Mike Siroky’s SEC Report: The League Wars Are On The Horizon But First ...

By Mike Siroky

 

There were only a few games this week among ranked teams as anticipation grows for the start of conference play in the Southeastern Conference of women’s basketball.

As we have said, the goal is to win 20 games in the season because no SEC team ever has won 20 and not been in the eliminations.

 The eighth team selected by the NCAA can get in with 19 sometimes. The RPI of the league causes this. The conference tournament also gives another chance at one or two ranked teams.

So now you want to win at least 10 which makes 20 guaranteed

No. 4 Mississippi State (10-0)

These ’Dawgs had another minor game, against unranked  Southern Miss.

 Winning all games within Mississippi is always a goal. They moved up to the elite rankings of No.  4 in the nation, a consequential move after an inconsequential win. State is likely to remain in the rarified air all season.

The home team used their campus energy to hit 60 percent in the first half, but still lost the quarter by 5.

But ’Dawgs were OK, with every starter scoring and the trends towards doubles established. State used a 21-11 second quarter to establish who would win. They allowed 15 second-half points. They drew an impressive 4,448.

Anriel Howard had 13 with two steals, Jordan Danberry 11 with three assists and Teaira McCowan 11 rebounds with two steals as the seniors took control.

By the 86-42 finish, State had the 700th win in program history. These ’Dawgs have  won 46 straight regular-season non-conference contests. 

Seniors Jazzmun Holmes and Teaira McCowan have won 108 career games, fourth-most in the nation since 2015-16. Their 80 wins since 2016-17 are second only to UConn.

Anriel Howard is one game behind them with her first 97 at Texas A&M.

State has been in the AP poll 81 straight weeks, including 43 weeks in a row in the Top 10 and are the first SEC team to 10 with a few left before conference play.

Every starter hit double figures, led by Howard’s 16. McCowan doubled again, 13 points and 16 rebounds. Jazzmun Holmes had 13, with six assists  and four steals.

Jordan Danberry, another senior, scored 11 of her 12 I the second quarter. She started the day with commencement ceremonies at Starkville. She earned a graduate patch for the rest of the season. She is on the league academic honor roll. She started her career with a season and a half at Arkansas.

On Tuesday, they start a two-game Pacific Northwest swing against the toughest challenge so far, at No. 7 Oregon, then at Washington.

Playing on the road in the closing weeks of the preseason is all part of coach Vic Schaefer’s plan.

"You want to get your kids' attention of what's coming," Schaefer said. "This is just like the SEC play. We're just getting it three weeks early. Let's get ready and start preparing so when we get back from Christmas, we know what it looks like.

"The thing about finishing on the road in pre-conference is we can send the kids home straight from the game and get them home quicker," Schaefer said. "Playing here at home on whatever night at 7 o'clock, I'm not going to let them leave.

“Jazz is going to want to drive home as soon as the game is over. I'm not going to want her to drive four hours to the coast (Gulfport) and I'm sure not going to want Teaira to drive 10 hours to Texas and they'll both do it if I let them, so just being able to play on the road, we can get those kids home in a safe and timely manner."

No. 9 Tennessee (9-0)

Off last week.

Sophomore Evina Wetsbrook was named SEC Player of the Week.

Sophomore center Kasiyaha Kushiuahwas has missed several games with a sore knee and is monitored daily. The team believes the week off gave her more time to rehab. She is projected back this week.

On more test against a ranked team will determine if they start the SECs in the Top 10 once again.

No. 18 Kentucky  (10-1)

The Kats had the first of five home games, against insignificant Middle Tennessee State. Didn’t affect the national standing.

Senior guard Maci Morris scored 3-of-4 from the field and hit all five free throws to lead scoring with 12 with more than six minutes left in the first half. She only needed 26 minutes to score 14.

They were already ahead by 20. They were hitting 60 percent from the field, including freshman Blair Green’s 3-of-3 on 3s and 2-of-2 from the line.

Freshman Rhyne Howard is the SEC Freshman of the Week for the third time in this young season. She was the first freshman in coach Matthew Mitchell’s tenure to score double figures in every game. She settled for eight in the 72-55 win in 26 minutes.

“I think we lost a little focus there after an awesome first half and the players did not have quite the same pop that we did in the first half,” said coach Matthew Mitchell.

“We have got such a close team and a great group that really care about each other and they know how important everyone’s role. When someone is really stepping forward and fulfilling their role, it energizes our team because of our closeness. I thought (Green) was huge.”

Green said: "Yeah, it finally helped me get my confidence up, but I just got to give a shout out to our post players. We've been getting in the gym, getting lots of shots up, so that definitely helped a lot.

 “Just getting back in the gym and forgetting about the previous games, while pushing forward. That's what helps build my confidence.”

They have two more winnable home games this week. There were 5,076 attendees for the Saturday matinee.

No. 23 Texas A&M (8-2)

Welcome back, Aggies, after a few weeks out.

Reporting on the SEC is always better when we get shared knowledge and magnificent  

best talker in the league. 

Dawn Staley, now that her team has fallen and can’t get up, is a close second but only because she is compelled to talk now. It reminds of us in the good ol’ boys  days Van Chancellor at Ole Miss and Joe Ciampi at Auburn, each of whom fought out of the shadow cast by Pat Head.

The Aggies have two wins as of the immediate week past and jumped ahead of South Carolina in the bottom of the national rankings with their eyes on 10 before the SEC starts.

The big get was beating No. 8 Oregon State in a Hawaiian tournament. Surf, sun, great food and two wins made for a nice road trip.

First was California-Riverside in the tournament opener. You need to beat extension campus teams. This was the third consecutive win, 70-63.

Riverside hung around as  close as two points with three minutes to go in the third.

That’s when sophomore Chennedy Carter took over, scoring eight straight in 16 seconds, Three layins, two free throws and a stolen inbounds. The cumulative effort was a season-high 26 points.

Cierra Johnson also had a career-best, 18 points a sixth straight with 10 or more.

N’dea Jones had 10 rebounds, giving her fifth this season with at least 10.

So here came the Beavers, with a little swagger, bit only 1,083 to see it.

A&M won the first and last quarters by 13  combined, the 10-point edge after one quarter basically holding up.

Carter scored 27, 4-of-5 3s, and became a 1,000-point scorer this early in her career. She was tournament MVP. But she did foul out, which is what kept it close.

 "I went on a driving layup and I kind of went wrong on my foot and I felt it," Carter said. She limped through most of the second half, but Blair adjusted her role.

 "It didn't feel too good, but I always have to put my team first. I just did what I could (in the second half). I had to play hard defense. I couldn't do much on offense, but my team came through for us."

Kayla Wells had 20, 2-of-3 3s and Jones was magnificent off the boards, with 13 defensive of 20 overall.

Carter had twisted her ankle on a drive and fouled out with 22 seconds left and the lead just two

It did get to a one-point lead with 19 seconds left. Wells hit two free throws. Jackson hit one of two, but Jones rebounded the second, was fouled and hit both free throws with seven seconds to go.

State was forced to foul. They chose Wells, a bad choice. She hit two more  with five seconds to go. Jones finished it with a defensive rebound.

"This goes down, in 16 years, this goes in the top five or six wins besides the national championship," Blair said. "To win short-handed. ... Having Chennedy go for 24 (in the first half) and then hurt her foot -- she wasn't the same after that -- but N'Dea Jones stepped up big-time. Ciera (Johnson) could score as long as they didn't have the 6-8 girl (Joanna Grymek) in there. Kayla Wells made some big shots."

 No. 25 South Carolina (6-4)

South Carolina went to Big Ten middle-of-the-pack Purdue, in a seasons-long slump, but unbeaten in five home games.

 The chance to stop a team with a reputation if not an immediate future was Boiler up big.

Dawn Staley is having the weirdest season in a long time. All four losses are at home. This second road game was as easy as any in the recent seasons, even though it took two overtimes, 83-73. 

Staley shook up the starters by using senior Nelly Perry and freshman Destanni Henderson, each a career first.

The weirdness continued as they scored 27 in extra time. SC missed their first three shots after regulation, then Alexis Jennings hit a jumper and a free throw on the next possession.

She hit two more. She fed Mikiah Herbert Harrigan for a layup. With 46 seconds left, SC had a technical foul called on Staley. 

Combined with the foul call she was protesting, it gave the home team four straight made free throws.

SC missed a three, down by three, but Bianca Jackson was fouled on a long attempt with two seconds to go. Silly Boilermakers. She nailed all three.

She had seven attempts un the first nine games.

 “That’s pretty tough,” Staley said. “That takes some real mental toughness to be able to block out being down three and needing three to tie the game and put ourselves in position to win the game. Not a lot of players can do that. I don’t think she hit any part of the rim.” 

Herbert Harrigan stole it back and it was onto the extra.

True to form, they missed their first two attempts. Jackson hit two more free throws.

Tyasha Harris, playing at last in her home state, fed Herbert Harrigan for a jumper. Herbert Harrigan fueled a jumper by Jennings, then Harrison made a free throw and SC suddenly had its biggest lead, seven. 

Herbert Harrigan kept it there when she assisted a Jackson jumper. Harris made two more free throws.

Jennings made the final two free throws and Harris sealed it with a block, then a steal.

Harris played 46 minutes, scored 14 with seven assists and two steals. Herbert Harrigan shot 50 percent from the field, 3-of-4 from the line and doubled with 19 points and 15 rebounds (seven defensive) in 45 minutes. She reached her 100th career block.

Jennings was 5-of-5 from the line and also scored 19, in 38 minutes.

The shadow of what used to by Bianca Cuevas-Moore offered 28 minutes but only one basket, in 28 minutes. They had 16 steals and caused 25 turnovers, a season-worst for Purdue. Three Boilermaker starters fouled out.

“We turned up our pressure. We went into more fullcourt pressure where we sped them up,” Staley said. “We wanted to speed them up all night long, but we couldn’t find the combination.”

Always feisty Sharon Versyp, a former Miss Indiana Basketball player, said “They started fullcourt pressing us and I didn’t think our three guards handled it very well. We became more passive than aggressive. That was a big thing.”

One of those out for the entire overtimes was the Purdue center. That opened it up for SC insiders Jennings and Herbert Harrigan. 

SC outrebounded the home team without its center, 11-3 in the overtimes.

That was another frustration for Versyp.

“One job. Box out and rebound. That’s it. That’s all we need, and we work on it three hours a day,” Versyp said.

As for the technical foul, Staley apologized to her team.

“The explanation was bench decorum is a big emphasis for this year and did I want to get his attention? I absolutely wanted to get his attention, but I wanted to tightrope to the point of getting the warning, which I did, and I thought I was moving my way back to the bench. I looked back, and I got hit with it,” Staley said.

She said she learned a lesson.  

“I’ll sit down and shut my mouth.”

This one drew 10,086.

SC only has two home games left before the SEC starts They drew 10,086.