STARKVILLE — The Mississippi State women’s basketball team used Monday to reflect on one of the biggest regular-season victories in program history.
Morgan William had a game-high 23 points, while Victoria Vivians added 19 Sunday to lead then-No. 10 MSU to a 79-68 victory against then-No. 8 Texas before a crowd of 7,764 at Humphrey Coliseum.
The victory helped MSU (4-0) move up three spots in The Associated Press’ latest Top 25 poll and match the program’s highest ranking in the poll. The Bulldogs were No. 9 in the USA Today Coaches poll last week. That poll is released today.
The win was even sweeter because it was MSU’s first against a top-10 non-conference opponent since the 2010 squad defeated No. 8 Ohio State in the NCAA tournament. In addition to a national television audience on the SEC Network, the crowd at the Hump was the second-largest gathering to see a women’s game in Starkville.
While proud of his team for its performance, especially in a 26-9 second quarter that turned the tide, and appreciative of coach Karen Aston and Texas for playing the home-and-home series, MSU coach Vic Schaefer didn’t want to get caught up in the hype of a big win because he knows bigger things await his team.
“We beat a really good team in Texas,” Schaefer said. “I think we found out a little bit about our basketball team. We saw we were able to compete in that environment and we are good, too. What a great crowd and a great environment.
The big thing, too, is you have to realize it is in November, so we will learn from it, grow from it, but we have to keep getting better. I think that is the challenge with this team. After every victory, we have to learn to get better and not be satisfied.”
Schaefer said the team will tour the USS Arizona Memorial in Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Hawaii. The memorial marks the resting place of 1,102 of the 1,177 sailors and Marines killed on the USS Arizona during Japan’s surprise attack on Dec. 7, 1941. The attack on Pearl Harbor and the island of Oʻahu led to the United States’ decision to enter World War II.
“I’ll pose the question to them, ‘What do you think it would be like to wake up on a Sunday morning and having your neighborhood bombed?’ That was a horrible and horrific day in the history of our country, but we responded like a tough, hard-nosed country would. It is going to be a great opportunity. I am excited for my kids. A lot of them have family going.”
But Schaefer and senior Dominique Dillingham said the team will treat the experience as a “business trip.”
“We’re going there to win three games, not just win two or one,” Dillingham said. “It’s all about winning first. There is going to be fun, but there is always a line between fun and business.”
MSU was scheduled to leave Tuesday morning for Atlanta, where it will fly to Hawaii to compete this weekend in the Waikiki Beach Marriott Rainbow Wahine Showdown. MSU will face Oregon at 7 p.m. Friday at 7 p.m., San Jose State at 7 p.m. Saturday, and Hawaii at 8:30 p.m. Sunday. The games are part of an eight-game road trip that will include tripes to Iowa State, Southern Mississippi, Arkansas-Little Rock, and Southern California, where MSU will play two games in the Women of Troy Classic. MSU will close its non-conference schedule with home games against Alabama State (Tuesday, Dec. 20) and Northwestern State (Dec. 28). It will play host to LSU at 2 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 1, in its Southeastern Conference opener.
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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