STARKVILLE — Championship standards never waver.
Vic Schaefer expects the same level of effort and degree of execution regardless whether it’s a non-conference game in November or a Southeastern Conference game in February. That notion has helped the Mississippi State women’s basketball program earn four-straight trips to the NCAA tournament and advance to the national title game the last two seasons.
On Sunday, MSU celebrated its 2018 appearance in the championship game by welcoming back members from last season’s team and raising the national finalist banner to the rafters of Humphrey Coliseum.
No. 6 MSU then went out and showed it is learning how to play up to that standard.
Teaira McCowan had a game-high 23 points to lead seven players in double figure in No. 6 MSU’s 110-38 victory against Coppin State before a crowd of 7,320 at the Hump.
Andra Espinoza-Hunter and Jessika Carter (16 points), Anriel Howard (15), Chloe Bibby (11), and Bre’Amber Scott and Jordan Danberry (10) also scored in double figures as MSU (4-0) scored 41 points in the first 10 minutes.
“I was really proud of how we came out and started the game,” MSU coach Vic Schaefer said. “We have been looking at consistency. We wanted play well for four quarters. Really pleased at how we came out and played. We had a high energy level.”
MSU did something in the first quarter it didn’t do in the last two seasons: It held an opponent without a field goal. The Eagles were 0-for-10 from the field in six-point opening quarter. Coppin State was 2-for-9 from the field in the third quarter en route to an 11-for-56 showing (19.6 percent) for the game. That mark eclipsed an opponent’s low mark for field goal shooting percentage last season (22 percent by Louisiana).
“I’m proud of our kids and how hard we played,” Schaefer said. “As I told them when we were in the locker room, it’s not about who we are playing, it’s about us playing. I would tell that to anybody, any fan when you come see our team play. I thought Coppin State played really hard. I just thought we jumped on them early and got them on their heels. It was just hard for them to recover after that. I give our kids a lot of credit for that.”
MSU limited opponents to one or two field goals in a quarter 14 times in 2016-17. They went 12-0 in those games. Last season, the Bulldogs held opponents to one or two field goals in a quarter 16 times. Those good defensive habits were forged in early season games against Maine, Louisiana, Columbia, and Green Bay and then polished against SEC competition like Tennessee, Missouri, Ole Miss, and Kentucky.
The idea that MSU wouldn’t be able to exert its defensive will against the nation’s elite vanished in the NCAA tournament. In 2016-17, MSU limited Baylor to two field goals in overtime en route to its victory in the regional final. Last season, MSU held UCLA to two field goals in the second quarter in the regional finals. It then limited Louisville to one field goal in overtime to get back to the national title game. MSU continued its defensive posture in the championship matchup against Notre Dame, holding the Fighting Irish to one field goal in the second quarter.
MSU displayed that shark-in-the-water defensive mentality in the first quarter against Coppin State. The Bulldogs’ pressure and energy led Coppin State coach DeWayne Burroughs to tell one of his players as she came to the bench, “You’re playing scared.”
Despite saying his team has a long way to go, especially on defense, Schaefer liked the signs he saw from his defense.
“I think that is something we are really good at,” Schaefer said. “We’ve worked hard at putting our head down and running. The first two steps on a change of possession doesn’t need to be walks. They need to be sprints. Put your head down and run. I say it every day in practice to them. It’s something that we’ve really worked on. It helps when you can guard. It’s hard to run when you are taking the ball out. You can play defense, get a stop, and get a rebound. We’ve got a chance to really get out.”
MSU converted 31 turnovers into a 50-4 edge in points off turnovers. Those numbers likely won’t be matched very often the rest of the season, but the Bulldogs also held the Eagles to two field goals in the third quarter, which showed they stayed interested and were ruthless in delivering a knockout blow like a national heavyweight. With three quarters of holding opponents to two or fewer field goals in a quarter (the first came against Virginia) in their possession, McCowan and Espinoza-Hinter hopes the Bulldogs continue to develop good habits, even when they’re in games when they know they should win going away.
“It’s all in the mind-set,” McCowan said. “What we do here is we play hard and work hard. If you’re supposed to beat them by 60, 70, it doesn’t matter. You go out and do that.”
Said Espinoza-Hunter, “Every time you step on the floor for a game, whether it is the No. 1-ranked opponent or if they’re unranked, we need to attack them as if they are a competitor.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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