STARKVILLE — The record crowd-drawing Mississippi State women’s basketball team intends to hang around the Southeastern Conference tournament a little longer this year.
To accomplish that goal, third-seeded MSU will have to do something it couldn’t last year: win in the quarter-finals.
MSU(24-6) will get that chance Friday at approximately 7:30 p.m. when it takes on the winner of today’s game between sixth-seeded Georgia (21-8) and 11th-seeded Vanderbilt (17-13) at Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida.
“It’s an exciting time of year,” MSU coach Vic Schaefer said. “You get through the grind of an SEC season and you’re fortunate to be 11-5 again. … We’re excited about the opportunity on Friday night. We don’t know who we will play, but to reward our kids with a double bye and allow them another extra day is a good thing.
“We know what it is like to play on Friday night. We’d like to experience Saturday and Sunday as well. That is our goal this year.”
Last season, MSU set a program record with 11 wins in the SEC and earned the No. 3 seed. MSU built a 15-point lead against Kentucky in the quarterfinals, but it failed to finish in a 76-67 loss. The setback played a part in MSU falling to a No. 5 seed in the NCAA tournament and getting sent to play in Durham, North Carolina. No. 4 seed Duke capitalized on the home-court advantage to beat MSU 64-56 in the second round.
This season, MSU tied for second in the league standings — the best SEC finish in program history — but it likely will need to win two games in the SEC tournament to have a chance to be in the mix for a top-16 seed and an opportunity to play host to the first and second rounds of the NCAA tournament. According to the NCAA, MSU enters the SEC tournament with a Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) of 29, which is where it stood last year prior to the announcement of the 64-team NCAA tournament field. The Bulldogs’ Strength of Schedule (SOS) of 73 proved to be too big of a hurdle for them to overcome.
This year, MSU’s SOS is 70, according to RealTimeRPI.com.
Three victories in three days would give MSU its first SEC tournament title and the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. Two wins, especially one against No. 15 Texas A&M in the semifinals, could push the Bulldogs past the Aggies.
Charlie Creme, ESPN’s women’s college basketball bracketologist, had Texas A&M and Syracuse as the last teams in his top 16 for his NCAA tournament field.
A victory against Texas A&M would help cancel out a 64-58 loss to the Aggies on Feb. 11 in College Station, Texas.
To get to that point, MSU will have to beat Georgia or Vanderbilt.
On Wednesday, Christa Reed scored a game-high 21 points to lead four players in double figures in Vanderbilt’s 74-59 victory against 14th-seeded Ole Miss.
Georgia will be without first-team All-SEC performer Shacobia Barbee, who suffered a season-ending injury for the second-consecutive season. Barbee had a team-high 17 points in Georgia’s 47-43 victory against then-No. 10 MSU on Jan. 21 in Athens, Georgia.
MSU will practice today at Veterans Memorial Arena to get re-acquainted with the facility it played in on Dec. 30, 2015. In that game, Victoria Vivians had 23 points and Morgan William added 15 in a 68-58 victory against then-No. 20 South Florida.
Schaefer believes the fact that his team already has played a game in Veterans Memorial Arena will be a bonus. He also hopes his players are rested and ready to go after taking Monday off.
“We’re going on a business trip,” Schaefer said. “I am glad we went back there and played in December. I think that was a good thing for us because we will have some experience and some confidence playing there.”
On Sunday, MSU ended the regular season with a 61-52 victory against Alabama at Humphrey Coliseum. Vivians also became the fifth MSU player to reach 1,000 career points in two seasons.
On Tuesday, Vivians, Dominique Dillingham, and Teaira McCowan were named to the All-SEC teams. Vivians, who was a second-team performer last season, was named to the first team, while Dillingham was named to the league’s all-defensive team and McCowan earned a spot on the all-freshman team.
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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