STARKVILLE — Vic Schaefer knew the Mississippi State women’s basketball team was going to have an adjustment period this season with five freshmen and a sophomore seeing her first action.
But when you’re a coach who has earned a reputation for his defensive acumen and having teams that get up the lane and pride themselves on stopping opponents, it is extremely difficult for Schaefer to watch the Bulldogs give up 83 points.
As long as MSU scores one point more than the other team, though, Schaefer might be able to adjust.
The third-year coach admitted Wednesday he isn’t sure if a team he has coached ever has allowed 83 points and won. If that’s the case, that would make MSU’s 93-83 victory against Arkansas State on Sunday in the second round of the Preseason Women’s National Invitation Tournament a history-making event. That it came at Humphrey Coliseum and pushed MSU (2-0) into a matchup against No. 17 West Virginia (2-0) at 7 tonight at The Hump makes it even more palatable for a coach with the nickname “Secretary of Defense.”
“I would take 30 (victories),” Schaefer said. “I might be the most miserable 30-0 coach giving up 83 points a night, but if we are winning them all because we are scoring 93 points, so be it.
“If it gets up and down, I would be pretty crazy if I didn’t tell you I didn’t like my team up and down. We look pretty good up and down, don’t we? I imagine they’re probably worried a little bit about our up-and-down game. I am worried about their up-and-down game. They do like to get out and will go in transition.”
MSU’s ability to outscore the opposition will be put to the test against a team that features Bria Holmes, the Big 12 Conference’s preseason Player of the Year. Holmes, a 6-foot-1 1/2 junior guard is averaging 29.5 points per game. She is coming off a 36-point effort Monday in an 89-87 victory against Seton Hall at home.
Schaefer said sophomores Ketara Chapel, who is 6-1, and Dominique Dillingham, who is 5-9, likely would see time trying to guard Holmes. He said Chapel and Dillingham are two of the Bulldogs’ best defenders for different reasons. He hopes that combination will be able to contain a player who can do everything.
“She is a monster,” Schaefer said. “She is really good, can stretch you, go off the bounce, elevate. She will be playing next year at the next level. She is special. We’re going to have our hands full with them.”
Dillingham said the Bulldogs will have to pick up early in transition because the Mountaineers are coming off a victory in which they made 11 3-pointers. She admitted West Virginia’s ability to score quickly and from distance “worries” her.
“They kind of remind me of Kentucky,” Dillingham said. “I think it will be a good challenge to see where we are at and where we need to be.”
If Dillingham offers the “toughness and grit” to check Holmes, Schaefer said Chapel provides the size and length that could affect a perimeter player who can score in a variety of ways. Chapel said she is excited about the thought of playing a key defensive role against one of the nation’s best players.
“I can’t get in foul trouble,” Chapel said. “I have to contain her and make her uncomfortable.”
Schaefer said he saw plenty of things against Arkansas State that Chapel and Dillingham need to correct. He said it makes him feel a little better knowing the mistakes those two made can be corrected because of how well they play defense. As for the Bulldogs’ team defense, Schaefer acknowledged that is a work in progress.
“We are a long way from being a finished product,” Schaefer said.
Offensively, Schaefer feels his team’s depth could give it an edge against a West Virginia team that played eight players Monday. Seven of them played double-digit minutes. He said he wouldn’t mind playing an up-and-down style tonight considering he will be able to go six players deep on his bench. Those six won’t include seniors Martha Alwal, Kendra Grant, and Savannah Carter. Schaefer said Carter, who had four turnovers in five minutes in her first action of the season against Arkansas State, wouldn’t play tonight and likely won’t play at 2 p.m. Sunday if MSU advances to the Preseason WNIT title game at a site to be determined.
Alwal and Grant have yet to play this season.
Schaefer said Wednesday he thought all three players were close to being back — saying it was like they were “around the corner.” He revised his evaluation Wednesday, saying it was more like a couple of them are “around the block.”
MSU hasn’t allowed not having a first-team All-SEC performer (Alwal) and its top two scorers (Alwal and Grant) in the lineup affect it. That’s because freshman guard/forward Victoria Vivians and freshman point guard Morgan William have picked up the slack. Vivians had a game-high 23 points in MSU’s season-opening victory against Mercer. William had a game-high 29 points against Arkansas State.
Schaefer said it will be a challenge to put up similar numbers tonight against a team that is a lot like his team and one the Bulldogs will face in the SEC.
“They always have been known as a tough, physical, aggressive basketball team,” Schaefer said. “(Coach Carey’s) teams always have been defensive minded. They are always in the tops in the country in defensive stats. They are long, athletic, and contest every shot. They really embody West Virginia basketball over the years as far as how they play and their style. We have to be ready to get after it.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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