STARKVILLE — Chloe Bibby is seizing the opportunity to play a bigger role on the Mississippi State women’s basketball team.
As a result, No. 6 MSU is answering one of the biggest questions it faced after losing four key perimeter players from last season’s program-record 37-win team.
Bibby had a career-high 21 points to go with five rebounds and three assists Wednesday afternoon to lead five players in double figures in No. 6 MSU’s 106-41 victory against Furman before a crowd of 6,970 at Humphrey Coliseum.
Bibby said she didn’t know until after the game that she had eclipsed her previous career-high of 13 points.
“I don’t really think about my shot,” Bibby said. “If I get open I am going to shoot it, and today we found the extra pass. I was just happy I could knock down those open shots.
Teaira McCowan had a game-high 24 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, Andra Espinoza-Hunter (14 points), Anriel Howard (12), and Myah Taylor (10) also scored in double figures as MSU (5-0) scored 100 or more points for a school-record third-straight game.
But Bibby, who has scored in double figures in every game this season, provided a spark in the first half by scoring 18 points in 18 minutes in the first half to help MSU build a 60-18 cushion.
The Bulldogs used a layup by Bibby off an inbounds pass from Holmes to cap a 30-0 run that stretched from the first quarter into the second to take a 46-7 lead.
MSU, which entered the game shooting 34.7 percent from 3-point range, was 8-for-11 from beyond the arc in the first 20 minutes. The eight treys were the Bulldogs’ most in a game this season.
Bibby led the way from 3-point range, going 4-for-4 from deep. She hit both of her treys against Coppin State to stretch her streak to six in a row before she missed a 3-pointer in the third quarter.
MSU coach Vic Schaefer has said multiple times that Bibby worked hard to improve her shooting in the offseason. He said she continues to be in the gym to polish a shooting stroke that is even more valuable this season following the graduation of Victoria Vivians, Roshunda Johnson, Blair Schaefer, and Morgan William.
“One of the things I wrote on the board today was the game honors toughness,” coach Schaefer said. “Chloe Bibby is in the gym. That’s why she is shooting the ball well. She has prepared herself for these moments. She is in there more than anyone on my team. She is there early every day. From my perspective as a coach, she is being rewarded. The game is rewarding her because she is putting in the time.”
Schaefer said his team’s perimeter shooting has been the most surprising aspect of the Bulldogs’ play through five games. He said the Bulldogs didn’t know if they would have Espinoza-Hunter, a transfer from Connecticut, eligible this season. The ability of Espinoza-Hunter and Howard to fit right in coupled with Bibby’s maturation from a player who averaged 3.9 points in 13.6 minutes per game has boosted the Bulldogs’ productivity.
Last season, Bibby shot 37.7 percent from the field, including 31.9 percent from 3-point range. Against Furman, she went 8-for-10 from the field and 5-for-6 from 3-point range in 25 minutes.
Schaefer also was pleased with the fact Bibby had zero turnovers. He said that will be a key moving forward as the level of competition gets tougher in the coming weeks.
“That’s what she has to do,” Schaefer said, as he used his left hand to slap the right shoulder of Bibby in a congratulatory manner. “She has to continue to make shots. She’s shooting the ball off the charts but (knocking his knuckle on the table in front of him), we don’t want her to turn the ball over. That is the other piece. If we can get that out of her game, the turnover, piece, now she is really going to be a productive player for us.”
Bibby’s effort in the first half was part of a 63.2-percent shooting performance. The Bulldogs forced 16 turnovers in the first 20 minutes and committed only three.
Le’Jzae Davidson led Furman (2-3) with 17 points.
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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