STARKVILLE — Mississippi State women’s basketball coach Vic Schaefer used the word “difficult” Friday afternoon to describe his team’s latest game.
On Thursday, a season-low 27.6-percent shooting effort from the field doomed No. 7 MSU in a 66-54 loss at No. 24 Missouri. The loss snapped an 11-game winning streak for the Bulldogs (16-2, 3-1 Southeastern Conference) and denied their bid to start 4-0 in SEC play for the first time in program history.
In the SEC, there is little time to feel sorry for yourself or to hope for a breather to help you get back on track. That’s why Schaefer and the Bulldogs were back at work Friday to prepare for their first of two regular-season games against archrival Ole Miss (9-8, 1-3) at 6 p.m. Monday (SEC Network) at Humphrey Coliseum.
Last season, MSU lost to Vanderbilt 78-62 on Jan. 11, 2015. The defeat ended the Bulldogs’ season-opening 18-game winning streak. MSU followed the game with a 71-69 double-overtime loss to LSU in Starkville. It then won four-straight games to regain momentum.
Schaefer felt MSU responded well from the Vanderbilt loss in a “knockdown, dragout” game against LSU that could have gone either way. He hopes to see the same kind of fight from his team in a matchup that should feature an intense atmosphere and a packed house.
“One game doesn’t define you, as I told the girls last night, but how you respond might,” Schaefer said. “I think the thing we take from a ballgame like last night is our youth really showed and our inexperience really showed.”
Schaefer said the Bulldogs’ lack of communication proved too difficult to overcome against a quality opponent that makes teams defend an offense that relies on a lot of screens. He said he isn’t sure how well his players will bounce back against Ole Miss because this year’s team is tough to read because the players don’t communicate or aren’t as vocal as they need to be on the floor.
Schaefer also said there is “a lot to get done” with sophomore guard Victoria Vivians, the team’s leading scorer (18 points per game), and the rest of the team moving forward. He hopes his starting five, which was 13 of 55 from the field against Missouri, finds a way to bounce back.
“Communication is something we have harped on and talked about all year,” Schaefer said. “We have some issues we have got to address, which I have been trying to address even in victory because I know these things can compound over time if you don’t.”
Schaefer said the issues his team faces are “glaring.” He said he accepts responsibility for getting the Bulldogs ready to play and for correcting the “bad habits” that continue to plague some of his players.
Junior guard Dominique Dillingham, who had nine points on 3-of-14 shooting from the field against Missouri, said MSU has to re-discover its chemistry and rhythm on offense.
“I think we just have got to learn from it and move on and leave it in the past,” Dillingham said. “We lost. We’re going to lose games, but we don’t want to lose anymore.”
Dillingham said the Bulldogs have to play hard and that she didn’t think MSU played as hard as Missouri at times.
Junior forward Ketara Chapel, who had two points on 1-for-11 shooting from the field, said a lack of communication hampered the Bulldogs’ attempt to rally from a 23-11 deficit after the first quarter that grew to as many as 20 points in the second quarter.
“We just have to talk more,” Chapel said. “We weren’t talking on screens, and there was some stuff we should have switched on. It was just a lack of communication.”
Ole Miss is coming off an 81-58 loss to No. 15 Texas A&M on Thursday. Schaefer knows that setback or the fact MSU defeated Ole Miss twice last season won’t have an effect on the outcome of Monday’s game.
“It is a game that is meaningful to a lot of people,” Schaefer said. “I expect them to come in her and play really hard, and I would be if we didn’t.”
n NOTES: Schaefer said junior forward Breanna Richardson is still day to day after she suffered a concussion last Thursday in a 60-45 victory against Auburn in Starkville. Richardson hit her head when she fell to the floor going for a rebound. She didn’t play in an 80-55 victory against Arkansas on Sunday or against Missouri. … Vivians was one of four players from the SEC to be included on the Wooden Award Midseason Top 20 Watch List, which was released Friday by the Los Angeles Athletic Club. The award, which is named after the legendary UCLA men’s basketball coach, is given to the nation’s top women’s college basketball player. Vivians is one of six sophomores on the list. Vivians joins Tennessee’s Diamond DeShields and South Carolina’s A’ja Wilson and Tiffany Mitchell on the list.
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 36 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.