COLUMBIA, S.C. — One more play.
Visiting teams typically need to make two or three more plays than the home team when they’re in a hostile environment like Colonial Life Arena.
On Monday, though, the No. 4 Mississippi State women’s basketball team took didn’t let a crowd of 13,120 — the largest it has seen this season — stand in its way from creating plenty of chances to knock off No. 5 South Carolina.
Although undeterred, MSU wasn’t able to make one more play that could have helped it avoid a 64-61 loss in a nationally televised showdown for first place in the Southeastern Conference.
“We missed opportunities,” MSU coach Vic Schaefer said. “Blair (Schaefer) has two clean looks down there in the corner. I am going to take her every time on that shot. Torri (Victoria Vivians) has a breakaway layup and she misses the layup. She has three free throws and she makes two. We made half the play. We just didn’t make all of the play.”
MSU was 1 of 9 from the field to start the third quarter. It also committed turnovers on three of its first four possessions in the fourth quarter. Still, it was like that mosquito you just can’t kill in that it never went away. In the final two minutes, redshirt freshman Zion Campbell and senior forward Breanna Richardson scored on layups to cut the Gamecocks’ lead to one point.
Trailing 60-59 with less than a minute to play, Vivians, a junior guard, missed a left-handed layup in transition when junior guard Allisha Gray hustled back and appeared to affect the shot. That was just one of the missed opportunities.
With 18.6 seconds to play, junior guard Kaela Davis fouled Vivians on a 3-pointer. She went to the free-throw line with 18.6 seconds to play and made the first two before the third rattled in and out.
“I felt like I had to make all three of them, which I didn’t do,” Vivians said. “I was very confident to go up there and shoot them.”
The officials initially ruled the rebound of the missed free throw went out of bounds off MSU. A video review reversed the call and gave the Bulldogs another chance. That opportunity resulted in an open 3-pointer that Schaefer missed. Richardson grabbed the last of the team’s 19 offensive rebounds and forced a held ball to help the Bulldogs retain possession.
With 6.5 seconds remaining, MSU called its final timeout. The inbounds pass went to Vivians on the left baseline, but she appeared to short-arm a floater than was well short.
“It didn’t go in,” Vivians said. “Coach ran the play for me and wanted me to have the ball and I couldn’t finish.”
Junior forward A’ja Wilson converted two free throws with 2.5 seconds left to account for the final margin.
Schaefer said he hopes the Bulldogs learn and grow from the loss, its ninth in a row in the series.
“We put ourselves in position to win that basketball game and didn’t get it done,” Schaefer said. “I love my team. I think we’re good. I think we’re competitive. There is no way you can say we’re not in the top five or six teams in the country. We just came into South Carolina and laid it on the line and played our hearts out. I am really proud of our kids, but we have got to make the plays I am talking about — a breakaway layup, a free throw, a wide-open three in the corner. We have to make those plays.”
Wilson showed why she is a finalist for all three national player of the year awards by scoring a game-high 26 points to help South Carolina (17-1, 7-0 SEC) become the first team to beat MSU (20-1, 6-1).
“This was a very emotional game for us,” said Wilson, who returned to action Thursday after missing two games with a sprained eight ankle. “I think we competed for 40 minutes. That is something coach (Dawn Staley) really has been harping on us that we had to do, and we really stepped up to the plate.”
Wilson thanked the medical staff for helping her to get back. She credited them for helping to keep her positive, so she said she wanted to come out and play well to show them she was back in form.
Staley was glad to have Wilson, a consensus first-team All-American and the second player in league history to be named SEC Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year in the same season, back playing such a big role. She said it is about time to talk more about Wilson and senior center Alaina Coates in national player of the year discussions.
“They’re special,” Staley said. “They’re special just like some of the other special players we have had in our game.”
Gray (16 of her 17 points in the second half) was the only other player in double figures for the Gamecocks, who held the Bulldogs to 10-of-31 shooting in the second half. Coates (nine points, 12 rebounds) played a key role on offense, while Davis contributed on defense by shadowing Vivians. MSU’s leading scorer entered the game averaging a team-high 17.1 points per game, but she was 4 of 16 from the field and finished with 12.
“It was really tough,” Vivians said. “I knew that is what they were going to do. I should have prepared a little better.”
Staley said she was especially proud of Davis, a transfer from Georgia Tech, who made key contributions on defense despite going 1-for-9 from the field, including 0-for-6 from 3-point range.
“We didn’t give her Vivians in the second half. She took her,” Staley said. “When a player like that wants to make an impact on that side of the ball, especially Kaela because that is they type of effort I know she is capable of night in and night out. … I want her to understand she is not just an offensive player. She is probably the best athlete I have coached. We want her to be special on both sides of the ball. She is very capable of doing that. She was definitely special defensively tonight.”
Richardson matched Vivians for team-high scoring honors with 12, while Teaira McCowan had 10.
Schaefer is confident his players will come through when he puts them in those same positions again. He praised Staley and South Carolina for a great atmosphere and for making plays to win the game. He only wished the Bulldogs would have made one more to change the script.
“We just played the fifth-ranked team in the country basically to a stand still on the road,” Schaefer said. “It was a heck of a game. You have to give South Carolina credit. They made one more play than we did.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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