STARKVILLE — Jordan Danberry could only watch.
Seated seven chairs from the scorers’ table having been dinged with two early fouls, Danberry looked on helplessly as the Bulldogs grinded through the early stages of Saturday’s 91-58 win over Southern Miss.
“When I get in foul trouble, I try my best to be that energy person on the bench, since I can’t be on the court,” she said postgame. “I’m always standing up for whoever does something good, clapping and encouraging my other teammates.”
With Danberry sitting, coach Vic Schaefer ditched his gray suit jacket and angrily patrolled the MSU sidelines. Irritated with his squad’s flippant defense and 12 first-half turnovers, Schaefer’s voice filled the air of Humphrey Coliseum despite the 7,591 fans in attendance.
“Y’all there’s going to have to be somebody else come in here because there isn’t going to be a coach alive if my point guards keep turning it over double digits every night,” he said postgame — only half kidding.
As Scahefer’s complaints grew louder, junior forward Chloe Bibby took charge in the second quarter. Coming off a screen along the baseline, Bibby received a pass, planted and fired. Splashing home her second 3-pointer of the afternoon — part of her team-high 16 points — the Bulldogs cruised from then on, outscoring the Golden Eagles 27-13 in the second quarter and 69-39 over the game’s final 30 minutes.
“I think our defense (picked up),” Bibby said. “We just hustled and were playing harder and got a couple steals and were running with it. We still have a lot to learn on offense — execution and things — but all of it comes from our defense.”
Freshmen guards Aliyah Matharu and JaMya Mingo-Young also contributed big minutes Saturday as starting point guard Myah Taylor dealt with foul trouble of her own. Though Matharu was sporadic with the ball, turning it over seven times, the 5-foot-7 guard flashed a fearlessness on both sides of the court.
With USM guard Alarie Mayze bearing down on the MSU basket, Matharu planted. Taking the brunt of the collision, she crashed to the ground before popping up with an exacerbated yell.
On the sidelines, a normally irritable Schaefer even cracked a smile.
“She’s trying to play a position where she’s been the off guard in high school,” he said earlier this week. “But I’ve seen her handle the ball and run a team, so I really believe if she’ll just listen and buy in a little bit she can play some minutes for us at point guard.”
As for Mingo-Young, she finished the day with a quiet 14 points, while adding six rebounds and two steals in 15 minutes of action.
“I think they have a confidence level,” Scahefer said of his freshmen guards. “I just think they’re confident; I don’t think any moment is too big for them right now. I think those kids are competitive.”
And while Matharu and Mingo-Young thrived Saturday, it was another tough afternoon for five-star recruit Rickea Jackson. Jackson — the No. 6 player in the ESPN HoopGurlz class of 2019 rankings — followed her poor shooting performance in Monday’s exhibition win over Lubbock Christian into the season opener, concluding the day with two points and four rebounds on 1 of 4 shooting.
Though shooting woes have seemingly compounded, Schaefer remained confident in his star pupil.
“I think she’s just pressing,” Schaefer said. “But here’s the thing, we scored 91 points tonight, and she scored one basket. I’m encouraged by that.”
Starkville native Kelsey Jones scored 12 points and five rebounds for Southern Miss.
MSU is next in action Monday against UT Martin. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.
Ben Portnoy reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @bportnoy15.
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