STARKVILLE — Yemiyah Morris waited patiently.
The Mississippi State junior center shuffled slowly through the paint toward the basket she defended, tracking Florida guard Kiara Smith’s progress toward the rim.
As Smith went up for a right-handed layup, Morris swung her long right arm over Smith’s head, swatting the shot out of bounds and igniting Humphrey Coliseum in the process.
“Her blocks are vicious,” coach Vic Schaefer said. “They’re really aggressive blocks. Not only does it make the person who gets it blocked think twice, but the other four teammates that are sitting there watching that, they’re probably thinking the same thing: ‘I might not want to go in there again.'”
Morris played just 8 minutes, 41 seconds in Thursday night’s Southeastern Conference opener against Florida, but the limited time she spent on the court was consequential. She made three of her four field goal attempts, hit both of her free throws and added another block to go with her titanic rejection. For a Mississippi State team lacking frontcourt depth behind sophomore Jessika Carter, Morris’ role in Thursday’s blowout win was just what Schaefer, assistant coach Johnnie Harris and the Bulldogs hoped to see.
“Johnnie’s been trying and we’ve all been trying to get something out of her and (redshirt sophomore) Promise (Taylor) to really alleviate some of the wear and tear on Jessika,” Schaefer said. “She played really good tonight. Did a great job.”
Morris didn’t enter the game until there was 1 minute and 31 seconds to go in the first quarter, and she didn’t play at all in the second half, but she owned a second quarter in which the Bulldogs outscored the Gators 28-12.
Morris had six of her eight points in the second period, hitting a pair of free throws early in the quarter then downing two layups from close range. In between, she displayed her shotblocking prowess, turning away Smith and Ariel Johnson near the basket and pumping up her teammates on the court and on the bench.
“It just makes me so happy, because in practice, she does it on me,” freshman forward Rickea Jackson said. “I feel like in the game when she does it, it just makes the team get more energy. We just know she can do that, and they’re so vicious. They’re not light blocks. It was just like ‘Dang, Yemiyah.'”
Schaefer was happy to see Morris show off her rim protection, though he noted that the junior college transfer earned her keep in other phases of the game. Morris collected an offensive rebound and two defensive boards,
“If she’ll just defend and rebound, there are minutes to be played for her,” Schaefer said.
Morris had only surpassed Thursday’s scoring total once with the Bulldogs — she scored 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting in just 12 minutes against Murray State on Nov. 15 — and the performance encouraged her going forward, she said.
“I think it definitely boosts my confidence more,” Morris said. “It just prepares me for the next time I get the chance to do it.”
Schaefer, too, was encouraged by Morris’ game Thursday — efficient, solid and occasionally show-stopping; just what the Bulldogs needed.
“I’m really happy that we finally are seeing a little bit of light with her,” Schaefer said.
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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