STARKVILLE — Through 20 games, the Mississippi State women’s basketball team has demonstrated that “different” can be nearly as good as its predecessor.
Weeks after the 2017-18 team made a second-consecutive run to the national title game, MSU coach Vic Schaefer said the 2018-19 squad would be “different.” The word included a note of curiosity from the veteran coach, who realized it would be difficult to replace seniors Victoria Vivians, Morgan William, Blair Schaefer, and Roshunda Johnson.
This year’s team has helped fans move past the program-best 37-win team by building a new identity.
At No. 6 in The Associated Press and USA Today Coaches polls, MSU (19-1, 7-0 Southeastern Conference) is one game off the pace of the 2017-18 squad at this juncture. MSU will look to stay on course at 6:30 p.m. Thursday (SEC Network+) when it takes on LSU in a SEC game at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
MSU is the SEC’s only undefeated team in league play. The Bulldogs lead the SEC in 10 statistical categories, including scoring offense (90.4 points per game) and scoring margin (+34.8). LSU (12-7 3-4) leads the league in scoring defense (54.8 ppg.), while MSU leads the SEC in field goal shooting percentage (50.3).
MSU also has three of the SEC’s five players — Teaira McCowan (66.3 percent), Anriel Howard (52.1), and Jordan Danberry (50.7) — shooting 50 percent or better from the field. Through games played Tuesday, McCowan, Howard, and Danberry are three of 81 Division I players who are shooting 50 percent or better. MSU, Connecticut, and Notre Dame are the nation’s only teams that have three players in that group.
Schaefer said Wednesday that MSU didn’t have to change a whole lot offensively from the 2017-18 season. At this point last season, MSU had made 147 3-pointers and had attempted 29.7 percent of its shots from behind the arc. This season, the Bulldogs have made 107 3-pointers and have attempted 20.8 percent of their shots from behind the arc.
The discrepancy hasn’t prevented the Bulldogs from scoring at a higher rate (85.6 ppg.) than last season. McCowan (17.4 ppg.), Howard (15.6), Danberry (13.3), and Chloe Bibby (11.9) rank in the top 30 in the league in scoring.
“We have moved people around in our offense, our dribble-drive especially, (and) put them in a position where they can be successful,” Schaefer said. “Other than that, I think you have kids with a certain skill set and you put them in position to be successful.”
Schaefer reiterated Wednesday that Danberry can get to her spot anytime she wants. The difference is she is finishing at a much higher rate. Danberry is one example of player development in Schaefer’s tenure at MSU. At this point last season, Danberry was averaging 2.2 ppg. and shooting 32.3 percent from the field in 10 minutes per game. This season, she has emerged as a second point guard (3.9 assists per game) on the court with senior Jazzmun Holmes.
Holmes, who shot 28.6 percent from the field as a freshman, also has matured. She leads the team in minutes (27.9) and the SEC in free-throw shooting percentage (86.9) and assist-to-turnover ratio (4.3).
McCowan, who shot 49.5 percent from the field as a freshman, and Howard, who didn’t shoot above 46.5 percent in three seasons at Texas A&M, are other examples of players who have grown offensively in their time in Starkville.
Schaefer said Howard is doing some of the things Vivians did last season when she moved from guard to forward and essentially gave MSU four perimeter players. The difference is Howard is giving the Bulldogs additional rebounding support (8.0 per game, sixth in the SEC) and has displayed a knack for hitting 3-pointers, converting mid-range shots, and being effective around the rim.
With freshman Jessika Carter shooting 53.2 percent from the field, MSU is in position to become what is believed to be the second team in program history to have four players average double-digit minutes and shoot above 50 percent for a season. In 1986-87, Ann Sanders (50 percent), Ann Lashley (53.1), Sophie Ratliff (50), and Christine Castle (52.2) accomplished the feat. In 2016-17, McCowan, Breanna Richardson (51.1), and Chinwe Okorie (56.4) gave the Bulldogs what is believed to be the second-highest total of players to eclipse the 50-percent mark. Richardson shot 42.4 percent from the field as a freshman, while Okorie shot 42.6.
While the 2018-19 team is “different” from the last two, it still has found a way to come together. Schaefer credits his coaching staff and said a change of thinking has helped him do things differently.
“We spend lots of time in the gym with them,” Schaefer said. “I think, too, I have learned over the course of my career, especially here in the last few years, to make more time for, or allow more time, for shooting. At the end of the day whoever has more points wins.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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