SEC Coaches Tab Vivians First Team All-SEC, Bulldogs Fourth
November 10, 2015 | Women's Basketball
STARKVILLE, Miss. – With the season opener on Friday, the No. 11 Mississippi State women's basketball team was picked to finish fourth in the SEC by league coaches while sophomore Victoria Vivians was named Preseason All-SEC First Team.
The Bulldogs earned 134 points to rate behind South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas A&M. Media picked MSU to finish third last month.
The Bulldogs earned the pick following a 2014-15 season that saw reigning SEC Coach of the Year Vic Schaefer's squad win a school-record 27 games and finish third in the league with a program-best 11-5 mark.
Mississippi State advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament while finishing 12th in the final Associated Press poll, the highest final ranking in program history.
State enters the year ranked No. 11 by the Associated Press, the highest preseason ranking by an MSU squad, and No. 13 in the USA Today coaches poll.
The Dawgs also earned preseason rankings of 6th from Athlon, 8th from Lindy's, 9th from SLAM Magazine and 12th from ESPNW.
Vivians was one of nine players to claim first team All-SEC laurels. She also claimed the honor in the media vote.
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 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.
Makayla Epps of Kentucky; A'ja Wilson, Tiffany Mitchell and Alaina Coates of South Carolina; Diamond DeShields and Bashaara Graves of Tennessee; and Courtney Walker and Courtney Williams of Texas A&M joined Vivians on the first team.
Mississippi State opens 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
Order of Finish
1. South Carolina 168
2. Tennessee 158
3. Texas A&M 138
4. Mississippi State 134
5. Kentucky 125
6. Missouri 94
7. Ole Miss 81
8. Arkansas 77
9. Georgia 75
10. LSU 64
11. Vanderbilt 61
12. Florida 54
13. Auburn 29
14. Alabama 16
Player of the Year
Tiffany Mitchell, South Carolina
First Team All-SEC
Makayla Epps, Kentucky
Victoria Vivians, Mississippi State
A'ja Wilson, South Carolina
Tiffany Mitchell, South Carolina
Alaina Coates, South Carolina
Diamond DeShields, Tennessee
Bashaara Graves, Tennessee
Courtney Walker, Texas A&M
Courtney Williams, Texas A&M
Second Team All-SEC
Jessica Jackson, Arkansas
Ronni Williams, Florida
Shacobia Barbee, Georgia
Raigyne Moncrief, LSU
Jordan Frericks, Missouri
Mercedes Russell, Tennessee
Jordan Jones, Texas A&M
Rebekah Dahlman, Vanderbilt
