STARKVILLE — Vic Schaefer has enough confidence for all of his shooters.
That’s why the second-year Mississippi State women’s basketball coach wasn’t fazed when he scanned the boxscore during his postgame circle-and-square exercise last week against Tennessee Tech and saw the following line: Dominique Dillingham 3-14 0-4 3-6.
To Schaefer, Dillingham’s 3-of-14 shooting effort from the field, which included zero 3-pointers, and a 50-percent effort from the free-throw line wasn’t cause for alarm. Instead, Schaefer said he wasn’t worried about Dillingham because he has seen her shoot the ball well at practice and he knew she was too good of a shooter to have off shooting nights like that one.
On Tuesday, Dillingham gave Schaefer plenty of good things to circle. The freshman guard scored a career-high 18 points and was one of four players in double figures in MSU’s 81-63 victory against Savannah State before a crowd of 2,181 at Humphrey Coliseum.
Kendra Grant had a team-high 19 points and eight rebounds, while Martha Alwal had 15 points and seven rebounds and Jerica James had 10 points and four steals to help push MSU to 5-0. The last time MSU went 5-0 to open the season was in 2008-09, when that team opened the campaign 11-0.
“I feel the more I work on (my shooting) the more it will pay off in a game,” Dillingham said. “I miss a lot of easy shots sometimes and it is just more about focusing on it.”
Dillingham was 5 of 10 from the field (0 of 2 from 3-point range) and 8 of 8 from the free-throw line as MSU scored 81 points or better for the fourth game in a row. She had four of her field goals in the first half, when the Bulldogs shots 51.7 percent (15 of 29) to build a 50-33 halftime lead. Two of the field goals were layups, while the other two were wing jump shots that showcased Dillingham’s shooting range. She also had five rebounds and handed out three assists in another versatile performance by a first-year player in the program.
Dillingham said she has worked on “pulling the trigger a little more” in practice. That is something Grant, a junior, also has worked on of late. Schaefer has encouraged Grant to be more aggressive in looking for her shot. She feels Dillingham has the potential to give the Bulldogs another consistent scoring option,
“I was talking to Katia (May) about this, sometimes in practice if I am off, she is on and if she is off, I am on,” Grant said. “We help balance the team. When we’re both hot, it is a nightmare for the other team.”
Grant and Dillingham had a chance to play plenty of minutes together Tuesday, just as freshman Breanna Richardson and Ketara Chapel (seven points, eight rebounds) did. While Grant and Dillingham usually will play the shooting guard, or two, Richardson and Chapel can split time between the small and power forwards positions, or the three and four. Schaefer said he has tried to keep Grant at the two, but he sees the potential in playing those two together.
“I was really pleased with Dominique coming off the bench,” Schaefer said. “She had 18 and five (rebounds), four offensive rebounds, three assists, and only one turnover in 25 minutes. That’s a great stat line for her as a freshman.
“She certainly possesses the skills to (be a scoring threat off the bench). she got to the line eight times along with Kendra. That is a good sign.”
Listed at 5-foot-9, Dillingham also has shown a willingness to mix it up in the paint. Entering the game, she was fifth on the team in rebounding at 5.3 per game. Her performance helped make up for the fact that Richardson and junior college transfer Savannah Carter didn’t score. Grant, Alwal, and Carter, who fouled out, also were saddled with fouls for most of the game. In fact, MSU had as many as three freshmen on the court for significant minutes in the final game of its four-game homestand.
That youth and the timing of the game played a part in a lackluster second half in which MSU outscored Savannah State (3-3) 31-30. After the game, MSU left for Birmingham, Ala., where it planned to stay the night before leaving for Florida this morning. Schaefer said he thought his team needed to play another game before it took on the challenge of playing three games in three days starting Friday. However, he said he wasn’t pleased by his team’s sloppy play (22 turnovers to 19 assists), its execution in the final 20 minutes (26.5 percent shooting), and its defense, which allowed Savannah State to hold advantages in points in the paint (32-25) and fast-break points (10-2).
“In the second half, Savannah State really competed,” Schaefer said. “They have been on the road for a while. They competed and played with spunk. … I didn’t think we really responded in the second half like we needed to to put a good team away.”
Still, Schaefer had enough good things to circle on Dillingham’s stat line to make him forget all of the squares, which is how he highlights negatives or things to improve. With four newcomers playing key roles, Schaefer acknowledges his team is still learning, so he knows there will be up-and-down nights. On Tuesday, though, he saw once again the Bulldogs could have plenty of weapons and promise if their confidence continues to grow.
MSU will return to action at 5 p.m. Friday against Grand Canyon in the opening round of the Gulf Coast Classic. It also will play Saturday and Sunday.
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor.
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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