BulldogBlitz.com - Lady Bulldogs still improving

November 5, 2009

Logan Lowery
BulldogBlitz.com Publisher

Mississippi State women's basketball coach Sharon Fanning-Otis got her first opportunity to see her team in action this past weekend with a closed door scrimmage against Delta State.

The Lady Bulldogs received votes in both the AP and ESPN/USA Today polls but Fanning-Otis feels her team still has a long way to go to reach their potential this season.

"I got a chance to evaluate the team following our scrimmage against Delta State this past weekend," Fanning-Otis said. "It is great to get a chance to see us compete against someone else besides ourselves, but it also exposes some things we have to work on. We have talked about the depth of our team, but I did not see the numbers, statistically off the bench we are going to have to have this season. Last year, Tysheka Grimes and Robin Porter were coming off the bench and they brought a lot of experience. This year's bench does not bring the experience we are used to having on our bench. I expect to see us improve from our scrimmage this last weekend to our first exhibition game this Sunday."

MSU returns four starters from last season's squad that finished 8-6 in the Southeastern Conference and 23-10 overall and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

The only starter the Lady Bulldogs lost was Porter at power forward. Fanning feels the top contenders to replace Porter at the four spot are Grimes and Bethany Washington but could potentially play others as well.

"Tysheka and Bethany Washington are the two that will help us become a quicker team," Fanning-Otis said. "Bethany is not 100-percent right now and we will have to see where that takes us. Rima (Kolanda) and Channa (Campbell) are two girls who could potentially fill a void for us too, but we will have to be patient with the situation."

The State backcourt took a blow before the season even began. Senior point guard Marneshia Richard, who missed all of last season with a knee injury, was lost for the season.

"We came back from SEC Media Day and she was stretched and warmed up for practice," Fanning-Otis said. "It was in transition and somebody came down on her and it was one of those freak things that happens and it popped. It will probably be about four months before she can jump. I do not anticipate her coming back for this season, and we have the option to appeal for another season of eligibility if that is what she chooses, but she has been through three major surgeries, so we will have to worry about that when the time comes. She is getting her masters which pushes her education further, but she is giving us leadership from the bench and we will see what happens in the future."

Richards averages 9.8 points and 4.6 points per game during the 2007-08 season and was expected to resume her point guard duties freeing up All-SEC senior Alexis Rack to move back to her natural shooting guard spot.

But instead of moving Rack back to the point full-time, Fanning-Otis will turn things over to senior Armelie Lumanu. Lumanu started every game last season averaging 10.7 points, 3.6 assists and 2.1 steals a contest.

"The whole team will have to step up," Fanning-Otis said. "Now Armelie will transition into a point guard, rather than having the versatility we were expecting to get from her before Marneshia's injury. She makes a lot of things happen for us, so our lineup had to adjust slightly. I think other girls will step up from this. You find out what you are made of when there are injuries or illnesses on a team, and somebody will have to emerge from this injury. If we continue to improve and give a strong work ethic, I see good things happening."

Fanning-Otis will rely heavily on center/forward Chanel Mokango in the low post. The 6-foot-5 center came on strong last season in her first year with the Lady Bulldogs averaging 10.5 points and 5.8 rebounds and led the SEC with 97 blocks.

"I have seen her play stronger and be more aggressive," Fanning-Otis said. "I just want to see her continue to take good shots and play smart. She can play inside-and-outside. She can shoot the three and put the ball on the floor. We are going to put her in a position based on who we are playing to be successful."

Mississippi State will hold their first and only public exhibition game Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. against Monticello before tipping off the year Nov. 13 at 5 p.m. against Arkansas Pine-Bluff.

Fanning-Otis hopes to see improvement in several areas during this final week of practice leading up to the season opener.

"We are still best in transition," Fanning-Otis said. "We need to get better with our inside-outside game. The players worked hard in several areas of the game and tried their hardest to find a way to help us, even if it did not show up on the stat sheet. We have to get a 40-minute effort with strong intensity for us to be successful. We did not help each other in the scrimmage, and because we did not help, we only drew two charges. That type of stuff goes back to us as coaches teaching and preparing. But the girls have to develop the toughness part of a game to play with the effort we are expecting. This is a starting point for us, but defensively we have to improve. In the second half of the scrimmage, we improved in several areas, but we have still have to continue to improve in every area of our game."

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