Vivians Named Preseason All-SEC, Bulldogs Tabbed Third By Media
October 20, 2015 | Women's Basketball
STARKVILLE, Miss. – Preseason prognostications continue to be high for Mississippi State women's basketball. Select SEC and national media members picked the Bulldogs to finish third in the league, while Victoria Vivians was named to the Preseason All-SEC squad.
The Bulldogs earned 215 points in the vote to come behind South Carolina and Tennessee with the highest preseason media pick in school history.
“We are honored people outside of our program recognize how hard we have worked the last three years building this program,” Vic Schaefer, the reigning SEC Coach of the Year, said. “We have to go live it now. If you finish third in the SEC you're probably going to be Top 10 in the country.”
Points were compiled on a 14-13-12-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis. Each media member also voted for a five-player All-SEC Team and the Preseason SEC Player of the Year.
The Bulldogs earned the pick following a 2014-15 season that saw reigning Schaefer's squad win a school-record 27 games and finish third in the league with an 11-5 mark.
Mississippi State advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament while finishing a program-best 12th in the final Associated Press poll.
The third-place selection comes after Athlon Sports and Lindy's picked the Bulldogs No. 6 and No. 8 in the nation, respectively, in their preseason publications.
Vivians is the leading scorer and one of four starters back from that historic edition. Tuesday's accolade comes just a few days after she was named preseason All-SEC by College Sports Madness.
“Victoria obviously had a great freshman year. The key for her now is to not be satisfied and continue working hard to keep improving,” Schaefer said. “We're excited to have her as part of our program, and we want her to continue growing as a player and a young woman.
She earned the preseason accolades following a splendid freshman campaign in which she averaged 14.9 ppg to claim Associated Press All-America Honorable Mention and second team All-SEC by the Associated Press and the league coaches.
Her scoring average ranked third in the SEC and fifth among freshmen in NCAA Division I.
In conference games, Vivians was the top rookie and seventh overall with a 13.8 scoring average.
Vivians averaged 5.0 rebounds, 1.0 assists and 1.4 steals per game while making 69 3-pointers, seventh most in school single-season history. Her 505 points were the fourth most by a Bulldog freshman.
An MSU freshman record 39 points Feb. 12 at Kentucky started a hot finish to the season for the Carthage, Miss., native as she scored double figures in seven of the year's final eight games, averaging 16.9 ppg in that stretch.
She capped her first MSU campaign with 15 points against No. 16 Duke, giving her a 17.5 scoring average against ranked foes.
Kentucky's Mykala Epps and Diamond DeShields of Tennessee joined Vivians and the South Carolina trio of Alaina Coates, Tiffany Mitchell and A'ja Wilson on the All-SEC squad.
Mississippi State hosts Mississippi College in a Nov. 10 exhibition before officially beginning the season with a 5:15 p.m. tip at Humphrey Coliseum against Samford on Nov. 13.
Fans can buy season tickets online at www.hailstate.com/tickets or by calling 1-888-GO-DAWGS.
2015-16 SEC Preseason Media Poll
SEC Champion
South Carolina
Order of Finish
1. South Carolina 265
2. Tennessee 248
3. Mississippi State 215
4. Texas A&M 207
5. Kentucky 205
6. Ole Miss 169
7. Missouri 165
8. Arkansas 138
T9. Georgia 128
T9. LSU 128
11. Vanderbilt 80
12. Florida 78
13. Auburn 65
14. Alabama 34
Player of the Year
Tiffany Mitchell, South Carolina
Preseason All-SEC
Mykala Epps, Kentucky
Victoria Vivians, Mississippi State
Alaina Coates, South Carolina
Tiffany Mitchell, South Carolina
A'ja Wilson, South Carolina
Diamond DeShields, Tennessee
