JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The separation begins today.
Perhaps that is an ideal way for Victoria Vivians to think about her game as the No. 8 Mississippi State women’s basketball team (13-1) prepares to take on Florida (12-1) at noon today (SEC Network) in the Southeastern Conference opener for both teams at the O’Connell Center in Gainesville, Florida.
While the storyline for today could be the beginning of a journey to determine which of the SEC’s 11 teams with three or fewer losses are for real, it might be better for Vivians to try to duplicate the effort she delivered Wednesday in MSU’s 68-58 victory against No. 20 South Florida in the SEC/AAC Challenge at the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena.
Vivians had a game-high 23 points in MSU’s first victory against a ranked opponent this season. Her performance came on 10-of-19 shooting from the field that included six baskets on drives.
“I was thinking about that the entire game,” Vivians said of trying to attack the basket. “I really didn’t want to take the threes I took, but I took them. I was just trying to get to the basket and create or get a foul or score, or both.”
The biggest stretch for Vivians came late in the second quarter after Vivians committed a turnover in a half-court set and then missed a 3-pointer. Instead of settling for another long-distance shot after USF had cut the deficit to 10 points, Vivians scored on a drive from the left wing in which she appeared to hang in the air and executed an up-and-under move.
Following a jump shot by Morgan William and a missed shot by William, Vivians again attacked from the left wing and finished at the rim. The scores helped MSU push its lead to 16 points before it settled for a 42-30 halftime lead.
Vivians continued to attack in the second half. She scored on another drive from the left win at the 8-minute, 23-second mark of the third quarter and tacked on a pull-up jump shot off a drive from the right wing a little more than a minute later.
Vivians finished off her night with two scores off drives in the fourth quarter. She scored all six of MSU’s points in the final 10 minutes, as the Bulldogs’ 20-point lead after three quarters held up down the stretch.
Vivians enters today’s game second in the SEC in scoring (18.2 points per game). She also is 12th in the SEC in field goal percentage (42.5 percent), fifth in 3-point shooting percentage (35.2), ninth in steals (1.9 per game), and first in 3-pointers made per game (2.7). Of her 233 field goal attempts, 46.4 percent have come from 3-point range, which helps explain why Vivians has the fewest free throws made (19) of the top 19 scorers in the SEC.
“I got to get Victoria to the line,” MSU coach Vic Schaefer said after the victory against USF. “Victoria has been to the line two times in six games. Victoria’s problem is she can jump up and finish over people before she has to go in there and go to contact, so it is hard to get her to the line sometimes because she is finishing from five feet or from eight feet instead of going all the way to the rim for a layup.
“Even tonight, I thought she drove it a little bit in the first half.”
The flip side is Vivians’ long-range shooting can provide a spark. She showed how she can ignite the Bulldogs in the first quarter against the Bulls when she hit a pair of treys in a 16-2 run that helped MSU take the lead for good. In addition to sparking the Bulldogs, the 3-pointers appeared to ignite Vivians, who capitalized on a steal by Teaira McCowan to score on a layup.
Prior to the season, Vivians said she worked on her ballhandling in hopes of becoming a more versatile offensive player and someone who didn’t have to settle for 3-pointers. She has shown flashes of doing that this season, but it could be more challenging for her to get to the rim in SEC play, where defenses figure to be more physical and opponents should be more familiar with her tendencies. That isn’t going to stop Vivians from attacking, though, and trying to find ways to get into the “sweet spots” of defenses for mid-range jumpers or layups.
“She is good,” USF coach Jose Fernandez said. “She made some tough shots. She shot a good number and was over 50 percent from the floor. That is what great players do, and she is a good one.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 40 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 40 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
