Vivians, William Named Senior CLASS Award Candidates
January 05, 2018 | Women's Basketball
STARKVILLE, Miss. – Victoria Vivians and Morgan William have been named candidates for the prestigious Senior CLASS Award.
The duo is part of the 30-player list for the award that recognizes the top senior women's basketball student-athlete who excels in the areas of competition, community, classroom and character.
Vivians is off to the best start of her career, rating third in the SEC and 29th nationally in scoring with 20.4 ppg after tallying 29 points in MSU's SEC home-opening win against Arkansas.
The Carthage, Miss., native notched her eighth 20-point game of the season and has made shots at a 55-percent clip, the sixth-best mark in the SEC. Her 42-percent conversion rate from 3-point range rates third in the league, and her 83.9-percent rate from the free-throw line stands sixth.
Vivians, who was named Preseason All-American and Preseason All-SEC, became the third MSU player to record 2,000-career points and jumped into second at State in career 3-pointers made with 246.
Her 2,080-career points and 246-career 3-pointers are both tops among active SEC players.
Not only has the All-American and three-time All-SEC selection excelled on the court, but she has also been a standout in the classroom, being a three-time member of the SEC Academic Honor Roll and a multiple-time selection on the Bulldog Honor Roll.
State's 2017 Homecoming Queen, Vivians has participated in numerous community service events in her time in Starkville, including Breakfast of Champions, the Take Back The Night Glow Run and the TK Martin Center SUPER Fun Run. She has also visited children at Blair Batson Children's Hospital and volunteered at Camp Rising Sun and with area Special Olympics.
William has started the season strong at the point, dishing out a team-high 4.5 assists per game. Her 4.0 assist/turnover ratio leads the conference and ranks fifth in the nation.
The Birmingham, Ala., native became MSU's career-assist record-holder during her junior season and tallied her 500th-career assist against Southern Miss earlier this season.
During her first two seasons on campus, William set the record for single-season free throw percentage and currently holds the career record, completing 84.3 percent of her shots at the line. Her 463 made free throws are second in school history.
Although most known for her game-winning shot that halted UConn's 111-game win streak, William's history-making month started the week prior when she scored 41 points against Baylor in the Elite Eight, the most points ever scored by an SEC player in an NCAA Tournament regional game.
William became the first member of the current Bulldog squad earn a degree, completing her Bachelor's of Science in Kinesiology last month. Her excellence in the classroom earned her a spot on the SEC Honor Roll every year, and she was also named to the Bulldog Honor Roll multiple times.
The Preseason First Team All-SEC selection is active in the Starkville community and has participated in events such as Pumpkin Palooza, the TK Martin Center SUPER Fun Run, Travis Outlaw Day and the Camp Jigsaw Talent Show. William has also visited local classrooms and Head Start program to read books with students and was a part of the area Special Olympics.
Vivians and William join LSU's Raigyne Louis as the SEC's candidates for the award, which will be presented during the women's Final Four in Columbus, Ohio. Ten finalists will be selected during February and placed on a ballot distributed nationwide.
The Bulldogs will travel to LSU to play Sunday at 1 p.m. The contest will be broadcast on the SEC Network. State returns to the Humphrey Coliseum to host Ole Miss next Thursday at 8 p.m.
The duo is part of the 30-player list for the award that recognizes the top senior women's basketball student-athlete who excels in the areas of competition, community, classroom and character.
Vivians is off to the best start of her career, rating third in the SEC and 29th nationally in scoring with 20.4 ppg after tallying 29 points in MSU's SEC home-opening win against Arkansas.
The Carthage, Miss., native notched her eighth 20-point game of the season and has made shots at a 55-percent clip, the sixth-best mark in the SEC. Her 42-percent conversion rate from 3-point range rates third in the league, and her 83.9-percent rate from the free-throw line stands sixth.
Vivians, who was named Preseason All-American and Preseason All-SEC, became the third MSU player to record 2,000-career points and jumped into second at State in career 3-pointers made with 246.
Her 2,080-career points and 246-career 3-pointers are both tops among active SEC players.
Not only has the All-American and three-time All-SEC selection excelled on the court, but she has also been a standout in the classroom, being a three-time member of the SEC Academic Honor Roll and a multiple-time selection on the Bulldog Honor Roll.
State's 2017 Homecoming Queen, Vivians has participated in numerous community service events in her time in Starkville, including Breakfast of Champions, the Take Back The Night Glow Run and the TK Martin Center SUPER Fun Run. She has also visited children at Blair Batson Children's Hospital and volunteered at Camp Rising Sun and with area Special Olympics.
William has started the season strong at the point, dishing out a team-high 4.5 assists per game. Her 4.0 assist/turnover ratio leads the conference and ranks fifth in the nation.
The Birmingham, Ala., native became MSU's career-assist record-holder during her junior season and tallied her 500th-career assist against Southern Miss earlier this season.
During her first two seasons on campus, William set the record for single-season free throw percentage and currently holds the career record, completing 84.3 percent of her shots at the line. Her 463 made free throws are second in school history.
Although most known for her game-winning shot that halted UConn's 111-game win streak, William's history-making month started the week prior when she scored 41 points against Baylor in the Elite Eight, the most points ever scored by an SEC player in an NCAA Tournament regional game.
William became the first member of the current Bulldog squad earn a degree, completing her Bachelor's of Science in Kinesiology last month. Her excellence in the classroom earned her a spot on the SEC Honor Roll every year, and she was also named to the Bulldog Honor Roll multiple times.
The Preseason First Team All-SEC selection is active in the Starkville community and has participated in events such as Pumpkin Palooza, the TK Martin Center SUPER Fun Run, Travis Outlaw Day and the Camp Jigsaw Talent Show. William has also visited local classrooms and Head Start program to read books with students and was a part of the area Special Olympics.
Vivians and William join LSU's Raigyne Louis as the SEC's candidates for the award, which will be presented during the women's Final Four in Columbus, Ohio. Ten finalists will be selected during February and placed on a ballot distributed nationwide.
The Bulldogs will travel to LSU to play Sunday at 1 p.m. The contest will be broadcast on the SEC Network. State returns to the Humphrey Coliseum to host Ole Miss next Thursday at 8 p.m.
Players Mentioned
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