The Atlantic Coast Conference, the American Athletic Conference, and the Big Ten Conference have three players apiece, while the Southeastern Conference has two.
Voting will take place from March 14-21. Voters are asked to take into consideration the entire season, as well as the NCAA tournament.
The 10-player Wooden All American Team will be announced following the Elite Eight round of the NCAA tournament at 7 p.m. March 27 (ESPN).
Tournament attendance
The final crowd of 7,715 Sunday pushed the five-day attendance total to 34,322. The crowd was the eighth-highest single-game attendance in SEC tournament history, and the highest since 12,441 fans attended the 2012 title game.
All-tournament team
Wilson was named the tournament’s MVP, while Davis joined her on the all-tournament team.
MSU’s William and Kentucky’s Makayla Epps and Evelyn Akhator also were named to the team that was voted on by media members.
Noteworthy
The rematch was the fourth time teams that played in the title game the previous year met to decide the championship. … South Carolina has won nine-straight SEC tournament games dating back to a loss to Kentucky in the 2014 semifinals. … MSU’s 49-point effort marked the fifth time in SEC tournament history a team has scored fewer than 50 points in a title game. … Vivians and William are finalists for the Gillom Trophy, which will be presented today in Jackson to the state’s top women’s college basketball player.
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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