COLUMBUS, Ohio — Victoria Vivians has unfinished business to attend to this afternoon.
The same can be said for Vivians’ classmates Roshunda Johnson, Blair Schaefer, and Morgan William on the Mississippi State women’s basketball team.
For the past year, MSU’s seniors have used a 67-55 loss to South Carolina in the 2017 national title game in Dallas as motivation to help the Bulldogs take another step.
The chance to accomplish that goal will come at 5 p.m. today (ESPN) when MSU (37-1) will take on Notre Dame (34-3) in this year’s national title contest at Nationwide Arena.
In many ways, the senior class of Schaefer, Vivians, and William — Johnson has been with the program the last three years after transferring from Oklahoma State — already has left its mark. The seniors enter today’s game with a program-best 126 victories. They are MSU’s only class to play in the NCAA tournament all four years. The seniors also spearheaded MSU’s undefeated regular season this year and its first Southeastern Conference regular-season title.
But Vivians and her teammates would love to write the final chapter of their careers with a championship ending for the Bulldogs.
“I feel like we have left a great legacy. We have broken records and have done a lot of good things at State, but I don’t think it will be finished until (today),” Vivians said.
With all of the things seniors have accomplished in making MSU “the people’s team,” some would argue the seniors’ legacy already has been set. Vivians said she relishes the opportunity for the band of storied seniors to walk away from the college game as the best team in the country.
“We hold ourselves accountable and we know what happened last year,” Vivians said. “I feel like this year we want it all. We wanted it last year, but there is no way we’re giving it up this year.”
Motivation
MSU hasn’t used pictures of the national championship trophy in its locker room as motivation. Instead, the players have been asked to tell each other and the coaches why they feel MSU can win a national title.
Vivians said her reason for wanting to win a national title revolves around blazing a trail for boys and girls in the state of Mississippi and showing them they can stay home and reach the highest goals.
“It is something that has never been done,” Vivians said. “People will always look up to you. I feel like my why is to give them their why, why we win because we’re Mississippi State.”
Blair Schaefer said a chance to play for a national title is something every class dreams about when it comes together. To have an opportunity to do it twice adds to the pride Schaefer has for her teammates and coaches. She said she has added motivation behind her why for wanting to win a national title.
“My dad (Coach Vic Schaefer) has really put his heart and soul into my basketball career, from AAU days to developing me in college, but also because I know his heart and how much passion he puts into not only our team but also our family,” Blair Schaefer said. “My other whys are for my brother and getting him back healthy and for the little girls who look up to me. I used to be that little girl who used to look up to college athletes and think, ‘I want to be you.’
“I feel like I am doing that now for other people. That makes me feel so good,” she added.
Blair Schaefer feels the seniors have left a legacy that will be remembered regardless of the outcome today. Still, she acknowledges a victory would add to that long list of accomplishments.
“I feel like (today) would just be the icing on the cake because that is what we have been after for four years,” she said.
Coach Schaefer said he feels the seniors’ legacy “is etched in stone.” He said it is impossible to ignore the significance of 126 victories, a SEC regular-season championship, a 32-0 start to this season, and the other records the seniors have helped break.
In addition to all of the basketball accomplishments, the seniors have helped pack Humphrey Coliseum and make Starkville one of the nation’s hot spots for women’s basketball. Six years ago, that was coach Schaefer’s dream. Today, he hopes to put the seniors in position so they can realize their dreams and take care of their unfinished business.
“If we win, it just adds another line to what they’ve brought,” Coach Schaefer said. “Because what they’ve done for Mississippi State and for women’s basketball, in particular, really has more to do with off the court than on.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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