The Mississippi State women’s basketball team officially started its season Friday night against Houston. The ladies were victorious in their first game, coming out on top 72-66.
For the Bulldogs, the fantastic play of sophomores Kendra Grant and Martha Alwal were key in winning the game. Alwal had a dominant all-around performance as she registered a double-double, scoring 23 points, which led the team, grabbing 18 rebounds and blocking four shots.
Alwal was primarily a defensive player last season, but she said this season, she is going to be a more all-around player.
“Last year, I was defensive-minded. That’s all I wanted to do, and this year coach is trying to get me more involved on offense, so I’ve really been working on that,” Alwal said.
Grant also played really well, especially offensively, scoring 22 points. With Grant, it was not just her point total that was important, but the way she scored those points. When the Bulldogs were struggling to score or an offensive possession was breaking down, Grant made things happen. She also hit big shots in big moments to help close the game.
Grant said she did not play well in the scrimmage game and that this was a redemption game for her.
“I really took that to heart and wanted to come out and redeem myself,” Grant said. “I did O.K. in the scrimmage against Shorter, but I felt I could have played a lot better, so my mindset for this game was redemption.”
Head coach Vic Schaefer said Alwal and Grant must continue to step up and be leaders.
“Those two (Alwal and Grant) were warriors tonight. I told Kendra at the half that there’s no coattail to ride here. It’s your coattail and Martha’s coattail,” Schaefer said. “We’re going to go as far as those kids take us night in and night out. So they don’t need to look around the room wondering who’s it going to be or who I can help or how I can blend in. No, it’s them and it’s important that they embrace that opportunity.”
Moving forward it looks like rebounding is going to be a strength of this team throughout  the year. The Dogs outrebounded Houston 65-39. That is a margin of 26, which is staggering.
Of those 65 rebounds, 30 were offensive, which created a lot of second chance opportunities for State.
Grant said rebounding will be a key for the team all season.
“Our biggest thing for our team is rebounding. Coach always talks about that,” Grant said. “I felt like we did a lot better than the last games. We forced them to one and dones, and we did a lot better offensive rebounding.”
Despite the win, turnovers were a huge problem in the game, and as the Dogs move forward, they will have to decrease their number of turnovers if they want to be a winning team, especially in conference play.
Schaefer said limiting turnovers has to be a point of emphasis.
“If you’re in our practices, you’d see that turnovers are a big point of emphasis,” Schaefer said. “If they turn it over in practice, they’re usually running in the stands. We try to practice with consequence.”
Defense is always a point of emphasis under Schaefer, and his team played well in that area as Houston only shot 31.6 percent from the field. The Bulldogs were very active on defense the entire night, and if they can rebound and defend that way all year, they can give a lot of teams trouble.