Bulldogs play Lady Vols on road
Follow Vic Schaefer and Mississippi State's rise in women's basketball and it all goes back to getting over the hump against a team that had been unbeatable.
Since the beginning of MSU'S basketball program, the Tennessee Lady Volunteers were that unbeatable force. Sharon Fanning-otis gave legendary coach Pat Summitt all she could handle many times in her career, but MSU always came up short.
Things finally changed in 2016 when Schaefer's Bulldogs knocked off the Lady Vols in overtime. State had become a top 25 team by that point, but that was the first time that fans really felt that the program could be special.
Then there was an Southeastern Conference Tournament win later that season and the first win at Knoxville the following year. Suddenly, MSU has won six of the last seven in the series since dropping the first 36 games.
The Bulldogs get another chance today when they take on the Lady Vols at 5:30 p.m. in Knoxville, Tenn.
“Each time you take a step and overcome that, there's a satisfaction and joy from that,” Schaefer said about getting wins over Tennessee. “Once we broke through and won, our kids believe and have been a part of it and started winning. It's never easy. We've had some knock down drag outs with them.”
As accustomed as MSU has become to knocking off one of the country's best programs, this particular team hasn't played in Thompson-boiling Arena. Jordan Danberry and Chloe Bibby each played the last time the Bulldogs went to Knoxville in 2018 and won 71-52, but the rest of the MSU team will be broken in to Rocky Top today when the No. 8 Bulldogs meet the No. 23 Lady Vols.
There's going to be a different feel about this Tennessee team as well as Holly Warlick is no longer on the sidelines as her career in Knoxville ended last season. Another former player has taken over, however, as Kellie Harper is at the helm and she's brought some enthusiasm back to Knoxville as the Lady Vols are 17-5 and 7-2 in Southeastern Conference play.
As much change as there now is with Harper in charge, there are many similarities to how Tennessee always seems to look in Schaefer's eyes.
“They do some things the same,” Schaefer said. “I think that the new staff is doing a tremendous job with them and has them playing at a high level, but I've played against that coach when she played for Pat back in the day and she's a great coach. They do so many multiple things that you have to be prepared for everything they throw at you.”
It's still uncertain just how good this particular Lady Vols team is with a win over a Notre Dame team in rebuilding mode and lopsided losses to top teams Stanford, Uconn and South Carolina. At home, they've been hard to beat with the only loss coming to Texas back in December.
One common trend for Tennessee this year is how well junior Rennia Davis is playing. Davis has been a big part of things for the orange since she arrived and is averaging 18.1 points and 8.3 rebounds as a match up issue at guard. She's 6-2 and long like many of the other players on the roster.
The length and athleticism sticks out to Danberry, who has seen some of the best that women's basketball has to offer the last few years.
“Their size is a problem and they have some athletic guards,” Danbury said of the Lady Vols. “We have to make sure that we block them out. Some challenges we'll have is them blocking shots, but we've just got to make sure that we rebound and we compete.”
MSU has some players that are mismatches for opposing teams as well. Danberry and freshman Rickea Jackson each have caused issues all year, but especially stepped up on the road against No. 1 South Carolina last month.
Jackson was selected SEC Freshman of the Week for the second time this year earlier this week after scoring 22 and 24 points in consecutive games. She's currently leading the team with 13.9 points and adding 4.3 rebounds. Danberry averages 13.1 points, 3.9 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 2.7 steals a game.
There's also center Jessika Carter, who is up to 13.5 points and 9.3 rebounds after consecutive double-doubles. She'll be greatly needed against the bigger lineup today as Schaefer expects Tennessee to pack things in the paint.
“Tennessee is going to play some 2-3 zone and might play it a lot,” Schaefer said. “That makes what we do offensively different, but our zone offense has been good all year long. They can do a lot of different things so we've got to be sharp reading that and attacking. I don't want to be passive.”
Tonight's game will be televised by SEC Network.