In the historic 27-3 season for the Mississippi State women’s basketball team, their impressive defensive powerhouse took the floor and gave their consistent performance every game. 

Standing at 5’9” at guard, Dominique Dillingham proved she could present defensive pressure and offensive answers on the team. She brings a consistent playmaker mentality and a willful work ethic to unify the national presence Mississippi State achieved in the ’16-’17 season.

It started in Spring, Texas, for Dillingham as she made her mark at Klein Collins High School while playing varsity all four years on the basketball team. In the Amateur Athletic Union world of Texas, Dillingham began on HTX Fire and ended her career at Cy-fair Shock. Dillingham said when she began playing in AAU she noticed her defensive abilities outweighed her offensive presence on the court. She knew that defense kept her on the floor and earned her the minutes that molded her into the D1 basketball player the women’s basketball world knows today.

“I realized at a young age I wasn’t as good on offense ever,” Dillingham said. “Defense was always the most important thing to me to win. If I wasn’t doing well on offense I know what I need to do on defense.”

Dillingham credited her hard work ethic and toughness to her parents Myron and Barbara who continuously pushed her off the court and influenced her growth as an athlete. While Head Coach Vic Schaefer was recruiting for Mississippi State, he saw those morals exemplified in Dillingham and knew she would fit into the team model he needed to build a championship team. He called her mentality one of a champion.

“We sit at the table all the time and try to find who’s the next McDonald’s All American but I always wonder, “Where’s the next Dominique Dillingham?” Schaefer said.  “People respect her because they know how hard she works and the difficulties she continues to play through and overcome. We all see how hard she plays. I expect her to go into games and make big impacts.”

Dillingham agreed that the most important factor in building the team with Schaefer was trusting in one another in order for Mississippi State basketball to reach their goals of championships.

“When he was recruiting me, I knew he came from a championship team already,” Dillingham said. “I knew to believe in his vision and I just saw it all unfold. We’ve been going on such a positive track.”

Along with Sixth Man of the Year Teaira McCowan and First-Team SEC honoree Victoria Vivians, Dilingham has her own style that pieces the team together. In her senior season alone, Dillingham started 22 of the 23 games she has played in. She finished the regular season with an outstanding 13 blocks, 22 steals and took 19 offensive charges. Her best season performance was against the First-Team SEC Sophie Cunningham from Missouri with 24 points in the 70-53 win. She is fifth overall in MSU history for career steals at 204 and only 45 points shy of her own 1,000th point milestone at MSU..

The MSU community welcomes Dillingham with open arms and appreciates her hard-working consistency along with the team to get Mississippi State to the top of the nation’s ranks. MSU fans rush to the court to the fan base to congratulate their hard work after every game. Schaefer sees that Dillingham is someone they can relate to.

“On and off the court, double zero is definitely one of their favorites.” Schaefer said. “They identify, appreciate and love watching her play. They know she’s willing to do anything to win.”

Dillingham will close her senior year with the SEC tournament and the most important tournament of her career: March Madness.  Dillingham wants to become a nurse practitioner but doesn’t know if her love for basketball will outweigh that dream.

“We want to win the national championship and be in Dallas for the Final Four.” Dillingham said. “I might continue playing or I might come back and be a general assistant here.” 

Dillingham looks to close out her historic senior year on a winning note. The Bulldogs are back in action on March 3 as the No. 2 seed of the Ole Miss/LSU game.