Articles by Adam Minichino
Notebook: MSU looks for second straight Sweet 16 berth today
STARKVILLE — Vic Schaefer was waiting for the question.
MSU starts postseason play on strong note by routing Troy
STARKVILLE — There aren’t many things that can stop or keep Blair Schaefer down.
Schaefer has career night in MSU’s rout of Troy
STARKVILLE — Blair Schaefer saved her best game of the season for the sport’s biggest stage.
Schaefer scored her team’s first 11 points en route to a career-high 21-point effort Friday afternoon to lead the second-seeded Mississippi State women’s basketball team to a 110-69 victory against 15th-seeded Troy before a crowd of 5,572 at Humphrey Coliseum.
MSU turns momentum against Troy in second quarter
STARKVILLE — The plan was working.
For the first 10 minutes, Chanda Rigby’s plan for the Troy women’s basketball team to attempt a shot every seven seconds had it right there with Mississippi State. The 15th-seeded Trojans were pushing tempo and beating the second-seeded Bulldogs down the court. They looked everything like a team that was eighth in the nation in scoring (82.9 points per game) and second in rebounds per game (50.22).
But things went horribly wrong in the second quarter.
Schaefer committed to MSU’s preparedness
STARKVILLE — Maryann Baker knows a “grinder” when she sees one.
As a player at Texas A&M, Baker earned a reputation as a blue-collar worker who grew from a member of the scout team to a standout defensive player who helped the Aggies win a national championship in 2011.
‘Personal touch’ has helped MSU women build bigger following
Vic Schaefer knows how to work a court.
Whether it is standing still with arms folded tightly across his chest or dancing on the sideline in front of the Mississippi State bench, Schaefer knows how to get his message across and to energize his players and his fans.
Schaefer also knows how to work a room.
Selling tickets still only part of issue for women’s game
Doug Bruno likes selling tickets.
But as much as the DePaul women’s basketball coach believes — like Mississippi State coach Vic Schaefer — that offense sells tickets, defense wins games, and defensive rebounding wins championships, he understands there is more to the discussion when it comes to helping the sport grow.
Troy eager to accomplish something special against MSU
STARKVILLE — Breaking records has become the norm in the Troy University women’s basketball program.
The Trojans have won 20 or more games in three-consecutive seasons for the first time in program history. They also have led the Sun Belt Conference in scoring each of the last five seasons.
Faster pace awaits MSU against Troy in first round of NCAAs
STARKVILLE — Up-tempo games don’t faze Vic Schaefer.
In fact, the Mississippi State women’s basketball coach offered a warning Thursday to opponents that think his team won’t be able to keep pace in up-and-down action.
Rigby’s fast-paced style helps transform Troy
Get your stopwatch out.
Go. Count to seven. Shoot. Stop. Repeat.
Chanda Rigby knows that isn’t a conventional pattern for success as a basketball coach. But Rigby wanted to create a system that made the game exciting in her new job at Troy University, so she decided to install a fast-paced style of play patterned after Dave Arsenault’s Division III Grinnell College men’s basketball team.
Valuing basketball key to Northern Iowa’s success
Value the basketball.
It sounds like a simple concept, but that mantra is at the heart of everything the Northern Iowa women’s basketball team does. That mind-set helps explain how a team that is 229th in the nation in field goal percentage (38.6 percent) is still alive to be a part of March Madness.
Timing paved way for DePaul’s Bruno to get into coaching
Like many aspiring basketball players, Doug Bruno thought he was going to move on to a career in the NBA.
As a player for DePaul men’s basketball coach Ray Meyer, Bruno and his teammates had an advantage in that the NBA’s Chicago Bulls practiced in the Blue Demons’ gym, so Bruno had a chance to go against greats like Jerry Sloan and Norn Van Lier.
MSU women will play host to Troy in first round of NCAA tournament
STARKVILLE — The work started at 6:36 p.m. Monday.
Within minutes of learning the second-seeded Mississippi State women’s basketball team would play 15th-seeded Troy at 1:30 p.m. Friday (ESPN2) in the first round of the NCAA tournament, Skylar Collins, the squad’s director of scouting and video coordinator, was compiling clips and video of the Trojans as well as seventh-seeded DePaul and 10th-seeded Northern Iowa, the other teams slated to come to Starkville.
MSU women learn NCAA tournament opponent tonight
STARKVILLE — The waiting is the hardest part.
After falling to South Carolina in the championship game of the Southeastern Conference tournament in Greenville, South Carolina, the Mississippi State women’s basketball team will learn its postseason fate at 6 tonight (ESPN) when the 64-team field for the NCAA tournament is unveiled.
Defense will be key for Starkville against Olive Branch
JACKSON — The numbers likely will determine the Starkville High School girls basketball team’s chances of winning a Mississippi High School Activities Association (MHSAA) Class 6A State title.
If Starkville can hold Olive Branch under 40 points at 6 p.m. Saturday at Mississippi Coliseum, it will be the 25th time this season the Lady Yellow Jackets have held an opponent to that scoring total.
Oak Hill Academy’s Dill, Grubbs will play in All-Star game
A little extra practice never hurts, even if you have to find a way to sneak into the gym.
Over the years, Ken “Buddy” Dill and his Oak Hill Academy boys basketball teammates have found ways to gain access to the school’s gym to play impromptu pick-up games. Sometimes there have been only two or four Raiders putting in some extra work. There also have been times Dill said 25-30 players have been in the gym waiting to get on the court.
Starkville beats Biloxi to reach title game
JACKSON — Kelsey Jones wanted to give up the ball so bad.
The only problem was the official, who was standing to Jones’ left at midcourt, couldn’t take it as the final seconds ticked off the clock at the Mississippi Coliseum.
Yet Jones tried again, inching the basketball closer to him as the clock wound down to zero. Jones didn’t want to hold the ball any longer. She wanted to celebrate.
Covington plays big part in Starkville’s stifling defense
JACKSON — It always helps to have a contingency plan.
When you have been to the state semifinals three years in a row, you have a sense anything can happen, which is why Starkville High School girls basketball coach Kristie Williams made sure to have several backup plans ready to show her players in practice to ensure they were prepared for everything against Biloxi on Wednesday.
