Mike Siroky’s SEC Report: Easy Start to the Season

 By Mike Siroky

Nobody in the best conference of women’s basketball, the Southeastern, lost a preseason game. They went 11-of-12  on opening nights, the bottom three teams lost three in the opening week while the league won 20

South Carolina had the first season upset, at No. 4 Maryland.

 Watching it, you wondered about the rankings. It was not the best SEC team vs. the best Big 10 team.

 It was the best recruiting class topping a team with all starters back, at home.

SC moved up two, now No. 6 in the national poll. Texas A&M moved up to No. 5. Mississippi State is still 10th, Kentucky 13 and Arkansas 23.

The trick through the end of December is to win at least 10 games.

Only one SEC team has been denied an NCAA entry with 20 wins and that happened last season to Arkansas. Some teams even get in with 19. Good teams can win 10 in conference.

Here’s what happened in the opening week:

No. 5 TEXAS A&M (2-0)

Arkansas-Little Rock is a usually tough little sister mirror image of the Aggies, with a well-respected coach and a rock ‘em, sock ’em defense. Not this year.

Cierra Johnson hit her first three attempts on her way to 24, with 14 rebounds. 

The defense allowed single digits in the final three quarters of a 78-35 win to open a special season.

 Johnson is on the national Leslie Award watch list for centers. 

The conference’s only All-American, Chennedy Carter, is on the Wooden watch list and the Lieberman watch list for point guards.

 She is one of 30 on the Wooden list. 

Players will drop off and others will drop on the list as the season plays out. 

It is a post-season award for national Player of the Year, It is not the top award, but it is one of them.

 Kayla Wells is on the Miller watch list for  small forwards. N’Dea Jones is on the McClain Award watch list for centers, which means four of the five starters are on national radar.

In the opener, Carter scored 16. They drew 2,758.

 “The goal was to play lockdown defense,” said Johnson. “Nothing is going to be given to us, we have to earn it each night. I really hung in there and they got the ball to me.”

Coach Gary Blair credited assistant coach Bob Starkey, his defensive leader, in his eighth season.

 He noted the scoring in the paint was 52-8.

 “And I am more interested in the eight,” Blair said. “That’s all they got.

“We forced them to do what they didn’t want to do. So give coach Starkey all the credit. We worked as hard on UALR as we do on South Carolina and Mississippi State.”

Duke was next. It was another SEC win over as major conference opponent.

No one scored in the first minute of the game. 

Carter had nine of a dozen team points.  The Aggies took a three-point halftime edge and expanded it by the end of the third, 55-44,  Carter with 23. She sat down. Johnson had a dozen. She sat down. It ended 79-53.

. They drew a very healthy 3,809.

“Look at the boards,” said Blair of the 47-26 advantage. “That’s what won the game. I had 12-12-9.”

Those numbers were for Cierra Johnson, N’dea Jones and Chea Rae-Whitsitt.

“We learned a lot playing our fourth game in 10 days. And that’s what showed tonight.

“You set your schedule up to get ready for a team of Duke’s magnitude,” he said.

“That’s a measuring stick. Everything we’ve done was for this game.

“Our turnovers (22) let them in the ballgame. So maybe they’re a little tired. They earned a day off. I took a day off and went to the movies, saw Midway. This is the anniversary of the Marines and then Veterans Day. We honor them.”

“The unsung hero was Sham (Bria Washington). That was 5-6 guarding a 6.  Remember a junior college player is better her second season.

“I think when we shift the ball, it makes my job a lot easier,” said Washington. ”We send three to the boards every time,” said Jones. “When a shot goes up, we know to crash the boards, just go to the boards. I kind of compared myself to her, to see how hard I had to go”.

No. 6 SOUTH CAROLINA (2-0)

The Gamecocks got the first conference win with a 10-0 sprint to start against Alabama State, despite hitting but 30 percent from the field.m

 Four of the five starters are new, but senior Tyasha Harris is still on point. There were three starting point guards last season.

 One graduated and one fled. 

Harris has been a starter since freshman season.

Harris is also on the Wooden list and on the Lieberman national watch list for guards. Aliyah Boston is already on a national watch list, for the Leslie Award.

SC has had Alabama State volunteered to be pummeled first for a third straight season.

 SC has won 20 for eight straight seasons. They are likely to do so again, also likely to take well into the SEC season to do so as newbies contribute later.

Senior Mikiah Herbert Harrigan finally had centers ahead of her clear out so she could start. The expected center  starter quit the team this summer with a year of eligibility left.

Junior LeLe Grissett has impact games last season and remains the best off the bench.

Dawn Staley has the top freshman class nationwide.

 Three of them started: guards Brea Beal and Zia  Cooke and 6-5 forward Aliyah Boston. 

SC won all quarters. It was 43-25 at half, a blowout at 77-31 into the third. The second half was 60-19; the final 103-43.

Boston had a triple double, a dozen points and rebounds and 10 blocks.

 That’s the first triple/double by a freshman in her  first game in NCAA history.

 Six from SC scored at least 10. Every player scored, every player had at least one assist. They drew a national best, 10,586.

“First just honestly I want to thank God,’ said Boston. ‘My teammates were able to get me the ball and I was able to score. I had no idea.”

“I was nervous,” said freshman guard Olivia Thompson “When she called my name, I said ‘Oh My God.’ I’m on Cloud 9; it was really good for my confidence.”

Staley said she told them to enjoy themselves. Of Boston, she said she liked that she was active and fought for her own rebounds.

“We put her back in because she was so close to (a 10th block). We wanted to give her two or three minutes and actually, someone was checking in for her, at the table, when she got it.

“I don’t know how we’ll do against Maryland. We’ll just have to play it out. A game like this, it helps because we can play a lot of rotations.”

It was a little different at No. 3 Maryland.

 Through two games, the rookies have made this a better team than the one it would’ve been if three starters had not deserted.

Boston had eight of the first 10 points.  

Maryland had promised to run, run and run.

“We’ll see who is in better shape, who has put in the work,” said Maryland coach Brenda Freese  in the locker room pregame. 

The Terrapins had also surpassed 100 in their first game win.

A 3 by Blair Watson made it 11-10 Maryland. 

There were four substitutions on each side. South Carolina was 6-of-8 from the line. Maryland had yet to attempt any.

 SC led 18-15 at the end of one. A second-quarter defensive stand 16-9, kept SC in control. 

The Terps did a lot of running, but not so much gunning, hitting 28 percent from the floor. 

It was 46-38, SC, as the last quarter began.

South Carolina took what was given, 14-of-18 from the line.

 The home team was 7-of-10.

No one could hit a shot. SC hit two more from the line. 

The Gamecocks maintained the eight-point lead with four minutes left, despite shooting 30 percent from the field.

 That’s because Maryland was shooting 27 percent. Youth was being served.

 Boston was the only starter with more than 10.

By the 63-54 end, three starters had double figures, led by Boston’s 14.

 Free throws were 24-of-30 compared to Maryland’s 8-of-10 (which meant one in the final quarter.) SC won rebounds, 54-38.

“”The idea was to keep the foot on the pedal, because anytime they can come back,” said Harris.

 “It was exciting,” said Boston. “My team was excited. I was just where I was supposed to be. That means we can get out in transition and make baskets.”

Harris said playing with the rookies is great. 

“They listen to what  I say,” she said.  “It’s time to turn the page. 

“We have a new team and they (the freshmen) have a new team. It is great to play a team at this level, to see where we’re at.”

“We need to speed them up to disrupt them,” said “Staley. “When they are in the flow, they are really tough to beat. Over the course of 40 minutes, we pressured them as their pressure bothered us. 

“We have a seasoned point guard. She utilized her experience being in big games. She did what a senior point guard is supposed to do.

“If we can expose them to a big game, they can only learn and grow. They are driven individuals.”

No. 10 MISSISSIPPI STATE (1-0)

The rock of the conference chose to start its home season right during prime football time with the home team on bye week. 

That says State is a basketball school as much as anything. They drew 7,591.

Jordan Danberry leads a team with seven newcomers but plenty of moxie and the best coach in the league. 

She is on the Naismith player of the year watch list.

This was eventually a welcome back Chloe Bibby game. She was injured last January when she wracked her knee and missed the rest of the season. The Australian  is totally healthy now.

Danberry controlled the game early with seven points.

It was back-and-forth – 22-19 at the end of one -- when coach Vic Schaefer made it a freshman showcase late in the first half.

 Freshman JaMya Mingo-Young was running show. Her name will become more familiar as the season continues.

Despite 12 turnovers, State had a 49-32 edge. The home team had it in control.

They blew it out to 30 in the third and the StarkVegas crowd was rocking.

 The Bulldogs were 8-of-10 from the field in the quarter. It was 76-42 heading into the fourth.

 State was still hitting well, 56 percent from the floor and 76 percent from the line.

 They had caused 25 turnovers. 

Four were in double figures, led by Bibby’s 16.

Schaefer kept using his newbies in game conditions. Individual statistics were irrelevant as the team effort ramped up.

It ended 91-58.

“Their energy is so contagious,” said assistant coach Elana Loivato of the freshmen. “It helps everyone play harder. With our defense, especially.

“Mingo can play anywhere and that is why she will get a lot of playing time. They’re playing really, really hard. Promise (Taylor) has a great skills set. Even more than (predecessors). This is easy for them. We go hard in practice. So the game is easy.”

Schaefer was generally proud of his team but did not like unforced errors.

“For a first game, after that first quarter, I thought we really settled in defensively and did a nice job,” he said.

“I thought we played really hard. Again, we are playing a lot of new kids, a lot of young kids and a lot of inexperienced players.

“ The only downside is my point guards had 11 turnovers. Obviously, we’ve had some good ones in the last five or six years and I have good ones now, they just have to learn to take care of the ball. 

“Having 11 turnovers betwełen those is detrimental to our team. We’ve got to do a better job of taking care of the ball.

“We forced 16 steals and 28 turnovers and that’s more in line with who we are and what we’re about and how we play the game. I was really pleased with that tonight. It was a really good win.”

No. 13 KENTUCKY (2-0)

Also opening at home, Kentucky let state school Mount St. Mary’s stay in it, 27-21 at half. 

The first single-digit defensive effort for a quarter came in the second when the Kats allowed nine.

 Rhyne Howard started just 1-of-10 but recovered to score 14 with 11 rebounds in the 67-44 opener.

“They were just trying to apply pressure, and they tried to get me out of my game but it wasn’t really working,” Howard said.

“We’re still a work in progress,” coach Matthew Mitchell said. “There’s plenty of improvement we can make, but I thought we had some great hustle out there on the defensive end.

“On a night where we can learn from rushing and taking off-balance shots, we’re not going to be that great of a team. 

“If we settle in and take some good shots and really try to be ready to shoot and stay on balance, then we can be a really good offensive team.”

They drew 3,575.

The first road win was Middle Tennessee State. 

Matt Insell, a top UK assistant for five seasons, then a coach for five more at Ole Miss, is back with his dad at MTSU as the top aide.

Anastasia Hayes, once a top recruit at Tennessee before being dissed by the previous regime there, is the top player after sitting out last season. Mitchell had said the Insells traditionally  prepare a good early season challenge.

Hayes scored  22 but needs help. They oughta be a top Conference USA  team anyway.

UK was little threatened, 22-18 at the half, then turning on the heat for a 31-18 third.

 Senior guard Amanda Paschall was leading UK with 11, but three eventually made double figures.

Howard, as a sophomore, is right in line to be competitive for conference player of the year.

 She is also on national watch lists, the Wooden, the Naismith and the Miller, which annually honors the nation's best small forward.

No. 23 ARKANSAS (1-0)

Mike Neighbors continues to be the most fun coach in the league.

He kept it light in the opening win, 82-52, over New Orleans.

It was staged at 10 a.m. for elementary school students. They drew 6,801, which ranks as the 22nd biggest home crowd ever.

 A 15-2 start all but decided it. It was 26-12 after one.

Chelsea Dungee is on the Ann Meyers award watch list (forwards); she scored 22.

Junior forward Taylah Thomas  had  21 rebounds (14 defensive),  one shy of the program record.

 Realizing she was close, Neighbors put her back in at the end, but a teammate wrestled away a final rebound.

Neighbors said Thomas approved. She did not want anyone giving her a record and the other player was doing as she was coached to do. 

“If someone is  close, I will put them back in for rebounds, assists or steals; never for points,” he said.

“I need to get to midseason form to help them win,” he observed. “I’d say a B- or a C grade for us and that’s on me.”