Slippage is a term coaches use to gauge how well players or teams carry over what they have learned in practice to a game.
In the case of the Mississippi State women’s basketball team, Vic Schaefer has preached for the past two seasons about playing with heart, throwing the first punch, and representing MSU with pride, energy, and enthusiasm.
Aside from a victory against then-No. 11 Georgia last season, no game reflects the type of performance Schaefer wants to see from his players better than a 67-63 loss to No. 12 Tennessee on Thursday at Humphrey Coliseum.
While the outcomes in the games were different, the Bulldogs played with the intensity and purpose of a team that had something to prove. A year ago, the effort might have been surprising considering MSU went through its share of ups and downs with an inexperienced group in its first year playing in the “Secretary of Defense’s” system.
This year, though, MSU added depth thanks to a nationally ranked recruiting class and returned with a mind-set that it was going to live up to its expectations and advance to the postseason. For 40 minutes Thursday, MSU showed it is capable of realizing its preseason goals.
“I saw big improvement,” said Joe Ciampi, the longtime women’s basketball coach at Auburn, who was the analyst Thursday for CSS’ television broadcast. “I saw a team with SEC IQs physically and mentally. You talk about a young team that is growing, they’re developing a pretty good IQ.”
The trick for MSU (14-4, 1-3 Southeastern Conference) is to find a way to deliver similar intensity at 2 p.m. today when it takes on No. 25 Texas A&M (14-4, 4-0). WKBB-FM 100.9 will broadcast the game live. HailStateTV subscribers also can access the live audio stream at www.hailstate.com/hstvlive.
Today’s game is a homecoming for Schaefer, the former associate head coach to Gary Blair at Texas A&M, and MSU associate head coach Johnnie Harris, who was an assistant coach at the school Schaefer and Harris helped take Texas A&M to seven NCAA tournaments, and played integral roles on the school’s 2011 NCAA National Championship squad.
It also will be a homecoming for MSU assistant coach Aqua Franklin, director of operations Maryann Baker, and video coordinator Skylar Collins. Franklin was a three-time All-Big 12 selection and two-time Associated Press Honorable Mention All-American for the Aggies, while Baker, the 2011 Big 12 Sixth Man of the Year, and Collins were both members of the national championship team.
The return to College Station, Texas, should heighten the intensity of the matchup against the SEC’s first-place team. Texas A&M is coming off a 67-65 overtime victory against No. 8 South Carolina on Thursday. Schaefer knows his team and Blair’s team will run a lot of the same sets and will play with similar tenacity. He is curious to see how his players respond from a loss in front of a season-high home crowd.
“I am really anxious to see how we play,” Schaefer said Saturday from College Station. “The last couple of games we have competed really hard and didn’t back down. I am anxious to see us play.”
Against Arkansas, Schaefer said he challenged his team to “flip the switch” and to take the court with a mentality that it was going to dictate the tempo and style of the game. That attitude played a big role in a 54-50 road victory that snapped a two-game slide. MSU played with the same energy and purpose against Tennessee even though it was rattled at times by the Lady Volunteers’ size and length in a 1-2-2 zone that trapped in the corners. But for every run Tennessee made to extend the lead, MSU answered with a push of its own that put it in position multiple times to make one more play or stop to tie or to take the lead.
Duplicating an effort like the one MSU had against Georgia would have been a challenge last season. This year, MSU, which already has eclipsed its win total (13) from 2012-13, is showing signs it is ready to move up the ladder in the SEC. The Bulldogs were picked 10th in the SEC preseason poll.
“They are playing roles, and that is important for a team,” Ciampi said. “You have a point guard who knows how to deliver the ball, you have an inside presence with (Breanna) Richardson and (Martha) Alwal that play great high-low games together, and the one Achilles’ heel right now is finding that constant outside shooter. Kendra Grant did good things for you. (Dominique) Dillingham struggled, but they’re going to have to find a way on their perimeter game to attack the rim. I would tell my point guard Katia May to start looking for her shot a whole lot more than she has.”
May had 14 points, while Grant had 21 off the bench to lead the team. MSU also overcame foul trouble to Richardson and Alwal in the first half. But Ciampi said MSU had to do a better job valuing every possession and finding a way to get extra possessions. Against Tennessee, he said MSU couldn’t find a way to negate Tennessee’s size advantage, which showed up biggest at the free throw line. Tennessee was 18 of 25 from the free throw line, while MSU was 7 of 12.
Still, Tennessee came away impressed with MSU one season after it earned an 88-45 victory against the same program in Knoxville, Tenn.
“I thought they played great,” Tennessee redshirt freshman Andraya Carter said. “They brought it this game. They had heart, they had hustle, and they looked like they wanted it.”
Schaefer said his team practiced Friday, watched film Saturday morning and then practiced before it flew to Texas. He said the Bulldogs worked the past two days to improve their transition defense after being outscored 38-20 on points in the paint against the Lady Volunteers.
Today, Schaefer said facing Texas A&M will be like “guarding an NBA team” because the Aggie will execute their offense to get shooters into one-on-one situations where they can capitalize on their athleticism. To combat that, Schaefer said MSU will have to execute and remember to use the wrinkles to the offense added in for the game the Aggies might not expect. That’s where the slippage will come into play. If MSU can pay attention to detail and remained focus, it could find itself in another battle against a nationally ranked opponent.
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @cdispatch.com
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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