STARKVILLE — Vic Schaefer isn’t worrying about the numbers.
If you have been around the Mississippi State women’s basketball coach long enough, though, you know he loves statistics. He has a habit of highlighting numbers of interest on his team’s statistical breakdowns. Schaefer also has a habit of circling and squaring good and bad stats after every game before he talks to members of the media.
As much as Schaefer didn’t like the number of points Oklahoma State scored in the first quarter (23) and the Cowgirls’ final tally (76) on Sunday, he liked the fact No. 6 MSU found a way to be a little “tougher” to score 79 points to stretch its record to 8-0.
While MSU is 14th in the nation in scoring defense (53.6 points per game) and 59th in field goal percentage defense (36.3 percent), Schaefer knows the Bulldogs will have to get better defensively if they want to have chance to duplicate the program’s first run to the Final Four of the NCAA tournament last season.
“I think our defense has a long way to go,” Schaefer said. “I think we have some kids playing well and some are still trying to figure it out.”
MSU will try to take a first step toward improving on that end of the floor at 2 p.m. Sunday when it plays host to Little Rock at Humphrey Coliseum.
Schaefer said forwards Chloe Bibby, a freshman from Australia, and Jonika Garvin, a junior transfer, are doing things for the first time, while junior center Teaira McCowan is adjusting to playing in a four-guard lineup where she has to get out to the perimeter to contest jump shots. Both situations have forced the Bulldogs to go through an adjustment period.
“Defensively this time of the year you’re never where you want to be,” Schaefer said. “The fact that we have four senior guards that do know what we want and how we want it as well as Jazz is a plus. Jordan (Danberry) is going to be able to bring a little bit of that quickness and explosiveness that we need (and) toughness.”
MSU expects to welcome Danberry, a transfer from Arkansas and a redshirt sophomore, to the active roster. Danberry transferred to MSU last season. A season-ending injury to sophomore Jacaira “Iggy” Allen and the decision of Ameshya Williams to leave school has affected the Bulldogs’ depth, so the presence of Danberry, a 5-foot-8 guard, will bolster an already deep and experienced backcourt.
“She is probably the best athlete on the team,” Schaefer said. “She is just an explosive, quick athlete. She does some freakish things sometimes.”
Danberry was the No. 44 prospect in the espnW HoopGurlz Class of 2015. She has worked on her offensive skills and brings an explosive and quick player to an attack that already has shown an ability to force turnovers. MSU had forced five of its eight opponents into 20 or more turnovers. As a result, MSU was scoring 24 points per game off turnovers prior to the game against Oklahoma State. The Bulldogs had a 21-6 edge in points off turnovers in that victory.
MSU is 46-0 in the last three seasons when it scores 20 or more points off turnovers.
Another set of numbers Schaefer isn’t dwelling on is the production of point guards Morgan William and Jazzmun Holmes. With Victoria Vivians, Roshunda Johnson, McCowan, and Blair Schaefer providing balanced scoring, Schaefer said William and Holmes don’t need to score double figures every game. Against Oklahoma State, William was left open and responded with a season-high 15 points. She didn’t have an assist and committed two turnovers in 24 minutes. The Bulldogs had only five assists (11 turnovers), which was a season low, in a game that Schaefer acknowledged didn’t lend itself to a lot of assists. Still, he said William and Holmes don’t have to worry about their final numbers every game.
“You have to be careful. As players, you can’t be worried about numbers, whether it about you getting your points, worried about getting your assist, worried about having turnovers. You can’t worry. You have to play the game,” Schaefer said. “Let the numbers take care of themselves. We all know Morgan could be a 41-point player or she could go get two and 10 assists. That’s the job of a point guard. You have to take what they are giving you that night. If somebody dares to think that they are not going to guard me, I’m gone make them pay. And so, I think that particular game (against Oklahoma State) we ran a lot of stuff where there is not going to be a lot of assists. I think we’ve been getting a lot of assists in transitions, finding my shooters, spotting up on the perimeter and penetrating out of transitions, and kicking. We didn’t have hardly any transitioning against Oklahoma State. When teams are getting two back, it’s hard to go the other way and get in transition. I think that’s where some of our assists went. Blair went 1-for-6, so I’m looking at that like, ‘There goes five assists right there.’ She missed five shots. Blair’s not the creator; she’s the benefit of somebody’s creating. I think numbers don’t sometimes always tell the true story. I’ll take 79 points every night.”
Schaefer will gladly take 79 points in a game he said “felt like an NCAA tournament game.” With that in mind, he said the Bulldogs still have work to do defensively so they’re ready to play the kind of defense Schaefer is accustomed to. The addition of Danberry should enhance MSU’s ability to apply full-court pressure and to harass guards to affect an opponent’s execution on offense.
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 37 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.