The calendar might suggest it is the offseason, but the Mississippi State women’s basketball team continues to make news.
Today, rising sophomore Victoria Vivians will receive the inaugural Young Woman of the Year Award from the Mississippi Commission on the Status of Women and Women Inc. The award will be presented at the “Empowering Women” Luncheon, sponsored by Women Inc., at The South in Jackson.
That news comes on the heels of an announcement Tuesday that Vivians is one of 54 women’s basketball players invited to attend the USA Basketball Women’s Pan American Games and World University Games Team Trials on May 14-17 at the United States Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
If that wasn’t enough, MSU took another step to finalizing its schedule for the 2015-16 season by setting a Dec. 2 date for a game against Texas in Austin, Texas. The matchup against the Big 12 Conference power will be part of a home-and-home series that will see the Longhorns come to Starkville the following season.
With his players finishing their final exams and trying to complete plans to go home for a few weeks, MSU coach Vic Schaefer was thrilled about the latest news for Vivians.
“I think it is a testament to the character of the young ladies we have on our team,” Schaefer said of Vivians’ award from the Mississippi Commission on the Status of Women. “We have several kids who are more than qualified to receive the award that the commission on the status of women is presenting her. I am very honored and humbled for our program for her to be considered and for her to be given such a prestigious award.”
Martha Benjamin, the vice chair of the Mississippi Commission on the Status of Women, said a 12-member commission decided to make Vivians the inaugural recipient for her accomplishments on and off the court.
“She is a role model for young women,” said Benjamin, who also is chairman of Women Inc. “The commission decided that with Miss Vivians receiving such national recognition that we had never recognized a young woman, so we wanted to do a special presentation for her.”
The Mississippi Commission on the Status of Women is a state agency that came into existence in 2001. Each year, it recognizes outstanding women in a number of categories. The luncheon, which will be from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., will recognize women in art/entertainment/performing arts; business/industry; community service; education; legal/judicial; medical/health care; military/law enforcement; and political/state or local government service.
Benjamin said women are nominated for the awards in each category. She said the Young Woman of the Year will go through the same process next year and from here on out.
Schaefer said Vivians’ accomplishments on the court speak for themselves. He said what Vivians does off the court sometimes goes unnoticed, but he said she carries herself with grace and poise.
“It is a tremendous honor, but it speaks to none of her basketball skill set and it does speak to her character,” Schaefer said. “She always was available for autographs and never walked away from any person, or any picture, or any hug. She always has time for anybody of any age at any time. It speaks to her and how she was raised as a young woman by her family. She is a giver in those respects.”
Vivians, a 6-foot-1 forward from Carthage, received The Associated Press All-America honorable mention honors and second-team All-Southeastern Conference honors after leading MSU (27-7) to school records for overall and SEC victories (11). The Bulldogs also advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament in their first appearance in the event since 2009-10.
Vivians also won the Gillom Trophy, which is awarded to the best women’s basketball player in the state of Mississippi, after leading MSU in scoring (14.9 points per game). That total was the third-highest average in the SEC regardless of class, and first among league rookies.
Vivians averaged 17.5 ppg. against ranked opponents. She paced the team in scoring 18 times and scored in double figures 26 times. One of those efforts was a MSU freshman record 39-point showing against Kentucky, which tied for the highest single-game output by a freshman this season.
“I am honored to receive an invitation to go to Team Trials with USA Basketball,” Vivians said in a MSU statement. I think all athletes aspire to play for their country, and to possibly have the opportunity to represent the United States is a great honor. There are so many great players going to the Team Trials, and to be invited as one of them following my freshman season is exciting. Coach Schaefer, the other coaches and my teammates have helped me prepare for this opportunity, and I am going to go work as hard as I can during the Team Trials.”
Vivians will get an opportunity to showcase her skills and earn a spot on of the 12-player rosters for the Pan Am team and the World University Games team. The finalists for each team will be announced the morning of May 17.
Iowa’s Lisa Bluder will lead the Pan Am team, while Northwestern coach Joe McKeown will coach the World University Games team.
Schaefer said he is equally excited for Vivians to get a chance to compete against some of the nation’s top college players. He said being selected is a “tremendous” honor that speaks to Vivians’ abilities and to her ability to adjust to the Division I level in her first year.
“Now she will get a chance to go on an even bigger stage and possibly represent the United States of America,” Schaefer said. “I don’t think there is any doubt that everybody there is going to be great and that the competitiveness and the competitive nature of all of the players there is going to be at a different level, so she is going to have to earn her way. The opportunity is there for her. She is good enough to do it, but she will have to do it in a three- to four-day window. You can’t really have a bad day. You have to try to put together back-to-back-to-back-to-back days to get the coaches attention.
“I hope she goes there and wins a spot on the team because she is more than capable, and she id definitely good enough.”
Vivians is one of nine players from the SEC selected. She will join South Carolina’s Alaina Coates and Tiffany Mitchell, Tennessee’s Diamond DeShields and Mercedes Russell, Texas A&M’s Courtney Walker and Courtney Williams, Kentucky’s Linnae Harper, and Arkansas’ Jessica Jackson.
Marquee matchup
The addition of a non-conference game against Texas figures to bolster MSU’s Strength of Schedule (SOS) and Ratings Percentage Index (RPI), two factors the NCAA tournament selection committee uses to pick the at-large teams for the 64-team field.
Entering the NCAA tournament selection process, MSU had a SOS of 73, according to RealTimeRPI.com. That figure likely played a role in the NCAA tournament selection committee’s decision to award Duke a No. 4 seed and MSU a No. 5 seed. Duke defeated MSU 64-58 at Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, North Carolina, in the second round of the NCAA tournament.
This past season, Texas went 24-11 and lost to eventual national champion Connecticut in the Sweet 16. The Longhorns lose leading scorer Nneka Enemkpali to graduation, but they figure to return three of their top four leading scorers — Kelsey Lang, Imani McGee-Stafford, a 6-7 rising senior center, and Ariel Atkins.
Texas finished the season with a RPI of 19, while MSU’s RPI was 28.
The all-time series is even at 1-1. Texas beat MSU 73-55 on Nov. 26, 2009, in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands. MSU beat Texas 71-63 in the first round of the NCAA tournament on March 21, 2009, in Columbus, Ohio.
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 31 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 31 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
