Vivians Named To WBCA All-Region Team
March 23, 2016 | Women's Basketball
STARKVILLE, Miss. – Victoria Vivians added another honor to her tremendous college resume Wednesday, being named to the WBCA All-Region 2 Team.
The First Team All-SEC selection by both the league coaches and Associated Press earned the honor after averaging an SEC second-best 17.4 ppg to lead Mississippi State to a program-best 28-7 record and the school's second appearance in the NCAA Sweet 16.
Vivians has scored 610 points this year, the ninth-most in program history, becoming the first Bulldog since All-American Tan White in 2005 to eclipse 600 points in a season.
The Carthage, Mississippi, product has scored double figures 31 times this season, including 13 games with 20-plus points and a pair of 30-point outings.
Vivians has been outstanding down the stretch for Vic Schaefer's squad, scoring 19 or more points in six of the team's last eight games.
She enters Saturday's Sweet 16 contest against top-ranked UConn averaging 21.5 ppg in this year's NCAA Tournament. She scored 24 points in State's second-round win against No. 16 Michigan State after opening the tournament with 19 points against Chattanooga.
Vivians' 24-point effort against the Spartans put her at 17.0 ppg entering Saturday's game against No. 1 UConn.
While many focus on Vivians' offensive prowess, she has also excelled on the defensive end, rating second on the team with 5.9 rebounds per game and leading the squad with 1.8 steals per contest.
Vivians pulled down 6.7 rebounds per game in SEC play, and she matched that average in the SEC Tournament while scoring at a 22.0 clip to claim all-tournament team honors. She scored 30 points in a semifinal win against Tennessee and followed it with 26 points against No. 2 South Carolina in MSU's second title game appearance.
Her performance in the semifinals put her as one of only two players in the league (Diamond DeShields, Tennessee) to notch multiple 30-point games this season.
Saturday's Bridgeport Regional semifinal between the Bulldogs and Huskies tips at 10:30 a.m. CT from Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport, Connecticut.
The contest will be broadcast nationally on ESPN. The radio call will be carried in the Golden Triangle on WKBB-FM 100.9, in Tupelo on WXWX-FM 96.3 and in Corinth on WKCU-FM 92.9 and WKCU-AM 1350.
