MSU seniors finish out home careers strong in victory over Oklahoma State
Leadership and maturity were two of the qualities that coach Vic Schaefer said would be vital for his Mississippi State team to do special things in 2018.
Monday night's second-round match up with a resilient Oklahoma State team made those qualities all the more important.
With a trip to the Sweet 16 on the line on four seniors' final home game at Humphrey Coliseum. His players delivered.
MSU had just two turnovers in the final three quarters and had 20-plus point games from Teaira McCowan and Victoria Vivians and another memorable March game from Morgan William. When the dust settled, the Bulldogs were heading back to their third-straight round of 16 with a 71-56 victory over the Cowgirls.
“I just thought when it wasn't going their way they made it happen,” Schaefer said. “Their presence on the court was great, and sometimes that's pretty good leadership.”
Schaefer relied heavily on his five starters despite making some changes early in the game to find the right rotation. The MSU bench played just 8 minutes.
Those starters made the best of their minutes in the game.
McCowan finished the night with 21 points and 18 rebounds, including going 8-of-12 from the field, blocking two shots and stealing the basketball twice. She scored 17 points and had 10 rebounds in the second half alone.
“You saw the value of Teaira McCowan to our program,” Schaefer said.
Vivians had a game-high 23 points, six rebounds and four assists in her final game at Humphrey Coliseum and passed Tan White for the second-most points in school history.
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