STARKVILLE — Forty-one points.
If that’s the amount of ground the No. 18 Mississippi State women’s basketball team can make up in 18 days, there’s no telling what it can accomplish this season.
Maybe that’s why MSU coach Vic Schaefer used phrases like “live where we are” and “embrace the opportunity” to talk about how his young team is maturing before his eyes.
The latest step came Thursday night in MSU’s 69-44 victory against Vanderbilt before a season-high crowd of 5,056 at Humphrey Coliseum. Freshman Victoria Vivians scored a game-high 20 points to lead three players in double figures for MSU (22-2, 7-2 Southeastern Conference), which matched its win total from last season with seven regular-season games and postseason play remaining.
Schaefer had plenty of reasons to be excited on a night his team erased the memory of a 78-62 loss to Vanderbilt on Jan. 11 in Nashville, Tennessee. The sixth-largest crowd in program history watched one of the Bulldogs’ most complete efforts in which senior Martha Alwal (14 points, six rebounds, two blocked shots) and senior Kendra Grant (12 points, all in the first half) also scored in double figures. The crowd helped MSU set a single-season attendance record of 50,438 with three regular-season home games to play.
“I don’t think there is anybody in the building that couldn’t see a team that is really starting to kind of play well,” Schaefer said. “That second half was awfully good offensively. I thought defensively we were locked in from the get-go.
“We were playing with a lot of purpose, knowing where we were supposed to be, knowing a scouting report.”
MSU earned its fourth-straight SEC win thanks to a defensive effort that held Vanderbilt (12-9, 3-5) to its second-lowest shooting percentage (34.7 percent, 17 of 49) from the field and forced 22 turnovers. MSU turned those mistakes into a 25-4 edge in points off turnovers.
“I don’t think we attacked at all,” Vanderbilt coach Melanie Balcomb said. “We never got the ball inside. We never got the ball to go inside-out. We never turned the corner. I think we went side to side, and even our timing going side to side was taken away by their defense.”
Balcomb said MSU’s defense was “better” than the first meeting, when Vanderbilt repeatedly beat MSU down the court and attacked the rim en route to a season-high 62.9-percent shooting effort. Schaefer said the Commodores scored seven layups following made or missed field goal attempts and compounded the Bulldogs’ troubles by hitting a season-high 33 free throws in a season-high 42 attempts.
But Balcomb said things changed in a “different” atmosphere than the one she is accustomed to seeing in Starkville.
“I think it was awesome,” Balcomb said of the crowd. “I have been coming here a long time and there has been nobody in the stands. Our women play hard. They put the same time in as the men and they deserve the crowd they are getting here. You guys have done a great job to change that. Obviously Vic Schaefer has done a lot to change that and the players, but kudos to Mississippi State because that is really something that is important for every program at this level.”
On the other end, MSU sealed the deal with a 57.7-percent shooting effort (15 of 26) in the second half. That percentage marked the first time MSU shot 50 percent or better from the field in a half since the first half against Georgia in its SEC opener on Jan. 2.
“I can see us getting better,” Schaefer said. “I think that is really encouraging. It is a good time to get better because the buzz saw is in front of us.”
Schaefer is referring to a stretch that will begin at 2 p.m. Sunday when MSU takes on No. 6 Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee. MSU then will play host to No. 12 Texas A&M on Feb. 8 before playing Feb. 12 at No. 10 Kentucky. MSU also will face No. 1 South Carolina on Feb. 26 in Columbia, South Carolina.
But Schaefer said his team isn’t going to shy away from the ranked challenges. That’s why he encouraged his team to live in the moment, to embrace its national ranking, and to make things happen.
“The one thing I want my team to do is understand what is in front of you, and understand we are the hunted,” Schaefer said. “We are going to Tennessee and they are undefeated in the league and they are playing awfully well, but we are playing well, too. I want my kids to understand we are playing well. As I have told them, we are big, we are physical, we play hard, I have a senior point guard, we are fun to watch, we will guard you. All of those things I am trying to impart to my team, we are pretty good, so we have to go live that. You have to live it every day in how you eat, in how you sleep, in how you practice, when you prepare, and when you step into Thompson-Boling Arena, they are out to get you. Like my girls say, they are out to take your cookies, so you have to be prepared for that.”
MSU should be better equipped to try to earn its first victory in program history against Tennessee with Alwal playing a more active role. The 6-foot-4 center, who missed the first five games of the season recovering from back surgery, reached double figures in points for the third-straight game for the first time this season. Her two blocks also helped her become the third player in SEC history to record 1,000 points, 900 rebounds, and 300 blocks.
“We jell really well together,” Alwal said. “We all play really well and know what each other can do. Coach makes a big emphasis of getting the ball inside, and they do a good job of getting the ball inside. It goes back to the coaches and then the guards, of course, do a great job.”
Balcomb said it makes a “big” difference for MSU to have Alwal more involved on both ends of the floor. She said Alwal always has been a presence on the defensive end, either blocking or altering shots. It’s on the offensive end, she said, where Alwal can provide a different dimension.
“Increasing her ability to score and being more active, like she was, I felt she played more minutes than she usually does,” Balcomb said. “She usually tires and doesn’t always get back in transition, but I thought she played both ends of the floor very well.”
MSU also received solid contributions from point guards Jerica James (three assists, one turnover in 24 minutes) and Morgan William (five assists, four turnovers in 16 minutes), guard Dominique Dillingham, who didn’t score in 35 minutes but played strong defense, and forward Ketara Chapel, who had four points in 18 minutes.
“I think something we have tried to harp on is not settling,” Grant said. “The more we drive, the more fouls we will get — the more points we will get at the (free-throw) line. Those are free. If you have an open shot, shoot it. … I think with the combination of all that (driving and looking for the bigs down low) we will be good.”
MSU also showed a willingness to attack the basket, even though it only was 9 of 15 from the free-throw line. Vivians attacked and created off the dribble to the tune of a 7-of-15 shooting performance, including 5 of 8 from 3-point range. She had 16 of her points in the second half.
“I don’t feel when I am hot. I just shoot it,” Vivians said. “If it goes in, it goes in. If if doesn’t, it doesn’t. I just kept playing and kept shooting the ball because coach kept running plays for me to shoot the ball.”
James also found the gaps in the zones and was able to draw the defense and find Alwal for a basket in the first half and Vivians for a 3-pointer in the second half. The plays offered a glimpse of how much the Bulldogs have improved in attacking zones and how they are growing more comfortable with all of their pieces to the puzzle.
In holding Vanderbilt to a total that matched its lowest of the season (a 64-44 loss to LSU on Jan. 8), Schaefer said the Bulldogs knew they had to defend better and make the Commodores score over them, not by them. He said they also realized they needed to be the aggressors, which is what made the 43-point turnaround so much sweeter.
“I am proud of our kids for meeting and exceeding their intensity, their physicalness,” Schaefer said. “I thought we really took the fight to them tonight.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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