STARKVILLE — Vic Schaefer knew the reality of the situation prior to the season.
Entering his second year as Mississippi State women’s basketball coach, Schaefer knew his 2013-14 squad was going to be improved, but he also realized it was going to be hard-pressed for a team with four newcomers in key roles to build on that maturation in the Southeastern Conference.
The numbers show Schaefer was spot on in his thinking.
Through 10 SEC games, MSU (3-7) right where it was on paper a year ago. The difference, as Schaefer has said numerous times before and after games, is the Bulldogs are a much better team than the one that finished 13-17 and lost to Alabama in its first game in the SEC tournament last season.
Coming off another hard-fought performance that turned into a disappointing loss, Schaefer said now is the time for MSU to take the next step.
“I could have gone into the locker room (after the game) and told them, ‘Great effort. We’re just a little short. No worries,’ ” Schaefer said. “But I really think there is more inside these kids. I think they can win these games. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t ask it of them. I have been around long enough to know who can and who can’t, and I really have a lot of confidence in these kids.
MSU (16-8, 3-7) will try to make that move at 2 p.m. today when it takes on Auburn (12-10, 3-6) at Auburn, Ala. Auburn beat MSU 82-74 on Jan. 5 in Starkville, so a victory would be crucial for the Bulldogs as they try to climb the conference ladder. MSU already holds the tiebreaker against Arkansas and Missouri, who are tied with MSU at 3-7, and a victory against Georgia, which is 3-6 in the league entering a home game against Ole Miss today. MSU will play Sunday, March 2, at Georgia to close the regular season.
Those tiebreakers could turn out to be very important. Last season, MSU lost to Auburn 74-65 in its regular-season finale. It dropped MSU into a tie with Auburn at 5-11 in the league and cost it a tiebreaker. That loss came on the heels of the team’s best victory, a 50-38 win against then-No. 11 Georgia in Starkville. Unfortunately, MSU wasn’t able to build on that momentum. It followed the loss to Auburn with one of its poorest efforts of the season, a 63-36 loss to Alabama. MSU defeated Alabama 75-51 in the regular season.
Those ups and downs have been less frequent this season. In fact, several coaches, including South Carolina’s Dawn Staley, have praised MSU for being in nearly every SEC game this season. Staley’s No. 6 Gamecocks fought off MSU on Thursday in a 71-64 victory at Humphrey Coliseum.
After the game, Schaefer and the players talked about missing another opportunity for a program-defining victory that offered tangible evidence of the progress the team has made from last season.
“I loved our energy, effort, and passion. We just lack a little bit of execution and have some plays were we are not smart,” Schaefer said. “Y’all can figure that out at what times in the game where we would have a bad foul or an illegal screen or whatever. At the end of the day, you lose to No.6 in the country and I am sure everybody in the arena walked out and thought, ‘Man, we are close and the kids played hard and had a chance to win.’ We’re not very happy in our locker room because we felt like again, just like against Tennessee, this was our night to beat No. 6. To beat No. 6, you can’t have the plays happen that we had with taking plays off, you can’t get a rebound, have an illegal screen, or miss a wide-open jumper.”
MSU missed a chance to earn the program’s victory against Tennessee on Jan. 16 in a 67-63 loss. The Bulldogs also have lamented missed opportunities in losses at Florida, at home against Auburn, and at Ole Miss (an 87-85 overtime victory).
Junior guard Jerica James, who had 11 points and four assists in 19 minutes against South Carolina, tried to get the Bulldogs to “take advantage” of opportunities in that game. The Bulldogs nearly did, cutting the deficit to 54-53 in the second half. They failed to capitalize on three chances to take the lead and committed key mistakes down the stretch that eliminated other chances.
James said MSU “played without any worries” with four bench players on the floor when it made its run. She said after the game it is important for the Bulldogs to cast aside another what-could-have been moment and re-focus on taking that next step.
“I think every game we have had that feeling of we are right there,” James said. “I don’t think anyone leaves the locker room happy because tonight and Tennessee are games we should have won. It comes down to one possession and everybody thinks about the things they could have done. I think about things I should have done that possibly could have made a game-changer or turned things around. For me, the feeling is the same. I just want to win. I think that is what we all want to do.”
Schaefer agreed and said MSU has seen improved point guard play from James and senior Katia May. He also likes the progress freshmen Breanna Richardson, Dominique Dillingham, and Ketara Chapel and junior college transfer Savannah Carter have made. Now it is time for everyone to elevate their games and play harder, smarter, and more together.
“I know we are young in certain spots and we are still learning as we go, but we are not young in some other spots, and that is where I need those kids to step up,” Schaefer said. “That is something we have to take care of in that locker room. They know what I am talking about, but there is some accountability that comes with being a junior and being a senior. We don’t have much of a sophomore class. Sherise (Williams) is doing all she can do. Our freshmen, for the most part, are doing all they can. They are still learning that this league is brutal. It is physical.
“I just think there is more in this team. I really do. I believe in them. You get effort like we are getting, and e are getting great effort. Now we have to get execution.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor.
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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