Victoria Vivians Named CSpire Gillom Trophy Finalist
STARKVILLE, Miss. – Mississippi State freshman Victoria Vivians has been named a finalist for the CSpire Gillom Trophy, which is presented to the state’s top women’s college basketball player.
Vivians is the first freshman to ever been named a finalist for the award, which will be presented March 9 at the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Museum in Jackson.
The Carthage, Miss., native was tabbed a finalist through a vote of statewide media who cover college basketball.
A media vote will account for 90 percent of the final tally, while a fan vote conducted by CSpire will comprise the final 10 percent. Fans can begin voting at 8 a.m. Tuesday at www.csopavoting.com.
Mississippi State has won the award three times. Martha Alwal claimed it in 2013 while Alexis Rack won it back-to-back years in 2009 and 2010.
Vivians was named a finalist along with Southern Miss’ Tamara Jones and Ole Miss’ Tia Faleru.
A 17-point outing against Ole Miss Sunday put Vivians atop the SEC in scoring at 15.0 ppg to end the regular season.
She also finished the regular season as the top-scoring freshman in SEC play with a 13.8 average that was seventh overall.
Vivians was tabbed SEC Freshman of the Week four times during the season and also earned the Bulldogs’ first USBWA National Freshman of the Week honor following a 39-point performance at Kentucky that was an MSU freshman record and tied for the most points by a rookie in the nation this season.
Vivians averaged 17.7 ppg against ranked opponents and finished the regular season scoring double figures in nine of the Bulldogs’ last 10 games.
Her stellar play guided Mississippi State to one of its best seasons in school history. The Bulldogs set program records for overall and SEC wins, going 26-5 and 11-5 in the league.
She helped Vic Schaefer’s squad tie the school record with a third-place SEC finish.
That third-place finish earned MSU a double bye into the next week’s SEC Women’s Basketball Tournament in Little Rock, Ark. The Bulldogs face either Kentucky, Vanderbilt or Alabama Friday, with tip coming 25 minutes following the completion of the 6 p.m. contest.