The Mississippi State University women’s basketball team will take the court for the first time in an exhibition game against Shorter to tip off its season on Monday. Last season the Dogs finished with an overall record of 13-17 and went 5-11 in the SEC. 
The team had multiple young and inexperienced players play major minutes for the first time in their career. This season the team has more depth, more experience and more confidence expected to translate into more wins.  
Head coach Vic Schaefer said there will be a lot of talent, but there are a lot of unknowns right now about his team. 
“We’ve only had about 20 practices so far, so it’s kind of hard to really gauge our improvement, but from what I’ve seen I think our skill set is better,” Schaefer said. “Sometimes what you don’t know doesn’t hurt you.” 
Turnovers were one of the biggest impediments to the Bulldogs’ success a year ago. The team averaged 20 turnovers a game, including 6.5 combined from the two point guards Katia May and Jerrica James. Mistakes certainly figure to be a part of the equation with a young team, but the Bulldogs cannot hang on to that crutch any longer. 
Schaefer said the number of turnovers needs to change this season, which goes along with his message to the team during this offseason. 
“During the offseason, our message to the team was change. We needed to change some things, and that’s been our message since our first team meeting since our season was over,” Schaefer said. “Both of our point guards are better, and I think they have a better understanding of what we want to do and taking care of the ball.” 
Optimism that MSU will improve this season comes from the number of returning players. The team only lost one starter from last year’s team, and nearly all of the key pieces are back. If all the returning players did what they needed to do to get better and learn from last season, improvement should be imminent. 
Schaefer said his team made good and necessary progress during the offseason. 
“I think all our returning players have worked hard in the offseason to improve their games,” Schaefer said. “Now rather that translates into game night or not remains to be seen, but they look good during drills so far.” 
Junior Martha Alwal was the team’s best player a year ago. She averaged 12.1 points per game, 9.7 rebounds and 2.6 blocks, which earned her All-SEC second team honors. At 6’4, her height was effective, especially on defense, last season. 
Though she had a good season a year ago, Alwal said she is ready for more. 
“I’ve been working on my moves in the post, and I feel like I’ve gotten better in that area,” she said. “Also, coach wants me to be more of a leader this year, so that will be the biggest adjustment for me. It’s not just about myself anymore. I have to be focused on the entire team.” 
Junior Kendra Grant was the second leading scorer for the Dogs a year ago with 11.8 points per game. If MSU is to compete with the best of the best in the SEC, the Dogs will need her to be even more effective as a scorer. The team raves about her performance so far in practice, and she could be a breakout player this season. 
Grant said aggression is her main goal this season. 
“I’ve been working to put up more shots this offseason. Coach is on me every day about putting up more shots,” Grant said. “Last season I felt like I was a little too passive, so this year I want to score more and be aggressive.”