DURHAM, N.C. — Sometimes players need a little reminder to light a fire under their feet.
Vic Schaefer didn’t rely on only words Friday to hammer that point home to Breanna Richardson.
“I wrote it on the (dry-erase) board (during the media timeout) and showed it to them,” Schaefer said. “I felt like we had gotten out-toughed, outplayed, and we just really weren’t locked in. That was what we drew up on the board, and I thought we really responded at that moment. I think we went on a 6-0 run and they called a timeout.”
Richardson answered Schaefer’s call by scoring six of eight points in a key stretch after the No. 12 seed Tulane women’s basketball team had taken the lead and leading No. 5 seed Mississippi State to a 57-47 victory in the first round of the NCAA tournament at Cameron Indoor Stadium on the campus of Duke University.
Best effort on team
Richardson had a team-high 15 points (7-of-14 shooting from the field) and 12 rebounds for her third double-double of the season to help MSU (27-6) set up a meeting against No. 4 seed Duke (22-10) at 11 a.m. today (ESPN2). Duke edged No. 13 seed Albany 54-52 on Friday.
The winner of today’s game will advance to the Sweet 16 in Spokane, Washington.
“Last year (against Tulane), coach said I was a monster on the boards, so every time somebody shot I was going backside and seeing where I could get the rebounds and get the simple putbacks to get us started,” Richardson said.
Last season, Richardson had 13 points and 10 rebounds (eight offensive) in a 77-68 victory against Tulane in the first round of the Women’s National Invitation Tournament at Humphrey Coliseum in Starkville.
On Friday, Richardson, a 6-foot-1 sophomore forward, had four points in eight minutes in the first half. She and the Bulldogs didn’t have a good start to the second half. After leading 27-22 at halftime, the Bulldogs watched the Green Wave go on a 7-0 in the first 4 minutes, 17 seconds of the half to turn the tide. Schaefer attempted to spark his team by emphasizing several points in the under 16-minute media timeout.
“It was just don’t settle,” Schaefer said. “I just told her, ‘You’re 2-for-6 (from the field). Stop settling. Go make a layup.’ I think I said that three times in the timeout. … I think she attacked the rim and she got also got a steal in transition, and that helps your shooting percentage.”
Richardson scored off a cut and received a pass from Martha Alwal for a layup that tied the game at 29. Richardson’s layup off an inbounds pass at the 14:19 mark gave MSU the lead for good.
“Last year when we played them, I thought she was probably the key player,” Tulane coach Lisa Stockton said. “She didn’t surprise me today because on that weak-side rebound she is really tough to keep off the boards and she is really aggressive. There were a couple of times she came from the high post and really slashed down the lane and got some rebounds.
“We contained her a little bit in the first half. I think she had three rebounds in the first half. Maybe it was three offensive rebounds. In the second half when they were missing those outside shots, she really got those second-chance opportunities.”
But Richardson wasn’t done.
Richardson rebounded a miss by Dominique Dillingham but couldn’t finish a strong move to the basket. She then fed Kendra Grant for a layup to push the Bulldogs’ lead to four. After another offensive rebound and miss, Morgan William made a steal and fed Richardson for a layup. That score triggered a 14-0 run that helped MSU seal the deal. Richardson also converted a three-point play off a diagonal pass from Grant in the half-court set to keep MSU rolling in that stretch.
“Coach just said we got out-toughed and we weren’t being aggressive enough, so I just went and got a couple of rebounds,” Richardson said. “I figured we needed some juice, so I had to get us started some type of way, so I went out and got a couple of rebounds and it picked up our energy and it got us started.”
Alwal said it best after the game when she said Richardson was “on fire.” Schaefer agreed and said Richardson’s affect on the game came from her recognizing she needed to play differently to spark her team. He said the first play MSU ran out of the first media timeout in the second half was designed for Richardson, so he hoped it would get her going.
“I reminded Bre at that time she was 2-for-6 and I was tired of her for settling,” Schaefer said. “She got to the rim two times in a row, and then she is a monster rebounder today. She had 12 boards, which we really knew she would be capable of doing.”
“I am really proud of Bre. We’re just not very good unless her and Ketara (Chapel) can really add something. I thought Ketara came in in the first half and was good for us. But Bre was really good in the second half. After that timeout, like I said, she got to the rim, she didn’t settle, she got some big rebounds, both offensively and defensively. Even the ones she didn’t get she was involved in.
“I just wrote it on the board. Sometimes kids just need to see that. It was just ‘7-0 run, out-toughed, out-physicaled.’ ”
The double-figure scoring game was Richardson’s 15th of the season. She entered the NCAA tournament coming off a stretch in which she scored 12 points against Kentucky in a loss in the Southeastern Conference tournament. Prior to that game. she had one point against Ole Miss, zero points against South Carolina and Alabama, and 16 points against Florida. MSU is 10-1 when Richardson attempts 10 or more shots.
Schaefer said Richardson sometimes like to stand out on the perimeter and shoot jump shots, so he was proud of how she opted to go play at the rim like he encouraged.
“Once she gets going, you can see her confidence,” Schaefer said. “Again, we’re not any good unless I get Breanna Richardson and Ketara Chapel playing.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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