STARKVILLE — Victoria Vivians knows the effect she has on the Mississippi State women’s basketball team.
When the 6-foot-1 sophomore guard is rolling, her teammates are looser and the offense flows because defenses have to concern themselves about her ability to take over a game.
But Vivians also knows the kind of impact junior Dominique Dillingham and sophomore point guard Morgan William can have. With Dillingham finding gaps for mid-range jumpers and William penetrating and creating shots, Vivians understands the added dimensions the Bulldogs have when all three players are clicking.
“When Dom and Morgan are playing great, it makes the team play as great as well,” Vivians said. “When they are knocking down shots, I am very confident in them and the next shot they will shoot. I want to pass them the ball rather than me shooting it if they are making it. That way I can get my assists up.”
It remains to be whether Vivians’ point total or her assists total will be higher at 1:30 p.m. today when No. 5 seed Mississippi State (27-7) plays host to No. 4 seed Michigan State (25-8) in the second round of the NCAA tournament at Humphrey Coliseum. ESPN2 will broadcast the game nationally. It will be available on radio on WMXU-FM 106.1 in the Golden Triangle.
The winner will advance to the Sweet 16 in Bridgeport, Connecticut.
No. 4 seed Michigan State defeated No. 13 seed Belmont 74-60 on Friday behind 27 points from Aerial Powers and 21 from Jasmine Hines. No. 5 seed Mississippi State beat No. 12 seed Chattanooga 60-50. Vivians scored a season-high 19 points to help the Bulldogs equal the single-season mark for wins it set in 2014-15.
Vivians and Chinwe Okorie (12 points, nine rebounds) were the only Bulldogs in double figures in the first-round victory. Dillingham and William combined to go 2 of 12 from field and score nine points. The Bulldogs were able to overcome that output thanks to a defensive effort that saw them hold the Mocs to 39.2-percent shooting from the field and a 44-29 rebounding edge that included 24 offensive rebounds.
MSU coach Vic Schaefer doesn’t want to see if his team can duplicate those numbers to help it set a single-season record for wins.
“For whatever reason, we didn’t play great (on Friday), and we don’t want to take anything away from Chattanooga. They played outstanding and had a great plan, but we did get some really good looks,” Schaefer said. “From a coach’s standpoint, I am not concerned. I have all of the trust and confidence in this team. I feel like even our stickbacks we missed with our bigs, if you give me those tomorrow, I am going to roll the dice and take my chances.”
Dillingham, who recently scored in double figures in four-straight games, said she and William had good looks at the basket against Chattanooga and that it wasn’t a matter of getting different shots. She saw the Spartans and their coaches watching the game, so she said the Bulldogs will have to be better.
“It is definitely important because I know they sat there and watched the same game that we just played,” Dillingham said. “They’re definitely going to key in on Victoria, so somebody will have to step up. I think we won’t play as bad as we did the other day.”
Even if that doesn’t happen, Dillingham and the Bulldogs can try to use their defense to set the tempo to their liking. Mississippi State is in the top 20 in the nation in scoring defense (54.2 points per game). It has held opponents to less than 35 percent shooting from the field 11 times, including five games in which teams shot less than 30 percent.
Michigan State, which shot 47 percent from the field against Belmont, has shot less than 40 percent from the field eight times. It hasn’t shot less than 30 percent in a game this season.
“I haven’t seen them play a team that denies the floor like we do and gets out and pressures them like we do, so they are able to run their stuff a lot more easily,” Dillingham said. “They have great guard play. They have some really good posts and they have good footwork.”
Schaefer said the Bulldogs will have to try to contain junior forward Aerial Powers, who is averaging 22.0 ppg. He said Powers is a “prolific” scorer who does it shooting a very high shooting percentage (44.6 percent). Plus, he said, she rebounds and packs a stat sheet every night. He said Powers is one of the top 20 players in the nation, and that she compares to Texas A&M’s Courtney Williams because she can elevate over defenses and hit shots.
“If you’re not careful and you take your eye off the other three who are averaging double figures, any of those can go 20,” Schaefer said. “That is your fear: Powers is getting 24, but the others are capable of getting 24, so you really better pay attention to the entire group.”
As good as Michigan State is on offense, Schaefer said the Spartans are just as good on defense. He doesn’t think they will be intimidated playing in front of a big crowd in Humphrey Coliseum. He didn’t see any lack of focus or a loss of poise Friday when Michigan State had trouble early pulling away from Belmont.
In addition to Powers and a balanced attack, Schaefer said he was concerned about the pace of play and transition defense. He said the Bulldogs saw flashes of how effective the Spartans, who are averaging 76 points per game, can be pushing the ball after missed shots or turnovers.
“They are explosive in so many different ways,” Schaefer said. “You can compare it to baseball and good pitching vs. good hitting. There are all kinds of philosophies which one wins. I don’t know what is going to win (today) — good offense or good defense — (but) we’re going to try to have both.
“They are a big, physical basketball team with tremendous athleticism and great guard play. I see a real confident team, a swagger. They have been to the wars in the Big Ten like we have been in the SEC.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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