Mike Siroky’s SEC Report: Week One of the Conference Battles Indicates Perhaps A Two-Month Rumble Ahead

By Mike Siroky

 

Welcome to the rumble. With the start of play in the Southeastern Conference of women’s basketball, Thursdays and Sundays from now until March are reserved for those who tape ankles and keep vials of antacids in coaches’ drawers.

There will be ranked teams playing ranked teams almost every week. There will be everyone trying to defend the home court because tradition shows if you don’t lose any at home, you win conference.

Just this week, two unranked teams beat ranked teams. One of the ranked teams is out of the Top 25, maybe for the season. Another is out of the Top 10, ditto.

That means Mississippi State, South Carolina, Missouri and Georgia are the only contenders.

Several of the eliminated are NCAA tournament suspects.

Seems simple. Except it isn’t.

The eight teams closing in on 20 wins will be somewhere in the NCAA eliminations despite what Cremeology posts on ESPN. 

There will be the post-season mess of the conference tournament to help the national seeding committee.

Nothing will exceed the pride of the regular season conference champ.

Here’s the SEC start:

No. 7 Mississippi State (14-1)

The Bulldogs opened on the road at one of the hottest teams, Arkansas, and welcomed in No. 18 Kentucky.

State ended a six-game Razorback winning streak. 

Arkansas was hot before this, but State is state of the art and doubled them up in the first quarter, Jordan Danberry had 10 with two minutes still to go in the period.  

Teaira McCown already had six rebounds, five defensive. The pattern was set. State was hitting 76 percent from the field and the lead was 11 at the first stop.

They led by 17 at the half.

 In case anyone doubted it, McCowan dominated with 17 rebounds, two blocks and already doubled with 14 points. Danberry also scored 14. State is 13-1 when leading at the half.

State put an eight-point defensive stop in the third and it was 73-41. 

Four of five starters had cleared 10 points. It was time for the reserves. If they pushed, they coulda set another program record for 100-point games. Instead, they coasted to 93-69.

McCowan had three blocks, 15 points and 22 rebounds, 14 defensive. Danberry scored 26 with four assists and two steals in her final game in her home state. She is a transfer from Arkansas as well.

Sophomore guard Chelsea Dungee scored 25 and classmate Taylah Thomas 15, 6-of-7 off the bench for Arkansas.

“Really proud of my team tonight,” State coach Vic Schaefer said, “Proud of that front line. I thought they came ready to play. 

“I thought Teaira was tremendous with her 50th career double/double 22 rebounds and 16 points and going 7-for-11. Jordan almost had a double/double. She was one rebound shy of a double/double. I just thought it was a special night for her and BreAmber to bring them back to this great state.

“ I love Mike (Arkansas coach Mike Friend). He is a dear friend.”

They drew 2,263.

The Kentucky game was the best of the second sets in terms of ranked teams meeting, but overwhelmed by the upsets.

McCowan came in averaging 17 points and 13 rebounds per game. He best helper is Anriel Howard, 15.5 and eight. But four of the five starters are in double figures.

Outstanding freshman Rhyne Howard leads UK, 17.5 and eight. Senior Maci Morris average 16 points.

Anriel Howard had 11 points in a 17-5 start. Maci Morris of Kentucky and McCowan each had two fouls in the underneath bump-and-grind. 

We had the first “They’ll never give up” comment from the SEC broadcasters. We ask the annual question: Who does ever give up?

UK rallied a bit but still trailed by 14 at the break. The third quarter was no better. The lead extended past 20.

 Howard had her double, 21 points and 12 rebounds. Chloe Bibby scored 18, two others hit double figures. Morris led the Kats with 20 points and three blocks. State won rebounds, 47-24. Everything else was pretty much a wash in the 86-71 win.

The crowd was 8,830, surprisingly third-best on Sunday in conference.

UK coach Matthew Mitchell said, “Howard is so dynamic that she does it in a different way. She’s making some 3s and looks good doing it. I’m so impressed with Bibby today, her effort and her savvy. 

“Her tenacity really hurt us on the boards. I thought we did a good job on her from the three-point line, 1-for-7. I would have been really happy, but we just couldn’t keep her off the board. She just kept coming.

“They are a potent team, powerful team, especially if you let those guards get deep. They’re just really good short jumper shooters. They really have a beautiful elevation to their shot and good stroke. 

“They’re a good team no doubt about it.”

“That was a heck of a game,” Schaefer said. “I am proud of my team and the way they competed. I thought they were special today. 

“We came out strong and punched them in the mouth early. Kentucky has an excellent basketball team. We played a lot of minutes at that pace; 86 points is a lot of points.

“To outrebound that team by 24 is hard to do. That shows you the effort we were playing with,” Schaefer said. “Turnovers were not good. However, we made some big plays when we needed to.”

The Bulldogs have been in the Top 10 for 49 straight weeks, the fourth-longest streak in the nation and obviously best in the conference. 

State and Kentucky are the only schools to have their football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball teams ranked in the AP polls.

Georgia visits next, then the ‘Dawgs are at Auburn.

No. 9 Tennessee (12-2)

Tennessee went to Auburn and started at home against perennial conference pretender Missouri. Holly Warlick started her usual lineup which means not her tallest player, knee hobbled true center Kasiyahna Kushkituah. But is also was her fourth SEC opening win in four tries.

The Tigers kept it close at the first quarter, rewarding the home crowd of  2,204 with a one-point edge.

Auburn sophomore forward Unique Thompson, at 6-3 the tallest player on the court, was 5-of-8 for her first 10 against a 13 average. She also had six rebounds. Senior Meme Jackson started her last SEC season with two 3s among her 3-of-5 and was also in double figures.

But it was still anyone’s game at half, each side with 35 as it mainly was a matchup of starters. The 23-15 after intermission was what won it for Tennessee. They only had to trade baskets after that and won, 78-69. 

The Lady Vols survived a one-point lead when Auburn had possession. 

Freshman Zaay Green, Tennessee’s most important piece after Kushkituah became a non-starter, grabbed a rebound then and ended the threat.

Jackson scored 27, with five 3s and 6-of-6 from the line. Green had eight rebounds and seven assists with 10 points. Pacemaker Rennia Davis scored 23, doubled with 14 rebonds, and had three assists and two steals.

Thompson led five starting Tigers in double figures with 19 points but failed inside, losing the backboards, 43-29. 

She doubled with 12 rebounds. She was defended well after the 10-point first as UT coach Holly Warlick made the correct adjustment. They got zero from the bench. The again, UT got three points from the reserves.

“I promise you we are happy to get out of here with a win,” Warlick said. “They are so strong and solid.

 “We probably did not press as much as I would have liked. At times, it helped us.

“We wanted to control the boards and we did that.”

Auburn had won nine straight, the SEC best at that point.

“I thought we made some good runs to stay in the game,” Auburn coach Terri Williams-Flournoy said. “If we would have made a few more shots, we definitely could have won the game. We forced them into 23 turnovers. But one thing, we didn’t score off those turnovers like we have been doing in our past games.”

So on came Missouri, which had won its home opener.

Mizzou is one great pretender, a mid-major in any league other than the SEC. 

Their inconsequential coach somehow talked the other coaches into voting her coach of the year and subsequently has been one-and-done in the league tournament and not much better in the NCAA eliminations. 

They ride on the conference reputation more than their own.

They are one of a few teams either not interested or unable to recruit players of color, very weird in this era. 

The best player is Sophie Cunningham, one of those who, if on your team, is feisty and loved, if not just a dirty player. 

She started a kerfluffle against South Carolina last season, the fallout of which was a fine and apology from her athletic director as well as a loss in a lawsuit to SC coach Dawn Staley. Her coach had no comment.

Whatever, Cunningham is finally done after this season.

Tennessee was on a four-game winning streak, featuring the league’s second-best offense, 82.4, after Mississippi State. They have never lost to these Tigers at home. A ticket-boosting feature was the annual Dads and Daughters event, with discounted prices.

The 9,113 is a season-best attendance. They won’t be back soon.

Cunningham scored the first six points, two 3s, but no more in the quarter.

 She had 32 against the Vols last season at her place. Cierra Porter is also back. The Missouri center had skipped all but the last preconference game with a bad knee, falsely portrayed as a retirement.

Cunningham was already chirping at Tennessee’s leading scorer Evina Westbrook.

 Later, replays clearly showed her elbowing Rennia Davis in the face. The refs missed it. Even the pro-Missouri ESPN commenters had to mention her attitude.

Tennessee was pressing. Thw Vola had 9 turnovers, Mizzou eight. An Avis 3 gave UT an 11-10 advantage at the first stop. 

But that score came with 70 seconds left. 

The fumblerama took over.

In the second quarter, the game remained ugly, pending the coaches’ halftime talks. It was 25-24 UT. 

Westbrook had 11. 

All the team statistics were basically even.

Missouri won the third and had a two-point upset lead. Cunningham was suddenly 5-of-8 for 13 points. 

UT senior Cheridine Green – basketball followers can ask who? – hit 5-of-8 free throws and had a silent 11. 

Free throws were 13-of-18 for the home team, 6-of-8 for the others. 

It did not look like a Top 10 team against an unranked one, but it did look like the usual SEC wrestlefest, if the better team allows it to degrade.

Tiger Haley Troup only hit double figures once this season. She had 14 early in the fourth, 3-of-4 outside against the usual Tennessee faltering defense vs. the 3. 

Her season average was three points per game.

It was still a one-point lead with 7:40 to go. Turnover were 19 Missouri, 14 UT.

UT never caught up. Davis’ final 3 attempt was wide left. The third-quarter difference held up.

 If tradition holds, this 66-64 loss at home eliminates them from the regular-season title and knocked them out of the Top 10.  

The ESPN announcers left happy. 

They did not ask Cunningham about the flagrant foul in the post-game.

She finished with 20. Her bench scored half the team points.

The Vols were led by Westbrook and Davis, 16 each. The vaunted Tennessee depth was exposed. Six points. 

Tennessee made six more free throws on eight more chances and took 13 more rebounds. 

But so what. 

They were outplayed at home in a conference game to an unranked team.

“I loved our energy,” Warlick said.

“ We played so hard. That is why this is a tough game for our kids. We had, at times, little things that we did on defense were magnified. Bottom line is that we gave up too many threes. With a team like this, if you make mistakes, they take advantage of them. We cannot give up the wide-open 3s and expect it to be okay.”

She said the hard-hitting play is just SEC as usual.

“I thought we handled it,” Warlick said. “I thought we were physical. I thought Cheridene played one of her best games. 

“She was on the boards and was physical. We did those things. I don’t think that was something we let affect us. We had some mental lapses, and against a veteran team you cannot have those. They will take advantage of you.”

Warlick did not see the Cunningham elbow hit Davis in the face. Surprisingly, she did not back her player. The referees watched a replay and assessed a flagrant unsportsmanlike foul.

Jackson made the ensuing two free throws.

“I'm really not surprised because of who it was,” Davis said. “At the end of the day, I was just playing defense and she was dribbling and she stuck her elbow all the way up and I flew back. She hit me dead in the eye.”

“I did not see it,” Warlick said. “She said that an elbow hit her in the face. I didn’t even ask (the referees).” 

That may come back to haunt her leadership. 

Pat Summitt would have taken a technical protesting such a play. This issue is one reason some UT fans have faulted Warlick and why thousands have chosen to not renew season tickets.

She also excused  the drama around Cunningham being a  dirty player.

“That’s kind of not up to me. Sometimes that play is called, and sometimes it is not. I just think she plays hard. She is a tough kid, and that’s just how she plays. We know that is how she plays. The officials know how she plays. 

“It is what it is. You can’t get caught up in that stuff. We weren’t concerned about that.”

Pending additional review, she could not explain Troup.

“It was not just her. I will have to go back and watch the tape. We had a kid in the back stay in the lane too much. When you think about how many wide-open 3s they got, can’t do that to a team. That is just not rotating, not being aware who is in your area.

“As a young team, we’ve got to get smarter. And it wasn’t just one person, it was a combination. At least they are shooting 3, we’ve got to contest. I am going to guess that there were four wide-open 3s they made, and that’s just us being sucked in. 

“We worked on it, and we knew that was going to happen.

“And again, we’ve just got to get smarter. I loved our energy; I loved how hard they played. Gosh, we played hard. And that’s why this game hurt so much to not come out winning because of our effort and energy. We’ve got little things we’ve got to take care of.”

They meet again in February. Maybe, by then, Warlick will back her players. At least two players exchanged words with Cunningham, following the game. They have Davis’ back.

Tennessee awaits Kentucky and then goes to Georgia, another unranked team.

The loss knocked UT down three spots, to No. 13 in the national poll.

No. 16 Kentucky  (14-2)

Before the loss at State, the Kats bopped Vanderbilt.

 Kentucky had never had 13 wins before starting a conference season, so No. 14 was also a record. 

Vandy played like it mattered and were only six behind at the quarter.

But UK hung a nine defensively on the Commodores in the second quarter. It was evidently over, the Kats up 16, with 11 from Maci Morris, including three 3s. It ended 77-55.

Rookie of the Year Rhyne Howard scored 16.

Vanderbilt got 17 from junior guard Cierra Walker.

The Kats had been scoring 14 points more this year than last, with Howard pacing them, 17.6 points and 7.4 rebounds on average.

UK coach Matthew Mitchell earned his 300th career win, all but 30 in Lexington.

He kept us his campaign to get Howard some post-season honors by praising her effusively. He also said turnovers and points off them is part of the game plan.

“When you feel like you can get that done against the opponent, you have to work really hard. It’s not going to happen that way every single game but we did feel like that was something we could do.

“You have to credit the players, you have to go out there and do it. It doesn’t just happen on its own. I thought we hustled our way into some good plays tonight and also just made Vanderbilt uncomfortable and got them out of their rhythm. 

“Sometimes what looks like an unforced turnover is really just because of the pace you’ve created and the uncertainty of what the next pass is so I think we did a really good job of that.”

 

Vanderbilt coach Stephanie White said, “I think you can see it on film and you can prepare for it as best as you can, but it’s tough to simulate the type of pressure that they bring. 

“We’re not going to position ourselves for much success when we turn the ball over 29 times. There’s not much defense for that. We’ve got to do a much better job of taking care of the ball.”

After visiting Tennessee, UK has Ole Miss at home.

No. 21 South Carolina (14-4)

After the A&M win, SC got a home win vs. Alabama. Senior Alexis Jennings, sometimes hobbled, was the leading scorer at 12 per game.

Coach Dawn Staley has used six different starting lineups. 

Seven Gamecocks have led the team in scoring at least once. Carolina has won games scoring 100 points and scoring 60 points. 

The Gamecocks have won five games by fewer than 20 points and four by more than 20. They have won five games shooting better than 45.0 percent from the field and four games shooting below that mark. 

So they go back to a Staley basic: Defense. South Carolina is 8-0 when allowing less than  70; 1-4 when allowing more.

But Alabama is trying so hard to join the NCAA qualifiers. Kristy Curry is a coach with a good background. 

They had nine wins coming in.

Curry has advanced the cause each year since arriving in Tuscaloosa in 2013. 

Last season, she won at Knoxville, a program first. She graduated her first class of seniors with back-to-back 20-win seasons. She won a national coaching award from the United States Women’s basketball Association in 2015.

Junior Jordan Lewis had been among the SEC’s best since arriving on campus. She led a trio averaging 13 points per game but was lost to a broken wrist after eight games and that lack of leadership proved deadly again in this one. 

She had started all 73 games of her career.

Curry left a successful Purdue program after seven seasons to follow a legend at Texas Tech, for several season seasons before jumping into the SEC fray.

So, at SC, they started in the hole, 15-8, and could just play even into the fourth. In seasons past, a single-digit quarter was not easily overcome. It is still the same.

By the fourth, the Tide still trailed by five as the final six minutes approached.

Alabama had stifled Cooper but center Herbert Harrigan had 16, twice her average, with four blocks.

 Freshman Destanni Henderson had 11, 4-of-6 from the field, 2-of-2 at the line, against a four-point average. She has not started until recently and has been a savior.

Staley is doing her best coaching in a league of great coaches.

With a minute left, a jumper by Jasmine Walker gave Alabama its first lead.

 A frantic crowd of 11,392, best in conference, did its best to rally the home troops. 

Herbert Harrigan scored off an assist by Cuevas Moore. Alabama called two time outs. One minute left. 

Cooper stole it after a struggle on the inbounds. She it a free throw after being fouled by Taylor Bailey, who had but 14 minutes on the season.

Alabama fumbled the game away with its second straight turnover. Cuevas Moore was fouled and hit a free throw for the 62-59 final. 

The Tide lost it again, a third straight turnover and the Staley defense proved true for the second straight SEC win as they protected the home court with a sixth straight win.

“Personally, I don’t like being scored on, so I pride myself in my defense. I just try and stay on my feet as much as possible,” said Herbert Harrigan.

She had five of the team’s 10 blocks. They had 10 steals and forced 17 turnovers. Obviously, the perfection with less than 70 allowed was in play.

“You mention Mikiah and you mention Te’a, but the other three players set them up to be successful in that they guarded,” Staley said. “I told them that in the locker room that they’ll probably get the headlines, but certainly everyone else did their job to set them up to be successful.”

Cierra Johnson had 19 points and Jasmine Walker 17 for Alabama.

“I thought we did a great job rebounding. I thought we did a great job not fouling late in the fourth quarter. We were aggressive.

“I am simply proud of our team.”

Staley’s coaching prowess in the toughest conference in America got her team elevated two spots in the national poll.

The Gamecocks coach has two more winnable games this week, Florida at home then at LSU.

Former No. 23 Texas A&M (12-2) Now unranked.

The Aggies had to contend with South Carolina to starts its season, then went to personal bugaboo LSU. 

They have had four of their eight all-time meetings against SC decided by two or fewer points.

A&M had won seven straight – the month of December – and SC had won four straight.

Sophomore Chennedy Carter is the SEC Player of the Week. 

If not for Teaira McCowan, she’d be SEC player of the year and could still well be the other conference All-American. She had skipped the previous game to rest an injured ankle.

The Aggies took a 15-8 lead after one but A&M kept it close by missing seven straight shots as their lead dwindled to a one-point possession midway through the second.

 Carter was already at double figures with 14. Cierra Johnson had 12 rebounds and doubled in the half with 12 points, including the buzzer finisher that made it 37-28 at the break. But Kayla Wells missed eight straight shots.

SC coach Dawn Staley challenged her guards to get involved. Te’a Cooper began to fling her body at the defense and won most of the calls. She only had eight at the break.

Still, a 7-0 run to start the second half set up SC taking the lead.

A&M coach Gary Blair’s teams have a history of inexplicably losing games like this to lesser foes. He had his jacket off and began to work the refs.

Neither side seemed willing to grab control or maybe the counter-punches were that good.

A&M would ease ahead by three but SC always answered. 

With eight minutes left it was anybody’s game. This is the only time they play this season, so the impact on March was felt in early January.

The depth of SC helped some. 

They got 10 bench points as it wound down and A&M had none. Former conference star Bianca Cuevas-Moore has never regained the step she lost to knee reconstruction but she finally lost the brace and scored six, replacing the speed game with an intelligent approach.

SC was up by three with five minutes left. No one was in foul trouble.

 Carter needed all those who promised to step up and help to do it. Forget the 12th Man stuff; they needed four more good starters.

It was a one-point lead with four to go. 

Even as the top major undefeated in the women’s game was losing at the same exact moment, this game was more exciting.

The two-minute clock flashed with SC up by one.

 Ty Harris drove the lane for her second field goal but a three-point lead. 

A&M had missed four straight and nine of 10. 

A flatline home elimination for the regular-season title. They went the final four minutes without a field goal.

Carter hit one of two free throws, a minute left. An SC miss and a long rebound lost to Mikiah Hebert Harrigan, her 16th . But they missed the next try.

Blair drew up a play, saying, “I gotta have an inside shot.” Thirteen seconds left. He did not get an inside shot.

Carter drew a foul on Herbert. Harrigan a fifth.  The star Aggie missed the second, which might’ve tied it. 

SC time out. But it was over. She had 19 points, but 3-of-19 from the floor. Johnson and Wells had 13 each.

Cooper led the visitors with 24, 9-of-11 from the line.

A&M headed out for four of five in the road. 

SC had its first against a ranked team this season, 60-57.

“It’s huge,”  Staley said. “We don’t win here for some reason. I guess it’s just with being in the SEC and on the road. Anytime you can get a road win in the SEC, it’s a bonus.

“I thought we tried to make it hard for (Kennedy) up front and then when she penetrated going downhill, we tried to collapse on her a little bit and then make her dribble through it, the more things she did with the basketball, and she’s very good at it, but over a 40-minute period that would start favoring us.

“We tried to make her play on both sides of the ball, which helps, takes away from some of the energy she has on the offensive side of the ball.”

After halftime, “We rebounded the ball,” Staley said. “It’s quite simple. The adjustment at halftime wasn’t anything besides keeping it simple, and boxing out.

“I thought our post players in particular, Mikiah did a great job at just giving two and three and four efforts, whatever it took for her to get the rebound.”

Blair accepted his team’s responsibility in lack of effort.

“When you’re up 15-8 and you make a play to end the first half, and when you come out as flat as we did to start the second half, there is not much that you can say. 

“They thoroughly outplayed us, we shot 18 percent in the third quarter and 20 percent in the fourth.

“ The two best players on the floor happened to play for them tonight, that was Te’a Cooper and Mikiah Herbert Harrigan.

“We worked against (South Carolina’s defense) all week long… but give Herbert Harrigan and Cooper a lot of credit, give their half-court defense a lot of credit. They would not allow us to get into our offensive sets.

 “This group is going to have to play a lot of minutes, we did not have Jada Walton tonight. She had the flu, 102 degree fever.

“Hopefully we can get her back for next game. I needed her tonight when Kayla was in foul trouble, I was not getting a lot out of Aahliyah Jackson and the bottom line is Chennedy was dead tired. 

“I did not have a choice, and if I’m not mistaken Cooper did not come out very much either.”  

Johnson made it even simpler.

“We just tried to get the ball all game, but, coach said that whoever would win the rebound battle would win the game, we had 45 and they had 49, so there’s the ball game,” she said.

 

“Their defense was good, but we missed a lot of bunnies, Kayla missed a few of her layups, so that’s the game right there. We missed a few free throws, some that we normally don’t miss, so their defense, give credit to their defense, they did a great job defending us, but we did take a few bad shots and we missed a few of our bunnies we should’ve made.”

Onto the bayou and a particular Devil’s Triangle for A&M.

Last season, the Aggies took two of three games against the Lady Tigers, including a 75-69 victory in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals. However, LSU won 80-78 in Baton Rouge last season, holding Chennedy Carter to a career-low eight points. 

Carter, who is Division I’s active career leader in scoring average with 22.2 points per game, avenged the loss and poor performance with 27 points in the SEC tournament.

As usual, LSU has yet to establish an identity. 

This is the post-Raigyne  Lewis era, when that splendid player led them even after losing some mojo to knee reconstruction. They were one and done in the NCAA, as usual.

Junior Ayana Mitchell leads them so far, six doubles and 23rd in the nation and second in the SEC with a 57.5 field goal percentage. She is fourth in the league with 9.8 rebounds per game and is averaging 13.7 points.

Sure enough, LSU opened with a 14-12 first. Carter was 1-of-6. Walton did not appear.

A dismal 8-7 second quarter showed here was another ranked team playing down to an unranked conference team.

Carter hit 4-of-7 and had 10 points with seven rebounds. But it was still only 41-40, A&M, with a quarter to go. Walton, a needed reserve, was still not playing. The bench had supplied one basket. Rebounds were even at 29.

The forceful final fateful quarter for the second straight game ended with the LSU upset, 63-52, a 12-point quarter advantage.

Sure, Carter had 20, but everyone else pretty much watched and the bench came up with one basket. 

Khayla Pointer scored 22, 10 above average for LSU. A&M only had five steals. Free throws were mammoth, 18-of-22 for the home team. They held A&M to 26 percent from the field. They drew 2,290.

“We kept telling them that we have to go get this,” said LSU coach Nikki Fargas. “We have to make sure that we leave it all on the line against a very good Texas A&M team.

“We struggled and missed a lot of wide-open shots in the first half,” Fargas said. “In the second half we settled in and we were able to make some of those threes. Khayla Pointer took it upon herself to play aggressive off the bounce and get herself to the free throw line.”

“I thought that our pressure defensively in turning them over – we wanted to be aggressive and not be passive with our approach,” Fargas said. “We wanted to extend our defense a little bit more.

“We had a very balanced attack.”