STARKVILLE — A year ago, the Mississippi State women’s basketball team relied on newcomer Savannah Carter for a spark.
Carter obliged in her first season with the Bulldogs, providing a defensive lift whenever she was on the court.
A year later, Morgan William has settled nicely into that role. And while Carter made her impact felt mostly on defense, William, a 5-foot-5 freshman, is making an impression on the game on both ends of the court. On defense, William can be a ball-hawking presence that makes it difficult for opponents to get into their offenses. On the other end, William uses deft ballhandling and quickness to penetrate and create scoring opportunities for herself and for her teammates. It’s a role William has embraced 18 games into her first college season.
“I like it, but I haven’t been doing it as much,” William said of her role as an energizer off the bench. “Coach always tells me that he wants me to get back to moving, going faster and faster. … He wants me to be a spark plug. When I get on the floor, I need to make the pace go faster.”
William will try to help No. 14 MSU (18-0, 3-0 Southeastern Conference) extend its longest winning streak in school history and best start in league play at 2 p.m. today when it takes on Vanderbilt (8-7, 0-3) at Memorial Gym.
MSU remains the only team ranked in The Associated Press Top 25 to have first-year players as its leaders in scoring, rebounding, and assists. Victoria Vivians leads the Bulldogs in scoring (15.5 points per game), while William is second at 10.5 ppg. William leads the team and is fourth in the Southeastern Conference in assists (3.8 per game). Sophomore center Chinwe Okorie, who sat out last season due to NCAA eligibility issues, is tied with sophomore Breanna Richardson for the team lead in rebounding (5.8).
Louisville is the only other team to have two freshmen — Mariya Moore and Myisha Hines-Allen — hold its top two scoring positions. Moore also leads the Cardinals in assists, but Sara Hammond, a senior, leads the team in rebounding.
William has teamed with senior Jerica James to give MSU solid production at point guard. William has 69 assists and 49 turnovers (first on the team) in 20.2 minutes per game. James has 56 assists and 24 turnovers. Their play is a key reason why MSU has nearly as many assists (257) as turnovers (279). In 2012-13, MSU had 334 assists and 603 turnovers and finished 13-17. Last season, MSU had 509 assists and 583 turnovers and went 22-14 and advanced to the quarterfinals of the Women’s National Invitation Tournament.
This season, William has given MSU a player who can shift into a hyper-speed gear when she enters the game. Ordinarily, fifth gear would be an appropriate term, but William’s speed is faster than that. She has shown an uncanny ability to create off the dribble or to leave defenders in her wake with a quick first step that enables her to get separation.
“She has a bunch of fast steps,” said Schaefer, who doesn’t know if he has coached a faster player than William, “especially (that first one) when she has got just a little bit of a hesitation to her or a little bit of a raised head. That is the part you try to teach thee kids when they are trying to beat somebody off the bounce, it is that change of speed. It is that little bit of a head shake.
“With her, I think it is awfully hard for anybody to guard her off the bounce when she has that pep in her step, they have to get way off her.”
Despite that, William said Thursday she feels she has been playing “slower” of late and that she is trying to get back to the pace she had earlier in the season. She said the move into SEC action has accounted for some of the change in the speed of her game. She said the size of the players waiting for her in the paint after she gets by her defender is causing her to have to alter her shots. After all, speed can only help so much when you’re 5-foot-5 and trying to get a shot off against a post player who is 6-foot-1 or taller.
“My first two games, I am not going to say I am scared, but I have to get the feel for it,” William said. “It feels bigger and faster than it was during the preseason, so I don’t want to go (into the paint) and get my shot blocked.”
Although James has started every game, William has played in plenty of key stretches, including many down the stretch. There have been times Schaefer has said William tries to go too fast and leaves the ball behind. That happened to William on Thursday in MSU’s 72-57 victory against Arkansas when she tried to drive on the right side of the floor and attempted to turn, but she lost possession of the ball.
“Morgan comes in and she just energizes the whole building,” Schaefer said. “She has a different level she brings the ball down the floor. She gets a chance to sit there and watch and learn from JJ and kind of see what needs to be altered, fixed, or stay the same.”
But William said she continued to attack the basket because the Razorbacks were in foul trouble. Her aggressiveness paid off in a 4-of-4 effort at the free-throw line in the final two minutes to help the Bulldogs seal the deal. William finished with 11 points and five assists in 18 minutes.
For the season, William leads MSU in free throws made and attempted (91 of 109) and is shooting 83.5 percent from the foul line. She also is shooting 35.8 percent from the field, which includes 44.4 percent (12 of 27) from 3-point range.
Those are impressive numbers for a freshman who admits she has had to learn on the job. In addition to speed, William’s confidence has helped her make an impact in her first 18 games. Fearless would be a great word to describe William’s assaults on the basket. She intends to continue to make those sprints to the rim, and feels she will have even more success as she becomes even more comfortable playing point guard in the SEC.
“It is going to be scary for other opponents,” William said when asked how she will be able to play when she learns how to play with the speed she wants to in the SEC.
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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