The Mississippi State Lady Bulldogs basketball team welcomes a state of transition as a new era begins under new head coach Vic Schaefer.
Schaefer was the associate head coach under Gary Blair at Texas A&M, where he developed a reputation as an expert on defense and will look to bring his defensive expertise to MSU.
Last year’s team included six seniors, and this year’s team will only have one senior along with a lot of players who played few minutes last season.
Schaefer said his team’s youth would not necessarily be a negative aspect.
“You can always talk about youth in a negative way, but for us, we’ve really tried to accentuate that as a positive,” Schaefer said. “These kids are hungry.”
The Lady Bulldogs played an exhibition game against Shorter this past Friday, where they won 55-49. Despite wanting to put a positive spin on youth, from the looks of the scrimmage, youth could be a problem.
The Lady Bulldogs committed 23 turnovers in the game and will need to get that cleaned up if they hope to compete in a tough SEC conference this season. The Bulldogs did display some positives on the defensive end in the game, however, as it appears that will be the team’s strength this season, as expected when Schaefer was hired.
One of the new aspects Schaefer brings to the team is a high-pressure, full-court-press defense, which he said he intends to use regularly.
“That’s how we’re going to play. It’s going to be our M.O. this season,” Schaefer said. “When people come to the Hump, know they’re going to be pressed and it may be for 40 minutes. That’s just an attitude and a way of life for us.”
In the exhibition game, the Bulldogs forced 26 turnovers, held Shorter to 25.8 percent shooting from the field and held Shorter under 50 points.
At an on-campus media day Thursday, Schaefer said the team was looking for new go-to options, and he said sophomore forward Carnecia Williams just might be that option. Against Shorter, Williams was tied for the team lead with 13 points, and the Lady Bulldogs ran their offense through her in the post quite effectively, as she shot 50 percent from the field on 6-12 shooting.
Williams said she feels she can be one of the go-to offensive options for the team throughout the year.
“I’m very confident. I’m getting used to being back on the floor again, and once I get my knee back healthy, I can be that go-to person,” said Williams, who has been recovering from a knee injury.
Senior guard Darriel Gaynor said the play of the post players was key in the victory.
“Our post players were very dominant today, and it shows they’re going to be a big reason why we win games,” Gaynor said.
The Lady Bulldogs host Houston Friday at 7 p.m. in their first game of the season.