STARKVILLE — It was impossible to deny the pride on Vic Schaefer’s face Sunday when he talked about the performance of Jazzmun Holmes.
The sophomore guard from Gulfport had a career-high 14 points and handed out six assists in the second-seeded Mississippi State women’s basketball team’s 92-71 victory against seventh-seeded DePaul at Humphrey Coliseum.
Holmes played a key role in helping the Bulldogs build a one-point halftime lead to as big as an 18-point cushion in the third quarter.
While Schaefer gushed about Holmes in the post-game media room, another coach had just as big a smile on her face in MSU’s locker room.
“I was proud,” MSU assistant coach Dionnah Jackson-Durrett said. “We see it every day. Her potential — her ceiling is so high.”
Jackson-Durrett, who is in her second season at MSU, was a standout at the position at Oklahoma, so she knows how tough it is to run a team and to please a coach. It is an almost impossible task, but she couldn’t help but smile when she talked about Holmes’ near-flawless performance in 25 minutes Sunday.
In fact, Jackson-Durrett added 19 more o’s onto the word so to accentuate Holmes’ potential. She knows there have been flashes in games when Holmes has showcased what she can do, but she acknowledged that Holmes is hard on herself, so a mistake can derail her confidence.
On Sunday, though, everything was positive.
“She is a smart point guard, and she has executed all week,” Jackson-Durrett said. “She understands, she listens, she asks questions, so I wasn’t surprised, but I am very proud.
“She was big in the moment. Jazz is a competitor. She fears nothing. She has made some mistakes in the past, and I think she has learned from them. You need to be playing good right now. I am so proud she took the moment, and it was moment by moment.”
Jackson-Durrett knows that is a crucial mind-set for a point guard, who has to have a similar mental makeup to a closer in baseball. Blow a save in the eighth inning or give up a game-winning home run in the bottom of the ninth? So what. Shake it off and get the next hitter.
It’s the same thing for a point guard, Jackson-Durrett said. Call it short-term memory. A point guard has to have it. Make a bad pass or have the ball go off your foot on a fast break? That’s OK. Don’t let that play affect the next one. Jackson-Durrett said Holmes is doing a better job forgetting one play and leaving it in the past. She hopes Holmes will bring a similar mind-set at 6 p.m. Friday when MSU (31-4) faces third-seeded Washington (29-5) in the Sweet 16 in Oklahoma City. Washington defeated sixth-seeded Oklahoma 108-82 on Monday night.
“I thought she did a great job of that tonight (against DePaul),” said Jackson-Durrett, who saw Holmes weaving through three Blue Demons with a smile on her face late in the third quarter. “She has such an infectious attitude when she has that much energy. You have to talk to her. Jazz is hard on herself. That’s why I say today she had short-term memory. Dribbling through three people … you’re scaring us over here, but she has that in her. I think now that she has scored a career-high 14 points, she is seeing that success and that hard work and her growth paying off. I think it is going to be easier to get that smile and energy out of her.”
Junior point guard Morgan William knows what Holmes can do because she sees it every day in practice. Talking in the team’s locker room, William appeared to be more hyped talking about Holmes than Holmes was about her play. Back in the post-game media room, Holmes was stoic and kept her head down when Schaefer praised her play. Holmes didn’t smile until Schaefer mentioned senior Dominique Dillingham scoring 10 points to hit 1,000 for her career.
That’s OK because William, who also isn’t one who always smiles on the court, has enough enthusiasm about Holmes’ play for both of them.
“She’s amazing,” William said. “I knew she could do it. … Tonight was her night. Sitting on the bench, I was happy for her.”
William was so content on the sidelines she all but waved Schaefer off when he considered substituting her for Holmes in the fourth quarter. It’s not that Holmes didn’t deserve a break after playing all but four minutes in the second half, but William knew Holmes was playing so well that she needed to stay in the game.
“She might be tired, but let her finish,” William said. “She is in a rhythm. She just has to knock down her free throws and take care of the ball and make sure she has control of the team.”
When told Holmes was caught smiling on the court, William smiled because she knows that is a sign things are working well.
“That is when you know she is having fun,” William said. “You can’t stop her. She is unstoppable. She is just like me out there. I am proud of her.”
While Schaefer continued to talk about Holmes in the post-game media room, Jackson-Durrett was still smiling. If there was someone prouder of Holmes than William it had to be Jackson-Durrett, who is eager to see Holmes build off her latest performance.
“If you watch her on the bench, she is up and she has that energy. That energy with the short-term memory is a recipe for success.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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