STARKVILLE — Ameshya Williams leaned in and listened.
The Mississippi State freshman offered a nervous smile as Brock Turnipseed, the women’s basketball team’s media relations contact, stepped back after offering Williams some advice and prepared for the news conference to begin. A few seconds later, Turnipseed whispered to Williams to get her attention and encouraged her to breathe in an attempt to get her to relax.
It didn’t work.
The 6-foot-1 forward remained stoic in her chair behind the podium. Her shoulders were hunched and her arms were tucked in front of her as if she was trying to find a way to make herself smaller in the glare of the post-game spotlight.
Comments from MSU coach Vic Schaefer didn’t make things any easier.
“Ameshya is going to be, as you can tell, really special,” Schaefer said following No. 5 MSU’s 90-47 victory against Alabama State before a crowd of 5,786 at Humphrey Coliseum. “She is getting better. She works at it. She has a great attitude. She is coming off making a 3.33 in her first full term as a freshman. I am really proud of her.”
Williams had a career-high 12 points in a career-best 16 minutes to help MSU (13-0) win in its first home game in a month. The victory also enabled the Bulldogs, the only remaining undefeated team in the Southeastern Conference, to tie the program’s second-longest winning streak to start the season.
Victoria Vivians led MSU with a season-high 28 points. She also had five rebounds and four assists. Sophomore point guard Jazzmun Holmes had six points, five assists, and four rebounds in 16 minutes. Morgan William (five assists, two steals), Roshunda Johnson (four rebounds, three steals), and Teaira McCowan (six rebounds, two blocked shots) added nine points on a night MSU forced Alabama State (1-8) into 29 turnovers and turned those mistakes in a 40-7 edge in points off turnovers.
Williams played a part in that with a career-high three steals. She also was 4 of 5 from the field, which helped her set another career high for field goals in a game, and matched her career-best effort with four offensive rebounds.
“It was a great opportunity,” Williams said. “Like he said, I never knew he was going to pick me to go in that early because I never go in that early, but when I went out there I just had to give it my best and do all I could.”
Schaefer said Williams’ approach has allowed her to make such an impression in only eight games. He said she struggled earlier in the season after a surgery set her back a little bit, but he said she continues to work on her game to try to show him she deserves more playing time.
Getting more playing time might be a challenge, especially considering Williams is behind seniors Breanna Richardson and Ketara Chapel, but that doesn’t mean she is going to stop working.
A perfect example came in the fourth quarter with the game already well in hand. With less than three minutes remaining, Williams hustled from the right block across the lane to grab an offensive rebound. Forty seconds later, she deflected a pass while playing half-court defense and knocked it free to start a fast break. She lost control of the basketball but still managed to tap it ahead to Jacaira “Iggy” Allen for her first career assist.
“I try to (bring energy) every time I am on the floor,” said Williams, a former standout at West Harrison High School.
Vivians, who has a big lead on Williams in post-game media appearances, spoke up and offered glowing praise for the freshman making her press conference debut.
“Ameshya is a great ballplayer,” Vivians said. “Even though you see it in the game, she does it every day in practice. She alters everybody’s shot. She gets her hand on almost every ball. That defense is going to go to offense to help her teammates. If she is getting all of those steals, I am pretty sure her teammates are going to go down there and score.”
Schaefer said he and Williams watched game film last weekend in Los Angeles to give her a sense of what she is doing right. He feels the film session will help Williams develop a better understanding of what she needs to do to earn more minutes.
“That was a great film session,” Schaefer said. “As we always say, the film don’t lie. I thought she came out tonight and really tried to correct some of those things that maybe she saw on film that she wasn’t doing that she thought she was doing.
“That happens a lot as a freshman. You think you’re doing this and you think you’re playing hard and you think you’re going hard and then you look at the film and ehhh, maybe you can go a little harder.”
Williams made the most of her opportunity when she was inserted into the lineup with seven minutes left in the second quarter. She set a screen at the free-throw line to help free Vivians for a jump shot. She added two free throws, a jump shot off an assist from Vivians, a layup off an assist from Johnson, and an offensive rebound putback of a missed shot by William.
Williams didn’t re-enter the game until 8 minutes, 53 seconds remained in the fourth quarter. She again didn’t waste time to make an impression by running the right wing on a fast break, taking a pass from William in stride, and scoring on an athletic layup that saw her finish through contact as the defender tried to slide to her left to cut Williams off.
After the game, Williams admitted she thought she did “great,” especially after making such an early appearance. But that didn’t mean she was eager to return to the post-game media room.
“I don’t think I want to come up here,” Williams said. “I really don’t know how to answer the questions.”
Schaefer tried to make Williams feel at ease by reminding her how well she played in the 43-point victory.
“That is the beauty of growing up,” Schaefer said as he put his hand on Williams’ back to help her relax. “It is not about Xs and Os and playing great. It is great to be able to come in here and know you were one of the best players in the game, and you get to own that.”
NOTES: MSU officials said the team collected more than 1,000 teddy bears in its inaugural Teddy Bear Toss. The toys will be donated to local children via the Salvation Army and Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital. … Schaefer said he isn’t sure when senior guard Dominique Dillingham will return from knee surgery. He said after the game he had hoped to have Dillingham, who has missed the last six games, back to play against Alabama State, or even earlier. With the team set to take five days off, Schaefer said he isn’t sure if Dillingham will be able to play Wednesday, Dec. 28, when MSU plays host to Northwestern State at Humphrey Coliseum. “She is going to have some rust that she is going to have to knock off,” Schaefer said. “Now she is going to have one game, if we get her back for that game, to try to knock it all off before we go to SEC play. That is a concern.” … MSU was 28 of 40 from the free-throw line. The 28 made free throws matched the team’s most, while the 40 attempts were the most in a game.
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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