It wasn’t easy, but then again not much has been this season for the No. 5 Mississippi State women’s basketball team.
Coach Vic Schaefer’s Bulldogs entered the day with at least a share of the Southeastern Conference regular-season title in their hands. Before its game against No. 12 South Carolina ended, MSU secured a No. 1 seed in the SEC tournament thanks to a victory by Kentucky against Georgia.
Neither thing mattered to the Bulldogs.
Buoyed by signature third quarter, MSU rallied from a seven-point halftime deficit to earn a 68-64 victory Sunday in front of a nationally televised crowd on ESPN2 and a packed house at Colonial Life Arena.
The win guaranteed MSU (27-2, 15-1 SEC) would own the league’s regular-season crown all by its lonesome. That’s exactly how Schaefer wanted it. He referenced that fact Thursday after MSU defeated LSU on Senior Night in Starkville. But for most of the first half Sunday the Bulldogs appeared to lack the fight and the energy needed to win on the road of what has become their biggest rival.
That all changed in the third quarter.
In a season filled with ups and downs, MSU delivered another one of its dominant quarter. On this day, a 19-8 10-minute stretch proved to be the difference on a day the Gamecocks (21-8, 13-3) won two quarters and the teams tied in the other.
MSU was more active and energized in the third quarter. The Bulldogs worked into the passing lanes to disrupt South Carolina. The Gamecocks also missed a few shots they had made earlier the game en route to a 4-for-18 showing from the field that turned the tide.
The Bulldogs also had their hands in seizing the momentum. Senior center Teaira McCowan finished 7-for-8 from the field after a first half in which the Gamecocks sandwiched her nearly every time she touched the basketball. McCowan’s 18-point, 17-rebound, four-block effort should have secured the SEC Player of the Year award. With all due respect to Missouri’s Sophie Cunningham, the honor should go to McCowan unanimously. McCowan’s 24th double-double (63rd of her career) helped her and classmate Jazzmun Holmes (eight points, five assists in 40 minutes) earn their 126th victory, which tied the program’s all-time best mark set by last year’s class of Victoria Vivians, Blair Schaefer, Morgan William, and Roshunda Johnson, who transferred from Oklahoma State.
Anriel Howard shook off a 5-for-18 shooting performance to post her ninth double-double of the season (42nd of her career) with 13 points and 16 rebounds.
Jordan Danberry (12 points, six assists, five rebounds, two steals) and Andra Espinoza-Hunter (17 points) also scored in double figures on a day the starters accounted for all of the team’s points. Bre’Amber Scott (10 minutes was the only Bulldog to play double-digit minutes off the bench.
Despite the contributions by the starters, the game wasn’t secured until offensive rebounds by Howard, Danberry, and McCowan led to a free throw by Danberry and McCowan for the final margin. The flurry helped MSU finish with more offensive rebounds (26) than defensive (25). Fifteen of the offensive rebounds came in the second half, which was fitting because MSU held a 51-37 rebounding advantage.
That margin speaks to effort, energy, and heart — things Schaefer said he never wants to coach. All three curiously were lacking in a first half in which the Gamecocks knocked the Bulldogs on their heels and had control until MSU cut the deficit to four points late in the half. This time, a 3-pointer by Tyasha Harris with six seconds remaining added to an already lengthy list of last-second treys and baskets by opponents against MSU. This time, though, the Bulldogs had the counter.
Style points in March don’t matter, especially late in a conference season. The 2017-18 team might have won games in a more aesthetically pleasing manner, but different is better this season. The 2018-19 squad has overcome nearly every opponent and sometimes won in spite of its decision-making or its shot selection. These Bulldogs have found a way to overcome a season-ending injury to starter Chloe Bibby and to keep moving forward. The next step will be back in South Carolina for the SEC tournament in Greenville. MSU will take advantage of rest from the double bye and prepare for the first game of the quarterfinal round. The Bulldogs will need that rest because the next three steps to a SEC tournament title likely will be even harder.
That’s fine, though, because as much as opponents like to test the Bulldogs — and as much as they like to make things hard on themselves — they keep finding ways to win. That’s the mark of a championship team.
Adam Minichino is former editor of The Dispatch. He can be reached at aminichino@cdispatch.com. Follow him on Twitter @ctsportseditor.
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Southeastern Conference Women’s Tournament schedule
FIRST ROUND
Wednesday, March 6
· 11:00 a.m., Game 1 — No. 13 Florida vs. No. 12 Ole, SEC Network
· Game 2 – No. 14 Vanderbilt vs. No. 11 Alabama, SEC Network
SECOND ROUND
Thursday, March 7
· Noon — Game 3 – No. 9 LSU vs. No. 8 Tennessee, SEC Network
· Game 4 — Game 1 winner vs. No. 5 Missouri, SEC Network
· 6:00 p.m., Game 5 — No. 10 Arkansas vs. No. 7 Georgia, SEC Network
· Game 6 – Game 2 winner vs. No. 6 Auburn, SEC Network
QUARTERFINALS
Friday, March 8
· Noon, Game 7 — Game 3 winner vs. No. 1 Mississippi St., SEC Network
· Game 8 — Game 4 winner vs. No. 4 Kentucky, SEC Network
· 6:00 p.m.– Game 9 – Game 5 winner vs. No. 2 South Carolina, SEC Network
· Game 10 — Game 6 winner vs. No. 3 Texas A&M, SEC Network
SEMIFINALS
Saturday, March 9
· 5:00 p.m., Game 11 — Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner, ESPNU
· Game 12- Game 9 winner vs. Game 10 winner, ESPNU
FINALS
Sunday, March 10
· 2:00 p.m. — Game 13 – Game 11 winner vs. Game 12 winner, ESPN2
All times EASTERN and subject to change. The second game in a session will begin 25 minutes following the conclusion of previous game.
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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