Mike Siroky’s SEC Report: Mississippi State Reigns

By Mike Siroky

The best conference in women’s basketball – the Southeastern – has finished with Mississippi State as champions. 

They only lost two games.  

They could win 30 before the NCAA eliminations. 

They won at South Carolina to put the exclamation point on their run, but State had the tiebreaker anyway.

They were never not in first place all season. 

Their No. 5 national ranking has been tops in the league.

Only the doofus who makes up numbers for ESPN’s bracketology has doubted them all season long. 

We shall see if the Committee agrees, especially if State now makes the three-game run through the conference money ball tournament.

The conference closes with a clear, not shared winner, which will count for something in NCAA bid placement.

Then, of course, only one team in America will win six more games.

 There is a national champion every season. Recently, only teams named UConn have been able to repeat.

We have long reported winning 20 in a conference as tough as the SEC gets you into the national eliminations.

 The four ranked SEC teams did it a few weeks back. Two more joined this week. 

Tennessee allowed Vanderbilt to win for the first time in Knoxville but finished with 18 with a winnable first-round SEC game.

 But neither is 20 wins.

 A serious case can now be made for UT to be excluded from the NCAA set, another terrible program first for the only team to have qualified for every one of them. 

The coach has lost the team, if she ever had it. Getting young talent is great; coaching it up is better.

If an eighth team gets the magic ticket to the big show, it could be Arkansas, which also deserved to have its coach selected as top in the league this season. 

As well as the Big Four have been coached, it is the surprise guy on the rise that deserves a doggy treat, moving from 13-18 to 17-11, five under to six over at his alma mater.

Like Dawn Staley and Vic Schaefer, he has shown a coach can make a difference, though he did it faster than anyone ever has, even SEC legends Joe Ciampi (Auburn) and Van Chancellor (Ole Miss). 

The latter two showed their worth when the programs fell into disrepair after they retired.

Some coaches certainly had their last games at the present school if athletic directors are serious about supporting women’s programs and uplifting revenue with better attendance.

Vic Schaefer of defending conference champ Mississippi State is the only league coach to be named a finalist as national Naismith Coach of the Year. 

It will be interesting to see if the only league nominee is honored by his own conference or if they will continue to dilute the annual choice with someone else.

Likewise, there are only two possible All-Americans. 

Chennedy Carter of Texas A&M and Teaira McCowan of Mississippi state. 

They are the current conference  Players of the Week. 

McCowan is one of four semifinalists for the national Naismith Award.

 They are guaranteed to be all-conference, with McCowan Player of the Year. 

Rhyne Howard of Kentucky will be Freshman of the Year. We projected both McCowan and Howard as soon as league play began.

Some seniors will fill out the bloated (more than five) all-conference team and more disappointing seniors will make other honors.

 It gives many schools a chance to issue press releases.

As far as coaches finishing SEC careers, LSU and Alabama may be tired if a plateau has been hit again and again. 

Even making the NCAA just says you are 65th of 65 programs. 

The three-year experiment at Vanderbilt has not worked. The two-year charm puts Florida in the clock.

 Yes, both of those coaches deserve a four-year run with all their own players.

But, again, serious about a program means some foreshadowing of success. 

Tennessee took a team with one contributing senior and one junior and is in position for another invite.

 The four teams just mentioned have not earned that.

Conference tournament play starts Wednesday with the out matches, the four worst in the league.

The Big Four skip even the next round, but two 20-game winners and one 19 are there.

We will mention one last time the inappropriateness of playing the games in South Carolina, one of two states who still use the Confederate Battle Flag as a sanctioned symbol.

The SEC turns a blind eye to its players and coaches of color with this insult. The league will not even answer questions about it, nor will the giddy magpies at ESPN even mention it.

Here’s the league lineup:

Wednesday

No. 13 Florida (7-22) vs. No. 12 Ole Miss (9-21) and No. 14 Vanderbilt (7-22) vs. No. 11 Alabama  (9-16) 

Thursday. Both coaches in the second game are on shaky ground.

No. 9 LSU (16-12) vs. No. 8 Tennessee (18-11). Winner gets top seed Mississippi State (27-2).

No. 5 Missouri vs. Ole/Miss Florida Winner gets fourth seed Kentucky (24-6).

No. 10 Arkansas vs. No. 7 Georgia Winner gets second seed South Carolina (21-8).

Alabama/Vanderbilt winner vs. No. 6 Auburn vs. Vanderbilt/Alabama Winner gets third seed Texas A&M (23-6).

We will report every night and include the all-conference stuff with the first edition.

Here’s how the league’s ranked teams in the AP Top 15 closed the season.

No. 5 Mississippi State (27-2)

The SEC game of the year closed the season, at South Carolina. The ’Dawgs beat up a personal bugaboo with a convincing comeback,  68-64.

The Bulldogs lead the league in scoring  offense, 81, and allow 54.4 in league games. So they allowed the Gamecocks 10 more while scoring 12 less.

The Bulldogs lead the nation in scoring margin (30.4) and have the No. 3 scoring offense (87.3) in the country. They top the SEC in field goal percentage (49.2 percent), assist/turnover ratio (1.3), assists (16.7 apg), rebound margin (plus 14.1) and offensive rebounding (17.9).

The first game of the week the top two defenses in the SEC against one another. LSU allows 55.0 points per game and ranks 10th in the nation. The Bulldogs are right on the Lady Tigers’ heels, allowing 56.8.

Freshman guard Zaria Wiggins got her first college start, joining the usual four seniors.

The  76-56 win assured State of a share of its second consecutive regular-season conference title. 

They will be back for two home games in the elimination sequence. They will win 30 before the Sweet 16.

A 7-0 start was nice.  Alexis Jennings had five rebounds which led to a 15-6 rebounds average early.

 Auburn did not look like  a team with 20 wins. 

The starting margin remained the same throughput the third quarter, the visitors still seven in front and not seriously pondering a loss.

LSU had been embarrassed by the worst loss in SEC history, 33 points, in the first meeting between these two in the bayou and was playing for personal pride. 

They trailed by five at the first break.

McCowan neared her umpteenth double, 17 points and nine rebounds at the 36-26 half.

McCowan’s 20th point , a free throw with eight minutes left, made her the fourth-best scorer in program history. 

She is likely to go no higher.

 Those above her played as four-year starters, did not take breaks when the game was  out of reach by the opponents. One of them ended her season in 2003, the other in 2010. The fourth is her three-year running mate, Victoria Vivians.

Whatever the fifth starter experiment was about, Wiggins played seven minutes. Regular starter, sophomore Andra Espinoza-Hunter, played 25 minutes.

The lead grew to 10 after three, 10 at the end. McCowan scored 25 with 15 rebounds and two blocks.

 She was 10-of-12 from the field and 5-of-6 from the line. Danberry led three others in double figures with 18 points and four steals.

Another Fab Four starters were honored after the game on Senior Night though everyone will be back for two NCAA games.

Jordan Danberry chose to complete her career at State after two seasons in her home state of Arkansas. Anriel Howard had one year in StarkVegas as a graduate student after three seasons at Texas A&M.

 The handoff between coaching legends who are great friends went seamlessly.

Teaira McCowan will stay on the national stage with a slew of senior rewards that includes a can’t-miss WNBA draft and international professional play.

 Jazzmun Holmes has also been there since the beginning, helping to build this program to a national contender. 

She is one of those players only Vic Schaefer saw enough in as a recruit to build into a star.

It is a 92nd consecutive week in the AP poll, the sixth-longest active streak in the nation. 

The Bulldogs have been a top 10 team for 56 straight weeks, the fourth-longest active streak.

The Bulldogs are the nation’s No. 3 scoring offense, averaging 87.3 with the highest scoring margin (30.4) in Division I.

They drew the league’s best 8,631.

"Tremendous crowd tonight, these seniors deserved that crowd,” Schaefer said.”I'm just happy for them, to be honest with y'all. We tried to impart on them that this is not your last game in the Hump.

“ You're going to play two more in here in the NCAA Tournament. This is our chance. This is what we work for all year. This is what we work for in our careers.

“You have a chance to go win a Southeastern Conference championship,” Schaefer continued. “I’ll tell everyone in this room, I think it’s harder to do that than anything else you can possibly do in this country. 

“You have to play 16 monsters in this league, and these kids have done it again. They've clinched at least a share. It's so hard to do. I'm really proud of them because I know what they've put into it.”

 McCowan said, “Most of the time I am double-teamed, triple-teamed but tonight he said it’s one-on-one so I had to get down in the hole and win my battle.”

Three times she fed off the double-team to Howard, who converted all three.

“It was good for the team; she knew it and she got it,” said McCowan.

On of her best moments was going coast-to-coast with a rebound.

“For the most part (it’s special),” she said. “You have to get ’em all. I just know I can’t let anyone box me out. I have to go get ’em.”

The conference game of the year was next at South Carolina. State had already won at home. Their lone league loss was at home to Missouri.

Carolina had lost at home to Kentucky. So no one had the magic formula of win all your home games and you win conference.

SC had won 12 of the past 14 meetings, including all four championship game matchups. Both teams have been ranked in the top 20 in each of the last nine meetings, with the higher ranked team winning seven of the contests,.

South Carolina is 12-5 against Mississippi State in the Dawn Staley era, including a 3-1 record in Columbia. 

They fired up the crowd of 18,000 with Senior Day for Jennings, Cliney, Cuevas-Moore and Nelly Perry.

 They have won seven Senior Days in a row.

 It was truly a last home game as the women must play opening rounds elsewhere as the men’s tournament has an opening-round game scheduled. 

SC has led the nation in attendance.

Schaefer put Espinoza-Howard back in the lineup. 

SC played a zone to keep McCowan away from the glass. 

Howard had a height advantage on Cliney, so State rotated that way. State had a 6-3 beginning. SC hit a fourth of its attempts, reluctant to go inside.

But pulling McCowan away from the basket was working. 

She was scoreless in the quarter and her team trailed by five. 

Schaefer had to make adjustments if he were to succeed. 

He did not and was setting up to take the blame. Staley was winning the coaching battle.

 Espinoza-Hunter got the message from the non-start in the previous game and had eight. SC would be just fine with a guard battle.

A 3 by Tyasha Harris at the halftime buzzer gave SC a nine-point advantage and set the crowd roaring. 

It looked like State would have to win the automatic SEC bid in the tournament if they wanted a top seed. 

They have worked all season for one. 

And at least they knew they had two home games left to celebrate.

Schaefer took off his jacket and got down to strategy.

 Espinoza-Hunter had three personals but he left her in and she led two fast breaks to take the lead with five minutes left in the quarter.  

They had come all the way back. 

State came up with a 19-8 third, that deadly marker when you score less than 10. It proved the difference in a magnificent game.

Then an 11-4 run to start the fourth and suddenly the hometown seniors looked wiped out.

The strength of McCowan and Howard on the boards was paying off.  McCowan had 15 points and 15 rebounds with three blocks. Howard had 11 and nine, Espinoza-Hunter had 17 points.

It stayed 62-53 for a whole minute, which meant SC could not dent the defense.

Then it did, scoring 11 of the final 17. 

Even though the final quarter was even, the end was special.

Perry made a jumper – not coincidentally she had pushed her past 1,000 career points – and it was a two-point game.

Danberry fed McCowan.  Harris answered. Danberry hit one of two free throws.

McCowan, Howard and Danberry got the next three rebounds. 

The bigs were protecting a title with a series sweep.

 With 10 seconds left, SC had fouls to give and gave two of them. McCowan made a free throw and grabbed the final defensive rebound.

She had eight defensive rebounds, 17 overall and 18 points. Howard had 17 rebounds and 13 points.

  The team won rebounds by 12. Espinoza-Hunter closed with 17 points. Holmes had five assists. Harris scored 20 for the Gamecocks.

“I knew it was going to be a dog fight,” Schaefer said of his first winner in the series. “I thought they really came out and had a lot of energy. They kind of took the fight to us a little bit.

“ I challenged our guards at halftime because I thought their guards were the difference in the game in the first half. 

“We talked about that a little bit and really just the toughness piece and the defensive piece.

 “You saw two of the best point guards in the county, in my opinion, today in Harris and Holmes,” Schaefer continued. “Those two kids are dynamite. If there are two better in the country I’d like to know who they are.”

In the January game, the Bulldogs rallied after Chloe Bibby wrecked her knee in the first minute of play.

  They pulled away from a three-point lead, locking down on defense to yield 20 percent SC shooting in the final 10 minutes, to claim an 89-74 victory.

 McCowan had as many rebounds (24) in that game as the entire South Carolina squad, half on the defensive boards.

“I like it,” Staley had said of the rivalry. “I think they are right now the team to beat. Their record indicates that. If you get another opportunity to meet them, for us, it's going to end up in the championship game and I'd love to be in that race.”

No. 12 South Carolina (21-8)

On the road for the last time, at Auburn, SC looked just fine.

They have been ranked all season, even if they did fall to No. 25 before the SEC started.

A double-bye in the league tournament was assured.

They rode in on an eight-game  series win streak.

It was 18-8 at the quarter break. Senior Doniyah Cliney had seven. 

Dawn Staley started transfer guard Nelly Perry for emotional reasons. Te’a Cooper was still unavailable and injured. They were hitting 56 percent from the floor, the home team 26.

The visitors led by nine at halftime. Cliney was 4-of-5 from the floor with 10 points and five rebounds.

 Cliney and classmate Alexis Jennings were each within a double/double as the third wound down, 48-37. 

But the home team had a last gasp and cut it to one. A win would assure Mississippi State of the conference title all alone. 

But a 21st win was a proud accomplishment, even if It only drew 1,912.

They got it, 73-66. It took a 28-point fourth, a dozen of those by junior forward Mikiah Herbert Harrigan. Jennings doubled with 15 points and 10 rebounds. 

Harris doubled with 14 points and 10 assists. She needs 12 more assists to hit 500, sixth in program history. Nobody has done that since 2004.

Redshirt senior Bianca Cuevas-Moore is closing in on 1,000 career points, at 964.

"We have to play better than we played to beat the No. 14 team in the country," Auburn coach Terri Williams-Flournoy said. "You don't want to go down by 10, you can't be in the first quarter down by 10.

“ Then you make your run and get back, and then you let them go on a (12-0) run. So you're not playing defense."

SC moved up two spots in the rankings.

No. 13 Kentucky (24-6)

The Kats finished their home season, breaking the third-place tie with Texas A&M. 

All it means is one of them gets Mississippi State in a league semifinal and other may get South Carolina.

 It was the biggest Thursday game.

Among the league vs. national inequities (which confuses the ESPN bracketologist) is UK was ranked higher than South Carolina in the national rankings, yet had no chance to catch them in the SEC standings. It underlines the strength of the league.

Texas A&M was coming off of back-to-back wins over at least 17 points, and 20-plus point performances from Chennedy Carter and Kayla Wells in each. 

Wells had a career-high 29 points in the win over Tennessee, then had a team-high 24 at Florida to start the week. Carter, the league high scorer, added 28 and 21 against her 23 average.

“It’s fun to play in games like this,” said Wells of the Kentucky trip. “This is the type of game that players like me and my teammates live for. We’re going to prepare and play hard.”

Freshman Rhyne Howard leads Kentucky (23-5, 10-4 SEC) in scoring (16.7) and rebounding (6.7), but the focus was on senior guards Maci Morris (15.6) and Taylor Murray (12.9), playing their last regular season home game in advance of the NCAA eliminations.

Both teams had assured themselves of a double-bye in the Southeastern Conference Tournament, March 6-10 in Greenville, S.C.

A&M started better, Carter with seven and Wells with five in a 19-7 explosion. 

Just wow. 

No wonder UK scheduled the senior farewells a home game earlier. The Kats hitting 25 percent from the floor surely could not last. Howard and Morris were shut out.

UK scored 21 of the next 28 points and the lead was but two at halftime.m

 Howard had five in the spree. 

The Aggies had withstood a might roar and still led by two which gave coach Gary Blair plenty to talk about. Carter had 10 on 10 shots, Johnson and Wells seven each.

It remained a nice old-fashioned slugfest.

 A&M made it a seven-point difference with two to go in the third.

 Carter was keeping her own pace with 17, but Wells was right there with 14.

 With two minutes left, A&M led by six. The start and then the game-long defense had held Howard down and there was the difference.

A&M won without difficulty, 62-55. 

Johnson had 16 points and 13 rebounds, Carter was right on her mark with 24 points, Wells at 14 wit three assists. They had caused 10 turnovers. They drew 4,532.

“They just found a way to play better basketball,” said coach Matthew Mitchell. “They played really tough and it’s a disappointing loss for us but you have to give them credit.  

“We have to watch the film and see where the breakdowns occurred.”

The victory over Kentucky clinched the No. 3-seed in the tournament.

Blair said,  “Another great atmosphere anytime you come into basketball country in Kentucky. You just appreciate and know what this sport is all about. 

“You’ve got knowledgeable fans that pull for their team, you got three great players and you’ve got other kids who are developing into roll players.

“The difference in the ball game is that my three went for 24, 16 and 14 points and yours went for 11, seven, and nine points and usually it’s about even.

“The difference in the ball game was the boards. Chennedy Carter and Ciera Jones play so hard. We were even trying to get the ball to her more and we didn’t run a couple sets right, got a little bit too fast for ourselves.

“You all were very small in there without Howard, by far the freshman of the year. She’s a great player.

“Someday you’ll probably see her up in the raptors but right now you just enjoy Taylor Murray and Maci Morris.

“Two great seniors that have done a tremendous job that are a load to guard.

 “My two post players played 38 and 39 minutes and they are warriors in there. N’Dea Jones got hurt down there at the end, she didn’t want to come out and she got the heck knocked out of her but the kids were saying ‘Coach let her stay’ and that’s how much belief we have in her.

 “I’m proud of this team. We were 0-2 to start. We blew a nine-point lead our opening game at home to South Carolina and got beat. Went to LSU, our rival, and got beat.

“Then we found a way. We might not be the prettiest team in what we do sometimes but we look good. We grinded and found a way. We were picked sixth in the league and Kentucky was picked seventh and all of a sudden look at our two teams.

“We are going to the tournament as a third place team but we are not going to slow down. 

“One of my brothers, Mike Neighbors who coaches Arkansas, he is going to bring everything in on Sunday against us on Senior Day. He is one of my best friends. I have spread my family tree out there quite a bit here and Mississippi State and Auburn and I’ve had a lot of great coaches.

“Just got to take care of the ball a little bit better and see the floor a little bit better,” said Carter.

“Our game plan was to simply limit Morris’ touches and watch her. She is a great 3 shooter. 

“Defensively I felt that we all did a great job of corralling the ball, staying in our gaps and contesting shots and getting offensive and defensive rebounds. Our game was just to stay in the gaps and stay with our man.

“Great teams will make great runs and they made a great run, and then we started to make adjustments. We made a run and then they came out with a run and it was a ball game. I felt that we stayed together and stayed within our game plan and we came out successful.”

Johnson was mindful of losing rebounds at home when this rematch came.

“I guess it was a little embarrassing for me since I take on the load of most of the rebounding so for them to outrebound us at home doesn’t happen much. 

“We just wanted to come in here and have good energy and if we weren’t scoring on the inside then try to do it other ways.”

UK ended at unranked Georgia where Caliya Robinson was SEC Player of the Week.

This was a trap game, as Georgia  had won four-straight – all of the final five NCAA metric -- and five of its past six. 

But they still were only one overall game better than Tennessee, which has been written off for a month. 

UK has won three of the last four in the final five scheme.

 Que Morrison would be all-SEC had she not racked a knee and missed many games this year. She has come back to average 30 minutes a game as a quiet sniper.

Bothe sides obviously were angling for placement in the SEC tournament with even mathematically a double bye in play.

 Georgia has been searching for relevance ever since dropping out of the national rankings when SEC play started. We reported then they would not be back and they have not. But here was a chance.

This one started excruciatingly slow. 

The ’Dawgs scored only 13 each quarter and still led, 26-24 at the half. When they hit 13 again in the third, they led by five. Howard had one basket and Morris was 1-of-7.

Junior college transfer Amanda Paschal got her second start and scored eight.

A 9-0 pop to start the fourth put the Kats in front by four. Tatyana Wyatt was up to a dozen points.

 When there was a minute left, a 19-8 fourth had UK still four up. Georgia had done what it had done all season and failed to close. At 18-11, they are just average.

Wyatt did just enough to make a difference, 17 points, and Mitchell was assured of being able to say he was proud of this team, which is how he opens every post-game discussion. 

They did hold the alleged player of the week to seven. 

Morris hit two free throws with 15 seconds left to seal the 59-53 deal, the final point by Wyatt at the line. They drew 4,561.

Super rookie Howard won the Rhyne Howard Freshman of the Week award for the third straight week, eighth overall.

UK moved down two spots in the rankings.

No. 15 Texas A&M (23-6)

Before  Kentucky, they visited Florida; after Kentucky it was the home closer  for Arkansas, the school at which both Blair and his assistant Vic Schaefer started. The Razorbacks meant to impress the NCAA selectors.

Chennedy Carter, the nation’s leading scorer as a sophomore.

They came into Florida having won but two in conference. The Aggies hit 9-of-10 from the field to start and led by 10. 

Then they just kept going, winning the quarter, 20-9, imprinting that single-digit defense thing that usually signals the winner. A&M also tried to use its non-existent bench.

Kayla Wells was already into double digits early in the second. It grew to 34-12. 

At that point, A&M was hitting 65 percent of its shots, Florida 15 percent with four baskets. The half ended 36-17. Florida’s five 3s kept it even that close.

Wells and Carter each had 11 for A&M, which hit 68 percent for the half. A&M center Cierra Johnson and rebounder N’Dea Jones each had six rebounds.

The merciful end was 80-62, the most A&M has scored in conference.

Carter scored her 59th double figure, 21, in 60 games, 34th in a row, continued he school record of 42 with at least 20 and is eighth on the all-time program scoring list.

Wells, with 24, was in double figures for a 10th straight game.

Johnson’s 21 was her first of 20 or more and 10 rebounds is a first double/double. 

“The coaches, their big deal was get the ball inside because they’d seen other posts dominate against this team,” Johnson said. “So, the guards did a good job getting me the ball.”

Sophomore Jones’ 166 rebounds are second in the league only to Teaira McCowan.

A very quiet gym only attracted 1,000.

After Kentucky, they closed vs. Arkansas on Senior Night for non-starters Aja Ellison and Caylinne Martin.

 Arkansas had the biggest rise all season, to 17-8, gaining RPI credit for the conference. Neighbors is another former Blair assistant.

They won, 66-53. Carter had right at her average, 24 points, 20 in the first half.  Her two-year total, 584, is a sophomore program record. Her overall total, 1,400, is also a school record. 

She slipped on a drive underneath with nine minutes to go and jammed the pinky finger on her right hand.

She left the game butt returned to cheerlead off the bench.

It will obviously be evaluated before the SEC tournament.

They won rebounds by 20. Jones had 13 points and 16 rebounds, 11 defensive. 

“Just making sure that I focus,” Jones said.  “ I know I don't get a lot of shots, so I really try to focus on the shots that I do get to make sure that they go in.

“ I know that I have to help out my point guard to get assists. I want her to get that assist, and while I do want to score, I want my team to be better. So, I know that I have to try to make the shots that I get."

She is happy when Jasmine Williams gets in.

"Yeah, most definitely. Jasmine is very loud. She's our Energizer Bunny. She lets us know when we're getting killed and we need to pick up our energy. So, she's our little Energizer Bunny. She's really loud every day."

Shambria Washington had a career-high nine assists.

"I try to do as much as I can; whatever my team needs me to do,” she said.  “My assists come from me finding people in the right spots and them making great plays, great baskets, and great catches. (With) the rebounds, they're so focused on N'dea and Ciera that it makes my job easier.

"Our preparation (assistant coach Bob) Starkey works extremely hard on preparing for our opponent.

“ Preparation is so important, and he spends a lot of time on our defensive schemes. I think we're buying in more and more each game. We take each possession very seriously. He's doing a great job with us, so it makes out job easier."

 Blair knew his advantages coming in.

“They have a four-guard offense and a single post who was only 6-1. We are supposed to be dominant. We only had four turnovers in the first half, and we really played well.

“Give them credit, they have done it all year, they have been a second half team. Our goal was inside-first, outside-second. 

“We could see the 3-point shot wasn't going, so we started going for more shots inside the paint. Some days the 3s are going, some days the 3s are not. It was not going for us and it wasn't going well for them either, until the end where they threw a couple up.

" What didn't graduate was my coaching staff. My staff does a great job. There is never a detail that isn't done unnoticed. 

“Whether it is senior day activities or doing the tennis shoe thing, we do things the right way. I am just glad people notice every now and then besides what is just on the scoreboard. I have good captains and it always starts with that."

Neighbors  said, “I thought they played like a team that is playing to host NCAA Tournament games. There was no lack of focus from the get-go. For a team that has already locked in seed for the SEC tournament, you hope for a little bit of let down, but we didn't get it. 

“They came out really focused and I thought they had a really good approach in the first half, and we didn't really respond well until after halftime. 

“N'dea Jones was a monster. We were aware, but there just isn't a whole lot you can do about it. We are always going to have a deficiency area in that right now. 

“We just don't have the size and we play four guards. We try to make up for the shots by not turning it over, but I thought we had a few uncharacteristic turn overs." 

It is the best regular season record since 2011. 

They drew 3,609, with the possibility of sliding into NCAA first round games at home.

“If (Carter) is not the Player of the Week, we need new people (selecting),” Blair said. She is co-Player of the Week.

 “No other guard is double-teamed every night and she is sometimes triple-teamed. I’d rather her be considered  All-American. I want the community and the SEC to embrace Chennedy-Carter.

“After we were 0-2, baby we were looking up at everybody. It got old very fast.

“As far as the SEC, It depends on teams, it depends on teams, situations and matchups. Who knows?  There’s been teams not playing up to their potential and we were picked sixth or seventh in the SEC. I am just going to enjoy it.”

The Aggies jumped four spots.