Mike Siroky’s SEC Report: Mississippi State Still Dominant

By Mike Siroky

 

Mississippi State shrugged off a loss to a starter in the first 25 seconds of its supposed showdown with South Carolina, another runaway.

But the world of women’s college basketball and the Southeastern Conference in particular is the shuddering shutdown of Tennessee.

Interestingly, their fall from the rankings made room for two conference mates to reappear. Missouri was just in time for the bad blood showdown at South Carolina.

The conference also solidified its reputation as the top women’s basketball league by producing a weekly show on its own network, a live, 30-minute, SEC Now. 

It starts the night of weekly Thursday night women’s basketball doubleheaders. There are feature stories as well as game previews.

The best new face is last season’s consensus All-America, then WNBA Rookie of the year A’ja Wilson.

She teams with ESPN analyst Steffi Sorensen, a former Florida Gator,  and SEC Network anchor and fellow Gamecock Alyssa Lang for the first two editions. They will come back with a half-hour recap show. 

Wilson be part of studio coverage of the SEC Women’s Basketball Tournament.

They did swell from the jump. Wilson has the advantage by having dominated Mississippi State during her career, but acknowledges now it is State’s turn in the spotlight. Post-game they all wondered at what the heck has happened to Tennessee.

And she started on the night when South Carolina visited Mississippi State, a rivalry defined as much by her play as any other matchup. Wilson was wonderful in retelling what it is Dawn Staley does to motivate the Gamecocks  and surprised at the result.

This does not say what happens to the old, retired coaches who had been studio wonks, though Andy Landers has certainly made a wonderful impact on ESPN pregame and analysis. Wilson breaks the mold for use of current athletes and is a delightful addition.

Mississippi State is on track to have 20 in January after three weeks of Southeastern Conference of women’s basketball.

Now unranked Tennessee (12-5)

The sad thing in the latest era of Lady Vol history is that losing against the Tide is no   longer news. The majority of the team has never beaten them. UT does not deserve national mention. They were blown out, 86-65, by a team that only drew 2,000.

Last week they fell six spots in the national poll. This week, out completely, or minus five, 11 spots in two weeks. They solidified that with a fifth straight loss.

Earlier, Tennessee entered Tuscaloosa on a record three-game league losing streak by two, two and four points. The Lady Vols had never lost four straight since before Pat Head really stated the program following her play in the 1976 Olympics.

The players supporting sophomore Evina Westbrook (16.3 points per game) take turns having no-show finishes.

Alabama had won four straight against UT, including a pair last season. Before that, UT had won 42 straight in the series. 

UT has fallen to the bottom of the Top 20, still perfectly capable of winning any game or losing any game. 

Yes, the Holly Warlick tradition is to lose some games in January, but never this many and seldom by a blowout to an unranked team.

They also come back at the end of the season which is to say they will be in the NCAA draw, somewhere on the road, likely in the UConn bracket.

Yes, seven of the top nine Vol scorers are first or second-year players. That reflects back-to-back recruiting classes of merit. Another one is under way. It appears things will naturally get better as they mature now.

But it also underlines recruiting misses before Warlick put out that fire by hiring a real recruiting assistant.  

And would-be upperclassmen transferred away, one of which is starting at point for South Carolina. A senior-level leader would have foreclosed on those close losses as well as settled the kids down the way Warlick did as an All-American point in the late ’70s.

At any rate, Alabama was at home, averaging 65 each game, which is what Tennessee had been allowing, and had a trio around 13 points each. 

They had just been blown out by equally unranked Texas A&M, by 27. 

For the season, Tennessee is second-worst in points allowed, lagged only by Vanderbilt, which is why the Lady Vols are also next-to-last in the SEC.

UT was averaging 14 points more. 

So what. Not lately. In the SEC, it’s 68. 

Which made the edge three points when UT hit its offensive average. Tennessee’s defensive averaged is last in the league, 72.

Westbrook did her part, 19 points and 11 rebounds with five assists. Freshman Zaay Green is proving the acceptable No. 2, 14 points with 11 rebounds.

Tennessee has no serviceable center. Also missing in action this time was former 15.5 scorer Rennia Davis, no points. 

Two other starters came up with four points apiece.

How bad was it? 

Tennessee was 3-of-23 in the fourth. They lost the quarter, 28-10.

Alabama cannot even point to tradition in its own winning. Their top scorer is a junior college transfer, Cierra Johnson, She scored 17 and was one of five in double figures.

She also hit a 3 ahead by 24 with 25 seconds left. Sort of twisting the knife, which is only revisited if Tennessee rights the ship.

She reveled in her mischief post-game. The SEC announcers laughed with her, because that is what you do to Tennessee now, just laugh.

With its second SEC win, Alabama naturally turned around and lost its next game, also at home to 3-3 LSU. Johnson scored 27, including 14-of-15 free throws.

Warlick presided over another autopsy discussion.

“We didn’t have any energy, No emotion. Alabama just wanted it more than us,” she said.

“It’s hard to watch. I don’t have any answer.

“Alabama played with more heart and energy.”

UT played Arkansas Monday night and predictably lost again,

In the kerfluffle of this season is this is when the university gave Warlick an extension which has a buyout. 

The old contract was to expire after this season They gave her three more years. When the NCAA started women’s hoops, everyone was on a one-year renewable.

This gave universities the chance to simply not renew and eliminated court  cases over being fired, which happened when Linn Dunn was let go by Purdue after having recruited a national-caliber team which indeed won a title with a replacement coach, Carolyn Peck,  who never did anything again at successive schools.

Warlick’s new deal puts her in the middle of SEC coaching salaries.

It came from an old friend from the Pat head days, new athletic director Phil Fulmer, the last UT football coach to win a national title. Both his basketball teams are disappointments.

At home for Arkansas,  Davis was benched due to lack of scoring. She is in that gaggle who would have made a difference with any points in the losing streak.

The Razorbacks started with 9-of-12 from the line and 3-of-4 3s by junior Alexis Tolefree, one of the holdovers from the previous coaching staff.

But Tennessee was just 26 percent from the field, missing 9-of-10 in the stretch, 0-for-8 in  the last four minutes of the quarter which set up Arkansas by five. The lead grew to a dozen early in the second quarter. 

Tennessee had no answers, 1-of-13 from the floor. It was 40-31 at halftime.

Tennessee calmly whittled away and had it down to four with possession in the third. They persevered and tied it at 63, then went up by four with a 7-0 fourth on a Davis 3.

Arkansas had three with at least a dozen each, but Westbrook was 10-of-15 for UT and had 22. Rookie Zaay Green, the second most-dependable Vol, had 15.

Cheridene Green kept UT in it, battling underneath.

With 17 seconds left, UT had the ball down 1. Westbrook drew a foul with 10 seconds left and tied it with her first free throw of 23 points. She put them ahead by one with the second.

Arkansas did not waver.

 Senior Malica Monk drove right down court and scored, 80-79.

With 3.6 seconds left, UT had no plan.  They had come back from 13 down, had the lead late at home. 

And lost.

Mike Neighbors said, “We had worked too hard for this. I am so happy for Malica Monk. She stayed with us and earned this opportunity. We are growing up. To win a game we weren’t supposed to, that is big. You trust your seniors.”

Now the Lady Vols incredibly interrupt the conference season for a home whooping against No. 1 Notre Dame. 

That schedule is on the coach. We have said for four seasons this makes no sense. An unlikely win does not help in conference play. 

The expected loss only further disillusions a team which had just lost five, two by two, one by four and this one by one.

“We dug ourselves into a hole and couldn’t finish the job,” Warlick said. “We can’t give up 3s and we gave up 12. We weren’t doing some things we should have been doing and then they stepped it up.

“We played better defense but still not good enough. Right (confidence) is bit very good. We’ve lost so many tight situations. I didn’t have to coach effort. That’s huge.

“Notre Dame is big for us because it’s our next game. We’re gonna prepare and be ready and fight and put our kids in the best opportunities.

“We’re gonna keep plugging along and get this thing turned around.”

No. 19 South Carolina (13-5)

After the loss at Mississippi State, South Carolina still had the mission of defending the home court. First up was newly-ranked No. 25 Missouri. SC fell three spots in the poll.

Who better than Missouri to welcome at home. This was the only matchup of ranked teams all night. 

Carolina brought in 12,004 fans.

They eased them out, 79-65.

The centerpiece was supposed to be smarmy Mizzou senior  guard Sophie Cunningham.

Last season, she caused a confrontation against South Carolina. She was ejected from one of the games.

The Mizzou athletic director said afterwards racist taunts were given to his players and said Staley created the atmosphere.

This despite the fact SC is the team with a majority of black players and his own team is primarily not.

Eventually, the conference sanctioned him after Staley filed a defamation lawsuit. The school paid $25,00 and he had to publicly apologize. The lawsuit ended in a $50,000 settlement which Staley directed to a charity.

Missouri coach Robin Pingeton said nothing, either in support or about what happened.

After Cunningham flagrantly elbowed a Tennessee player in the face on a drive this year, the Tigers went silent on social media. If they are to be believed, the team decided to do it in their own, a further indictment of Pingeton not controlling things. 

The Tennessee coach, Holly Warlick, swears she didn’t see it and it was not her place to comment. 

Which is how players get away with things. Pingeton also said nothing. The ESPN analysts on the game laughed it off.

Staley had hoped to get the teams together before this game to talk it out. But Pingeton arranged for her team to get to Columbia late Sunday, avoiding the meeting.

So came Monday’s national cablecast.

SC scored after every turnover by Missouri. 

The lead was 11-3, but two fouls on team leader Te’a Cooper for SC, who had been guarding Cunningham. The Bulldogs had two other point guards on the court.

South Carolina slowly built a lead, to 11 with 4:23 in the half. Cunningham had six.

Alexis Jennings had six rebounds in the 18-9 edge there. Mikiah Herbert Harrigan had scored a dozen, more than the opponent combined.

Bianca Cuevas-Moore, one of the three SC point guards, was 3-of-4 on 3s, with 11 points.

Missouri had two single free throws in the closing four minutes and SC pushed it to a 14-point lead at the half and maintained that for the second half.

Cunningham scored 25, 14 in the second half, with four 3s. She ended with four fouls.

The refs stayed in control, calling a double-technical at one tussle, not involving Cunningham. There were 45 fouls called. SC was 17-of-20 at the line.

Missouri’s stay in the Top 25 may be one week.

SC won with their best player, Cooper, hobbled with fouls. Herbert Harrigan and Tyasha Harris each scored 16, Cuevas-Moore and Jennings 14 each.

“This could have been somewhat of a trap game for us, but it wasn’t,” Staley said.

“They knew they played well (at Mississippi State). They wanted to get back on the winning side of things. I think it’s all about preparation – our coaching staff, what we decide on that is important to concentrate on – and we did that over the past two days.”

They have a week off before playing Vanderbilt.

No. 7 Mississippi State (17-1)

State skipped two Sundays and still won twice.

First was at Auburn, 85-59.

They have not lost when they score first.

They started quickly again. Teaira McCowan earned an early rest with 12 points as the ’Dawgs took a 10-point quarter lead. She had as many as did the Auburn team. She has 13 games with 20 or more points and 15 or more rebounds this season, despite limited time in the blowouts.

She is the SEC McCowan Player of the Week again. They really ought to follow our lead and rename it for this season. She also a National Player of the Week honor.

Auburn’s center was also sitting, but because of two fouls

Everything was going well. All the visitors need do was match whatever Auburn did. The visitors spread the joy. Jordan Danberry and Chloe Bibby each had six.

More importantly, 6-5 freshman reserve State center Jessica Carter was in, showing the development learned by contesting McCowan in every practice.

State had 10 points off eight turnovers.

McCowan was whistled for a hooking foul, though replays showed she did not. There was 3:15 left in the half. Auburn cut it to four. But Bibby hit a 3, stole the ball and Andra Espinoza-Hunter hit a 3. It was 10 again, 38-28 at the break. State was 11-of-14 from the line, Auburn 3-of-7.

McCowan started the second half with a third foul. Yikes

But no.

State increased the lead to 19, pirouetting off its defense. When Auburn center Unique Thompson sat down with four fouls, she had no points after averaging a double/double all conference season. She did not even have a shot attempt. The 1,908 in attendance did not appreciate that.

It was simply closeout time McCowan had her 14th double/double, 22 points and 10 rebounds, 9-of-10 from the field 4-of-4 from the line, without playing the fourth quarter. It grew to a 25-point margin with more than four minutes left.

“There’s a reason (State) is the No. 6 team in the country,” Auburn coach Terri Williams-Flournoy said.

“I thought we did a very good job; we were only down by 10 at the half. It’s just a very tough game to continue to play that way. 

“They got some transition buckets that kind of blew the lead (open). We just have to move on. There's nothing that we can dwell on about this game. “

Auburn has been averaging 13 points less in conference play than before that, 66. They were 11 under that this time, right at the State defensive average.

Here came was has been an absolute joy of competition, the once and future monsters if the league, South Carolina visiting as the only ranked teams (SC at No. 15) and only undefeated conference teams in the matchup of the week. 

They are two of the teams not to lose at home in conference, SC had won 12 of the past 13 meetings/

Now there is one undefeated in conference.

It started with the usual flurry of overexcitement, missed chances and turnovers. Then Danberry broke underneath for a layup. A minute later she hit another. Te’a Cooper made a layup then fed Tyasha Harris for a 3.

Danberry scored again. Harris hit another 3. 

Reserve Breamber Scott is a replacement for Bibby. She scored a State layup. A Cooper layup was offset by two Anriel Howard free throws. Jazzmun Holmes hit a State jumper, but Mikiah Herbert Harrigan answered underneath. 

McCowan and Cooper traded layups. McCowan made a layup then hit one of two free throws, then two more.

But in the final seconds, Bianca Cuevas-Moore hit a layup and Cooper a 3. The lead was just 26-23 off those unanswered defensive failures.

Cooper had 11, but forwards Alexis Jennings and Herbert Harrigan each had two fouls trying to contain McCowan. Danberry had seven points and McCowan eight.

At the start of the second, SC went on an 11-4 spree. Cooper was 6-of-8 and had 14. State reeled them in and trailed by two. Howard picked up a third foul, so in came Carter. SC was hitting 79 percent from the field, keeping them in the game. They also had 6-of-7 3s.

The inevitable fall of the shooting percentage leveled out. SC was at 54 percent.

State maintained and led by eight with seven minutes left.

McCowan was McCowan, 18 points and 19 rebounds on her way to 28 and 24. 

They maintained a nine-point lead with two and a half left. Schaefer had 11 points from Scott off the bench. That was significant.

SC coach Dawn Staley had stuck with senior starters Alexis Jennings and Cuevas Moore and that was as significant as they scored four and two. 

State thundered into an easy 89-74 win, four in double figures. They won the closing quarter by 14. 

Cooper scored 27. The visitors needed 10 3s to make it even that close.

“Teaira McCowan – she’s one of the all-time greatest when she’s hooked up and playing,” Schaefer said. "She’s been really interested the last two ballgames. I like this side of T.

“She’s been really interested, very focused on technique and very determined."

McCowan is just the second player in the SEC over the past 20 years to have five career games of at least 20 points and 20 rebounds, joining former LSU star Sylvia Fowles.

"My teammates found me," McCowan said. "I knew coming in it was a big game, so I couldn't take a night off. I just had to go and execute the game plan that the coaches gave me throughout the week.

“They’d make a shot and we’d make a shot, they had a run and we had a run. We just needed to make our runs a little longer.”

“I thought we just haven’t been winning, in my opinion, with the toughness plays,” Schaefer said.

“We lost the toughness plays in the first quarter, so that’s a toughness play. Know the clock, contest it and make them go to the hole, and there isn’t enough time. That’s toughness. Not getting the rebound on the free throw, that’s toughness.

“Of course, you are sitting there thinking, ‘Is this going to come back and haunt you?’ But no, it didn’t. Our kids really buckled down on defense and held them to 10 points in the fourth quarter. 

“I thought, as the game went on, and if you are in my practice, we don’t work too much on zone. To see us play it that much tonight and play it that well.

“As the game went on, we got more comfortable with it and became aware of what they were trying to do to us. It’s funny, we did work on it more going into this game than I have all year long. As it turned out, we sure needed it.”

“It helps us,” Staley said. “This road loss helps us, even though we lost. It helps us in the RPI, it helps strength of schedule and that’s what playing in the SEC does.”

SC welcomes Missouri next.

The Bulldogs have been in the Top 10 for 52 straight weeks. They should close the month with three more wins, at Florida, Mississippi and at LSU.

State sophomore forward Bibby – the only non-senior starter -- blew out her left knee 25 seconds into the game. She was in obvious pain. She was helped off the floor and didn't return.

The 6-1 guard is one of the few consistent outside shooters. She's averaged 12.6 points per game while leading 3s in shooting percent (45) and makes (36).

Schaefer already knew Bibby was seriously injured, which was confirmed the next day.

“Chloe Bibby has worked her tail off to be where she is and to see that happen to her just rips your guts out -- rips your heart out,” Schaefer said. “It's very difficult.”

The effervescent Australian is obviously far from home. She is expected to be in the finalist pool for her country’s 2020 Olympics, having already played on the 16-under and 18-under national team.

She will eligible as soon as she recovers, sometime next season,  and can still travel with the team. She was the only non-senior starter.

No. 15 Kentucky (16-3)

The Kats’ only encounter was at LSU, where the Tigers averaged 63.3 points per game this season allowing 52.9. Junior forward Ayana Mitchell leads the team with 13.4 points per game and 9.9 rebounds per game, hitting 57.8 from the field with a team-best 30 steals.

Still, UK had won four of the most recent five games in the series.

Senior Kat Maci Morris (16.8 points per game) skipped the previous game and classmate Taylor Murray (12.3) is trying to build on limited play with a knee injured against Tennessee. They are the No.2 and No.3 scorers on the team.

Murray is again MIA after injuring a knee in the Tennessee loss. 

We reported last week they are learning to play without her, despite an effort for a few minutes in the next game. She has a patella bone bruise.

A previously unannounced injury to leading scorer Rhyne Howard, the undisputed SEC Rookie of the Year until now, also eliminated her from this game.

 Her loss is game-changing.

But boy was Morris back. She scored 20 in the 64-60 road win.

KeKe McKinney hit the dagger, a 3 with a minute left. She had hit 8-of-31 3s all season.

Jaida Roper started at point guard . She drove the lane and kicked out to a wide-open McKinney, who didn’t hesitate to pull the trigger.

“Last year I wouldn’t have hit that shot. But I was confident, and luckily it went in,” McKinney said. “I was like, ‘Boom girl, you did that.’ That’s what my reaction was.”

She closed the game with a free throw. Those were four of her six points.

Of the shot, UK coach Mathew Mitchell said, “You can try and call something but they’re going to switch everything hard on the initial action ... you’ve got to read the situation,” Mitchell said. “They were not going to let Maci Morris touch the ball.

“The one thing we said was ‘Do not shoot a contested shot’ ... that was beautiful. That was great, great execution.”

They drew 1,452.

UK started on a 21-5 run before LSU ended the half on a 9-0 run hitting three 3s in the final two minutes of the second quarter.

The Kats hit 9-of-13 from the field in the first 10 minutes, while LSU was 5-of-16. UK scored eight points off six LSU turnovers, while LSU scored six points off five UK miscues.

LSU answered UK's 16-point lead in the first half with a 17-2 run.

Next, Missouri visits, then Kentucky is at also unranked Texas A&M in a traditionally tough battle. The Aggies lost their first two in conference, then have won three straight.

 Only Missouri, State and South Carolina have won all their SEC home games after Texas A&M won Sunday at Georgia. Those ’Dawgs have lost three of four, with the only win, of course, over Tennessee.

No. 24 Texas A&M (16-3)

The Aggies lost the first two SEC games, then have won three straight, including giving Georgia its first conference loss at home. So they are worthy of being reranked’

The latest wizardy was winning at Georgia, right after Georgia has embarrassed Tennessee. It stopped a 10-game winning streak and obviously was the first SEC  home loss, leaving just South Carolina and Mississippi Stet unbeaten at home in the league.

 No one has won the conference with a home loss for several seasons.

If there is another All-American in conference other than Teaira McCowan, it is

A&M guard Chennedy Carter.

 She never met a shot opportunity she didn’t like.

She scored a season-high 31 at Athens. Teammate and N'dea Jones grabbed 21 rebounds—tied for the second-most in school history.

Jones had brought dozens of fans to Georgia, as that is her home state and this was her first game in Georgia since leaving for A&M.

A&M won easily, 76-66 .

The visitors led, 36-28 at halftime, but Georgia rallied to tie it at 55 with eight minutes to. The Aggies scored on each of their next five possessions to take control of the game with a 12-2 run.

 Carter's 31 points is her first 30-plus of the season, and the eighth of her career. Shambria Washington scored a career-high 15, Kayla Wells also scored 15 and Ciera Johnson had her sixth double/double of the season with 10 points and 11 rebounds.

Georgia coach Joni Taylor noted A&M had more free throws than did her team, 18-of-25 compared to 7-of-9, but owned up as to why.

“I think we need to be more aggressive,” Taylor said. “We fouled them, and we didn't get to the line enough. That starts with getting the ball inside and attacking. They were playing some zone, so we don't get as many opportunities as when they are playing man, but this is the second game that we had single-digit free throw attempts. It means we aren't being aggressive enough to get the ball inside." 

Gary Blair of A&M said, “Firstly, I would like to commend Georgia for having a great crowd (4,773). That is the largest crowd we’ve played at this year because it just so happens that South Carolina, Tennessee and Mississippi State have come to our place.

“We needed to play in front of a crowd like that, that was so good. Georgia, we’re all about the same as far as ability. We all have scorers, rebounders and impact players.

"Fouls can determine a ball game. They got in to more foul trouble than we did. I mean all you have to do is look at the stats, that’s pretty good free throw shooting. But, when Georgia came back and tied it at 55, we stared it in the face and did something about it. It all started with rebounding and defense first."

 A&M won the boards, 47-31.

Jones said, “I think we learned that we can play in an environment like this. We are able to listen to our coaches and keep our composure. We were able to come and complete our goal, to win. It was a big stage, the crowd was good, the band kept booing us but I think we blocked it all out really well. We listened to each other and were really able to communicate with each other.”

Classmate Carter said, “Every game we start out with the confidence that we’re going to  come out and compete. 

“We knew that they were going to come out and throw different defenses at us. I want to say congrats to my teammates. We all stayed composed and calm, we held composure this ball game and led the entire time. That was a big thing for us and we led the entire time because of it.”

Texas A&M stays on the road, at Auburn, then comes home for Kentucky this week