After a tough road defeat at the hands of  the Tennessee Volunteers Sunday, the Mississippi State University Bulldogs have had almost a week to prepare for their next match  against the Texas A&M Aggies.
The Bulldogs lost by eight points to the Volunteers. Victoria Vivians led all MSU players with 17 points. She missed five of her threes.
This serves as the second game of a three game stretch for the Bulldogs that puts them up against the likes of a top 15 opponent. With the prospects of still having to face the Aggies, Kentucky Wildcats and No. 1 ranked South Carolina, Bulldog Head Coach Vic Schaefer will have his work cut out for him in the upcoming weeks as the Bulldogs continue to fight within SEC play.
When the Bulldogs take the court Sunday afternoon, they will be going up against a team that is 17-5 and balanced with their approach to the game. The Aggies shoot roughly 44 percent from the field and hold their opponents to 34 percent shooting on average. Both numbers are above where the Bulldogs have produced for the campaign so far, and one factor that could really affect the outcome of the impending match up with the Aggies will be which Bulldog offense shows up to Humphrey Coliseum.
The Bulldogs are at their best when their freshman small forward Victoria Vivians is knocking down shots from the perimeter and affecting the game on both ends of the floor. When the Bulldogs are able to get an active and engaged Vivians to go along with the post presence of senior Martha Alwal down low, MSU can hang with anyone in the country. Her presence changes the game.
Their major problem this season has been their tendency to rely on their defensive prowess a little too heavily while their offense has teetered on inconsistency all year long. They have only shot around 40 percent in their 25 games, which will need to see a big jump if they plan to contend for the SEC Championship in March.
One area in which Schaefer said he did not feel the Bulldogs performed up to their usual standards against Tennessee, which is usually one of the team’s strengths. Following the loss he was very direct with his thinking on the subject.
“We gave up a lot of uncontested shots,” Schaefer said in a news realase. “That’s really unusual for us. We didn’t quite have the ball pressure that we typically have.”
 With the way the offense has fluctuated this season, the Bulldogs cannot afford to have a poor showing on the defensive end. It will see two players this weekend for the Aggies who have averaged close to 15 points a game. Junior Courtney Williams has continued to expand her game after earning the honor of most improved player on Texas A&M’s entire roster last season. Her ability to knock down shots from midrange as well as work the blocks on occasion make her one of the players that the Bulldogs must have an answer for.
The Aggies’ other star junior Courtney Walker has turned out to be a mainstay for the Aggies. She currently leads the team in total minutes played and is instrumental for all the different ways she can affect the game. Whether  rebounding, assisting, or defending in crunch time, Walker is a player that can swing a game.
The Bulldogs continue to hold their position within the top 20 of the country, as they were placed at No. 19 in the latest polls. 
Schaefer said he believes his team is certainly one of the best 20 teams in women’s college basketball and said after the Tennessee game that most would agree with him. 
“I walk out of here thinking ‘Hey, we’re pretty good,” Schaefer said. “We probably are a top 20 basketball team, and I don’t think many people would disagree with that.”
The game begins at 2 p.m. Sunday at Humphrey Coliseum and can also be seen on the SEC network.