Mississippi State University’s women’s basketball team will look to finish off the rest of its SEC schedule in strong fashion beginning Sunday, when it travels to Tuscaloosa to take on the Alabama Crimson Tide. 
The Bulldogs are coming off a hard fought win against Florida Sunday, which saw them pull away from the Gators in the second half to improve their overall record to 24-4 on the season.
Coming off of the game versus Florida, Bulldog Head Coach Vic Schaefer said he is pleased with the state of the program and how his team’s momentum this season. 
“I am really proud of everything we have accomplished,” Schaefer said in a news release. “We have set a lot of milestones here that people didn’t think were possible when we got here three years ago. We have some high expectations around here.”
This year’s squad has already proven to be one of the best in the school’s history, and by it tying its all-time wins record for a single season, it is beginning to wander into uncharted territory. However, come Sunday afternoon the Bulldogs will need to not let their guard down against an Alabama team, whose record may not show it, but can present problems for the Bulldogs if they allow them to get going. 
In their first meeting of the season, the Bulldogs were able to scrap out a 16-point victory at home, but the win did not come easily. MSU got off to a slow start in the first half. It was the play of Mississippi State’s defense that ultimately allowed it to get the victory, which has been another trend that has stuck with the team as well. MSU held Alabama to 30 percent shooting for the game and an even better mark of 14 percent from three-point range. 
Since that game was played on Jan. 18, these two teams have taken very different paths to get to where they currently stand today. MSU has gone 5-2 and picked up an impressive win over Texas A&M to help keep its spot in the third position in the SEC standings. Alabama, on the other hand, found out just how daunting the SEC can  be, as it has gone 2-5 and has not been able to string together any successive victories yet in conference play. Turnovers have proven to be a problem for the Crimson Tide all year, but especially over the last seven ball games, where they are turning it over at a rate of 18.6 per game. 
Bulldogs have seen their offensive production improve over the last four-game stretch, and the improved play of freshman Victoria Vivians has acted as a spark for the entire team. Vivians finished last week, which was highlighted by a 39-point performance in the double overtime loss to Kentucky, and earlier in the week she was named the National Writers Association’s Freshman of the Week, the first Bulldog player ever to receive the prestigious honor. 
Vivians was quick to thank her teammates for helping her achieve all that she was able to over the past week. 
“This is a great honor because there are so many great freshmen players across the nation,” Vivians said in a news release. “I appreciate the USBWA for selecting me, but I have to share this honor with my teammates and coaches because it wouldn’t be possible with their support.”
The team as a whole has seen its shooting percentage rise to roughly 41 percent, which is good enough when partnered by its great work on the defensive end to be a really competitive team within the SEC. 
Another key to the game on Sunday will be having a healthy Martha Alwal this time around. Alwal had just come back from injury in the first match up, and while she did play a pretty high 30 minutes in the ball game, she only shot 2-11 from the field, struggling to get a real feel for the game. This time around, Alwal should be much more comfortable in her role as the starter in the middle. Alwal has made five or more shots in the last three games.
One player from the Crimson Tide to keep an eye out for is sophomore forward Ashley Williams, who is averaging 13.1 points a game this season to go along with six rebounds. She has helped provide the Crimson Tide with some scoring punch this season and has proven to be their most consistent player. MSU will key in on her and make someone else step up and try to pick up the slack come Sunday afternoon in Tuscaloosa. 
The game begins at 2 p.m. at Alabama and can be seen on the SEC Network.