STARKVILLE — Ketara Chapel can do whatever Vic Schaefer wants from one of his forwards.
The 6-foot-1 junior from Temple, Texas, can step out to the 3-point line to stretch defenses. She also is long and athletic enough to move to the perimeter and defend versatile forwards.
Chapel showcased those skills and a few more early in the 2014-15 season. In the Mississippi State women’s basketball team’s first nine games, Chapel scored in double figures five times and had one double-double. Her efforts to open the season helped her start the team’s first 19 games.
But Chapel didn’t score more than seven points following MSU’s 104-41 victory against Mississippi Valley State on Dec. 15. Her minutes also decreased from 28 against Louisiana-Lafayette in the game after the victory against MVSU to the point where she logged single-digit minutes in five of the Bulldogs’ final 13 games.
That’s why Chapel doesn’t hesitate to use the word consistent when she talks about her role on the team for the 2015-16 season.
“I was consistent in the beginning of the season and then you saw it kind of slowly go down,” Chapel said. “There were some sparks (later in the season), but I wasn’t very consistent last season.
“I want to work on being consistent through SEC play and on to postseason play and being more confident and aggressive.”
Chapel showed more of that confidence Thursday in MSU’s Maroon-White scrimmage at Humphrey Coliseum. Chapel scored 10 points and had five rebounds. She also had two assists in an effort in which she displayed the versatility that made her so effective early last season.
With Breanna Richardson also seeing time at the three position (small forward), Chapel still will have plenty of competition for playing time at the four, or power forward. Sophomore LaKaris Salter looks to be in better shape and is eager to make an impression, as is junior transfer Jazmine Spears. Senior Sherise Williams also provides an athletic and experienced option if she isn’t needed at center to back up junior Chinwe Okorie and freshman Teaira McCowan.
So who will Schaefer choose? MSU’s fourth-year head coach has made a habit of going with the player who produces the most regardless of class. He said consistency is the primary issue for Chapel.
“Ketara is a veteran,” Schaefer said. “She is smart, heady, intelligent. She knows the game. … I need her to be that good all off the time.”
Chapel said she doesn’t plan to think about all the options MSU has in the frontcourt. While the team’s depth and versatility are two reasons why it was picked No. 13 last week in the USA Today preseason coaches poll, those factors also can cause a player to lose focus if she starts to think about why she isn’t playing.
Last month, Salter said she had those thoughts as a freshman last season, but she is working hard to concentrate on what she can do to earn more minutes. Chapel hopes she can stay focused and follow the same approach.
“I just want to go out and play hard and work on getting offensive rebounds,” Chapel said. “Defense is a big part of what he wants us to do, so I just want to get stops and finish layups. I think that is what is going to help set me apart.”
Chapel feels Richardson, Salter, and Spears also have skills that will help them shine. In fact, she listed several of them after her comment about what she feels will help set her apart. When asked if she is trying to be more assertive — like she showed on a wing drive to the basket in the scrimmage — Chapel said she is trying to go strong to the hole because Okorie, who is 6-5, and McCowan, who is 6-7, will be able to clean up a lot of the Bulldogs’ misses.
Prior to the start of practice, Chapel said it was going to be “hard” for everyone because all of the forwards are so competitive and have different skills that make their games unique. She said at that time consistency would be the key for her. Nearly three weeks into practice and with MSU’s only exhibition game (vs. Mississippi College) coming up on Tuesday, Nov. 10, at Humphrey Coliseum, the competition for playing time only looks to have gotten tougher.
Chapel said she worked on her ballhandling and shooting to stake her claim to more minutes. She feels she is shooting and making more 3-pointers. Her ability to do that will help take pressure off leading scorer Victoria Vivians and allow MSU to have more scoring threats in the post with Okorie or McCowan.
Now Chapel has to do her part to help prove to Schaefer she can do everything he wants on a consistent basis.
“The competition is harder this year because everybody else has come in wanting to play and people are stepping up and refuse to sit on the bench this year,” Chapel said.
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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