And then there were five.
Only the most optimistic fan would have had the Mississippi State women’s basketball team 14-0 and ranked No. 19 in The Associated Press and the USA Today Top 25 polls.
That’s not to say no one believed in the Bulldogs. With back-to-back nationally ranked recruiting classes in the past two years, many thought the future looked bright for coach Vic Schaefer as he entered his third season in Starkville. MSU’s best start to the season only has fueled the excitement about what could be the best season in the program’s history.
MSU will get back to action at 7 tonight when it plays host to Arkansas-Pine Bluff at Humphrey Coliseum. It will be the Bulldogs’ final non-conference game of the season. The non-league slate has featured several quality victories, including wins against Arkansas State, then-No. 17 West Virginia, and Western Kentucky in the Preseason Women’s National Invitation Tournament. Those results catapulted MSU into The AP poll, which is where the team has remained, even through a stretch in which it played six games in 11 days prior to the holiday break.
Tonight’s game will be MSU’s last in the regular season against a directional school or one with a hyphen in it. The pessimists out there will say those schools often are ones teams pack their schedules with to improve their odds of making the postseason. And while MSU’s Strength of Schedule (SOS) is No. 188, according to WarrenNolan.com, its Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) is No. 32 and No. 37, according to WarrenNolan.com and NCAA.com, respectively. SOS and RPI are two factors the NCAA tournament selection committee considers when picking the at-large teams for the field.
MSU’s SOS and RPI will go up at Friday after it plays host to Georgia in the Southeastern Conference opener for both teams. Georgia, which was ranked No. 14 in The AP poll last week, fell from the unbeaten ranks Sunday following a 70-51 loss at Seton Hall. Oregon State, which was No. 10, also suffered its first loss in a 74-63 setback to No. 8 Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee. Those results leave No. 1 South Carolina, No. 3 Texas, No. 19 MSU, Princeton, and Akron as the only undefeated teams in Division I.
MSU’s climb has come faster than Schaefer anticipated, too. The third-year coach said at the beginning of the season the Bulldogs would embrace the challenge of higher expectations following a 22-14 finish in 2013-14 that saw them advance to the quarterfinals of the WNIT. A recruiting class that was ranked No. 20 in the nation and featured Scott Central High School standout Victoria Vivians, the state’s all-time leading scorer, heightened the enthusiasm for the season.
Vivians and her classmates have done more than their share to push MSU to its first ranking in The AP poll since the 2009-10 season. In fact, Vivians (team-high 16.3 points per game) and point guard Morgan William (11.3 ppg.) have MSU in a place of its own. William, who is second on the team in scoring, also leads the team in assists (58). Sophomore center Chinwe Okorie, who didn’t play last season due to NCAA eligibility issues, leads the team in rebounding at 6.8 per game. With first-year players holding the top two positions in scoring and the No. 1 spots in rebounding and assists on the team, MSU is the only team in both national polls to hold that distinction. Only Louisville, which was No. 7 last week, has two freshmen — Mariya Moore (who also leads her team in assists) and Myisha Hines-Allen — leading the team in scoring.
The excitement Vivians, William, LaKaris Salter, who has become a fan favorite, Blair Schaefer, and Kayla Nevitt have added to the program is palpable. It also can be seen in the size of MSU’s crowds at Humphrey Coliseum. MSU is averaging 2,830 fans through nine home games, which is sixth in the SEC. The figure is a jump of more than 600 (2,321) from MSU’s average attendance in 21 home dates last season. A year ago, MSU ranked seventh in the nation in largest increase in attendance from the previous season (1,317 in 2012-13).
MSU already has benefited from the support. A crowd of 2,502 watched MSU upset West Virginia 74-61 on Nov. 20. MSU then completed a 4-0 run through the Preseason WNIT with an 88-77 victory against Western Kentucky before a crowd of 3,773 at Humphrey Coliseum. The crowd was the seventh-best in program history. It is one of four crowds of more than 3,000 MSU has this season.
The attendance figures also will increase with a home slate that includes games against Georgia, Arkansas, LSU, Alabama, Vanderbilt, Texas A&M, Florida, and Ole Miss.
So how high will MSU go? MSU, which defeated Illinois-Chicago and Miami University at the Las Vegas Hoops Classic in Nevada prior to Christmas, has a chance to join the 1999-00 squad as the only teams to post perfect pre-SEC records. The Bulldogs have done it with an offense that is scoring 84.9 ppg., which leads the SEC and is seventh nationally. Vivians is third in the SEC and sixth-highest among freshmen in Division I.
All of it has added up to an exciting brand of basketball that evokes memories of the program’s best teams, which were led by Mississippi products LaToya Thomas and Tan White. The 2009-10 squad, which reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament for the first time in program history, also had standouts from the state of Mississippi (Mary Kathryn Govero and Diamber Johnson).
But this year’s team has a chance to eclipse them all. A key will be how successfully Schaefer can work seniors Martha Alwal, Kendra Grant, and Savannah Carter back into the rotation. All three missed time at the beginning of the season due to injuries. Now that they have returned, Schaefer said the toughest part of his job could be finding minutes for all 14 players on his roster.
The players shouldn’t allow that to be a problem for Schaefer. They should seize the moment and realize this team has a chance to be special. They can do that be pushing each other every day in practice. They can do that by finding time in their busy schedules to get to the gym to work on their individual skills. They can do that by talking to their friends and classmates at MSU and encouraging them to be a part of the crowds at Humphrey Coliseum.
Fans can do their part, too. There’s no reason MSU shouldn’t be able to attract a crowd of at least 5,000 Friday afternoon against Georgia. MSU will need that kind of support if it wants to build momentum in what figures to be a hard-fought marathon in the league. After being picked eighth in the preseason SEC poll by select SEC and national media members, there’s no reason MSU can’t shatter those notions and climb into the top half of the league. There are bound to be ups and downs with a young team, but it should be a fun ride.
Make sure you’re around to see it as MSU builds a foundation and becomes a contender in the SEC and on the national scene.
Adam Minichino is sports editor of The Dispatch. He can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @ctsportseditor.
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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