Vivians, Dillingham Earn AP All-SEC Honors
March 16, 2016 | Women's Basketball
STARKVILLE, Miss. – Victoria Vivians and Dominique Dillingham both received All-SEC honors from the Associated Press Tuesday.
Vivians was named to the first team, while Dillingham was an honorable mention selection.
Tuesday's honor is the second first team all-league accolade for Vivians as she received the same honor from the league coaches prior to Mississippi State's run to the SEC Tournament championship game.
The Carthage, Miss., native wrapped the regular season and SEC Tournament second in the league with a 17.2 scoring average. She also ranked sixth in the league with 15.4 ppg in conference play.
Vivians enters this weekend's NCAA Tournament averaging 19.2 ppg in her last five games after she led the SEC Tournament with a 22.0 scoring average. She scored 26 points in the final against No. 2 South Carolina, a night after dropping 30 points in State's second win of the season and in school history against Tennessee.
In State's regular-season finale against Alabama, she became the fifth Bulldog to notch 1,000-career points in two seasons.
In addition to her pair of All-SEC accolades, Vivians was also named to the Wade Trophy Watch List, the Wooden Award Late Season Top 20, the Naismith Trophy midseason watch list and the Ann Meyers Drysdale midseason watch list.
Vivians has claimed 11 20-point games this season, while her effort against Tennessee in the semifinals was her second 30-point outing of the year.
She has also stepped up on the defensive end, grabbing 5.9 rebounds per game this season, including 6.7 rpg in SEC play.
She also paces the Bulldogs with 1.7 steals per game for the season.
Dillingham has also been known for her defense, pacing MSU with 49 charges taken on the season. The Spring, Texas, native also rates seventh among active SEC players in steals with 175.
The SEC All-Defensive Team selection has also stepped up on the offensive end of the floor, averaging 8.2 ppg this season after scoring at a 5.7 clip a year ago.
She has been stellar down the stretch for the Bulldogs, notching double figures in eight of her last 12 games and scoring at a 10.2 clip in that stretch.
Vivians and Dillingham helped lead MSU to a 26-7 overall record and 11-5 SEC mark entering this weekend's NCAA Tournament in Starkville.
State's 26 victories rank one back of last season's program record, while this year's squad equaled the program record for SEC wins while claiming the best league finish in school history with a tie for second.
Vic Schaefer's squad earned the five-seed in the NCAA Tournament and will host Chattanooga Friday at 1:30 p.m. The winner of that contest faces the winner of Michigan State and Belmont on Sunday.
Tickets for this weekend's NCAA Tournament are on sale now at www.hailstate.com/tickets
