TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Teaira McCowan recognizes how much she has developed since her freshman season.
At 6-foot-7, McCowan didn’t grasp the physical nature of the Southeastern Conference when she arrived from Brenham, Texas. As a result, she grappled with how to use her quickness, strength, and athleticism and how to remain poised when opponents tried anything they could to limit her effectiveness.
Sunday provided possibly the best example of how far McCowan has come in her time as a Bulldog.
Despite taking only three shots in each half, McCowan played a key role in the No. 6 Mississippi State women’s basketball team’s 65-49 victory against Alabama in a Southeastern Conference game before a crowd of 3,769 at Coleman Coliseum.
“Freshman year I probably would have wanted to do too much,” McCowan said, “but I am a senior now, so I just have to let it come to me. When my eammates give me the ball and I see the double team is coming, I have to kick it out like I did and let the offense flow through me and not to me and be a dead end.”
McCowan had 12 points, 12 rebounds, and four blocked shots for her 18th double-double of the season, and 57th of her career. The four blocks marked the seventh game she has had four or more in a game this season, and first time in the SEC.
McCowan wasn’t credited with an assist, but she was the trigger on multiple possessions in the second half when the offense could have stalled. In the third quarter, McCowan passed the ball out after she was cut off on a move to the rim. McCowan’s pass to Xaria Wiggins eventually moved to the weak side, where Jazzmun Holmes (10 points, three assists) capitalized on the unbalanced floor and drove to the basket.
In the fourth quarter, Anriel Howard (game-high 24 points, seven rebounds) scored on a drive after McCowan passed back to Holmes, who went to her right to find Howard. On the next possession, McCowan recognized the guard on the wing was going to come down to double team her, so she spun quickly and used an up-and-under move to finish on the block.
“She does a really good job noticing where the double team is coming from and she will make that pass out,” Howard said. “I think she is a really good assist player. She notices that. That helps us and the whole team flow a little bit better throughout the offense. It is really good to go through her.”
McCowan said she is used to seeing double teams — if not triple teams — so she didn’t mind going against multiple Alabama defenders. McCowan notched a double-double even though it was her 10th game of the season in which she didn’t attempt at least 10 field goals.
Schaefer praised McCowan for continuing to play hard through the physical play this season.
“She has the mental piece,” Schaefer said. “She gets up and is on to the next one. That is what the great ones have. They have the mental piece with it. She didn’t always have that, but she has it now.”
Schaefer said the Bulldogs’ goal was to work through McCowan all game, but he said his players continue to be “stubborn” and to be impatient when it comes to utilizing McCowan as an asset.
“We won’t turn the floor offensively,” Schaefer said. “I have got to get away from defense. Now we’ll have to set that aside and I have to do a better job coaching us on offense.
“We have got to get back to doing better things offensively. It’s my job. At the end of the day, it’s my job and it is my responsibility.”
When asked what the Bulldogs need to improve on, Schaefer didn’t hesitate to say sharing the ball and flipping the floor. He said the ability to do that will create openings for shooters because McCowan is such a good passer and opportunities for her on the back side if the Bulldogs choose to reverse the ball.
“Our execution offensively is as bad as it has been all year,” Schaefer said. “We have got to share the ball, have patience. We don’t need a shot clock. Good gosh. We are not even close to getting to a shot clock end. We have to learn to share the ball. Again, my fault, my responsibility. Obviously I am not getting through to my team. When I want things done a certain way and I am fighting them in a game to do it because we won’t make that next pass or we won’t flip the floor — I wanted to play through T all night. Yeah, she had four turnovers. … She is really good to play through. I think we would have got a lot of good stuff, but it is not her fault. We won’t turn the floor.”
MSU (21-1, 9-0 SEC) won its 25th-straight SEC regular-season game and its sixth-straight game in the series against Alabama (11-11, 3-6).
MSU will return to action at 1 p.m. Sunday (ESPN) when it plays host to Tennessee. The game is sold out.
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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