The finish line is in sight.
In the case of the Mississippi State women’s basketball team, the tape signifies the end of its 14-game non-conference slate. The next-to-last step in that marathon will come at 7 tonight when No. 8 MSU (11-1) plays host to Southeastern Louisiana (1-9) at Humphrey Coliseum. The game, which will be available on SEC Network +, will be MSU’s first since a 72-70 victory against SMU on Monday, Dec. 21, at the Puerto Rico Classic.
Following tonight’s game, MSU will travel to Florida to begin preparations for its game against No. 20 South Florida at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday in the SEC/AAC Challenge in Jacksonville. Florida will take on Central Florida in the second half of the doubleheader. The SEC women’s basketball tournament will be held in Jacksonville in March.
MSU’s final two games of 2015 will offer the extremes of its non-conference schedule. In Southeastern Louisiana, MSU will face its seventh opponent with a Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) of 200 or higher through games played Dec. 24, according to RealTimeRPI.com. With a RPI of 12, USF (7-2) has the highest RPI of any team MSU has faced this season. Through Dec. 24, MSU’s RPI was 70, the eighth-best mark in the SEC, and its Strength of Schedule (SOS) was 251, the 13th-best mark in the league. Only Alabama (297) had a lower SOS entering the final week before SEC play.
You might think it is too early to think about those numbers, but the NCAA tournament selection committee placed a lot of importance on RPI and SOS when it sent MSU to Durham, North Carolina, last season for the first and second rounds of the NCAA tournament. MSU had an argument that it should have received a chance to play host to those games for the first time in program history, but eight non-conference wins against teams with RPIs of 146 or higher hurt the Bulldogs’ cause. The home-court advantage played a big role in MSU’s 64-56 loss to Duke in the second round.
Earlier this season, MSU coach Vic Schaefer pointed to games against Texas and South Florida as well as matchups against Florida Gulf Coast, Western Michigan, and SMU as examples of a tougher schedule. MSU nearly earned a huge win for its resume earlier this month, but it came up short in a 53-47 loss at Texas. The loss doesn’t figure to hurt MSU considering Texas is ranked No. 5 in The Associated Press’ latest poll. A new poll will be released this afternoon. MSU’s victory against Florida Gulf Coast also figures to be one of its biggest non-conference wins because the Eagles (9-4) are a favorite to win the Atlantic Sun Conference. Victories against Western Michigan (7-4) and SMU (5-6) also could turn out to be “quality wins” depending on how those teams do in the Mid-American and American Athletic conferences, respectively.
Looking at the rest of the non-conference schedule, Southern Mississippi (108) offers the best chance for MSU to earn what could turn out to be a resume-builder. Southern Miss (6-4) figures to challenge Middle Tennessee State and Western Kentucky for the Conference USA title.
With that in mind, the game against USF looms even larger. Last week, USF matched its highest ranking in program history when it moved up two spots to No. 17 in the USA Today Coaches’ Poll. With two regular-season games against No. 1 UConn, USF figures to remain one of the nation’s leaders in RPI and SOS (No. 17). A victory on a neutral floor would give MSU a marquee win that could give it momentum as it prepares for its SEC opener against Florida on Sunday.
Fans will remember USF for its 60-58 victory against MSU in the quarterfinals of the 2014 Women’s National Invitation Tournament at Humphrey Coliseum. Courtney Williams drained a 3-pointer at the buzzer to send the Bulls on to the semifinals, where they lost to eventual WNIT champion Rutgers.
Williams, who leads the team in scoring (24.3 points per game) and is second in rebounding (9.1 per game), was named to the watch lists for the 2016 Naismith Trophy and the John R. Wooden Award. MSU sophomore Victoria Vivians (18.3 ppg.) also was named to the lists. The awards recognize the top player in women’s basketball.
Last season, USF and MSU set program records by winning 27 games and advancing to the second round of the NCAA tournament.
MSU also figures to have plenty of chances to earn signature wins in SEC play. A schedule that features 10 of 16 games against teams with RPIs in the top 100, including against Kentucky (No. 5), Tennessee (No. 6), and South Carolina (No. 9), should help MSU improve its SOS. MSU also plays Arkansas (255 RPI) and Ole Miss (178) twice. Those two teams have the lowest RPIs in the SEC.
n Alabama will play host to Lipscomb tonight: At Tuscaloosa, Alabama, the Alabama women’s basketball team (10-2) will play its final non-conference game of the season — and final game of 2015 — at 6 tonight when it plays host to Lipscomb at Foster Auditorium. The game will be streamed live on SEC Network +.
Alabama is coming off a 72-57 victory against Grambling State on Dec. 20.
Lipscomb is riding a seven-game losing streak. It lost to Western Kentucky 64-56 on Dec. 21 in its last game.
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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