Gamecocks the model for rising Mississippi State

South Carolina looks at Mississippi State and sees itself.

A program that had pockets of success but nothing sustained in the rugged SEC. A new coach bringing life. A high-profile recruit resulting in tremendous improvement.

“(Vic Schaefer’s) done a great job,” coach Dawn Staley said Wednesday. “I think he’s got his kids believing in his vision and they’re having a terrific year.”

There’s much respect. But the No. 2 Gamecocks still have a few tutorials for the No. 11 Bulldogs.

Like how to win, and then win another SEC championship.

USC (26-1, 14-0 SEC) can clinch at least a share of its second straight regular-season title by beating MSU (25-4, 10-4) on Thursday. A win will also clinch the No. 1 seed in next week’s SEC tournament, tie a program-record with 32 straight home wins, keep the Gamecocks in line for an undefeated league season and send Elem Ibiam, Aleighsa Welch and Olivia Gaines off with a pleasant memory on their Senior Night.

“At the end of the day, we still have a very important game to our season,” Welch said. “I think it gives us more incentive.”

There’s a lot at stake. It could be said that it’s a bad night to be playing USC.

But the Gamecocks see a very talented team on the other sideline and remember how they rose to respectability by doing what most thought wasn’t possible. The Bulldogs have already set a program-record for wins this season and have tied their SEC-high, and won’t be content to sit back and let USC waltz its way to all of the accolades that are waiting.

“I think they are probably glad to have a really good day off, where they could decompress a little bit,” Staley said of her team, which has had to calm down after just the third win over Tennessee in program history. “But they came in really focused and ready to take on the task of beating Mississippi State.”

Schaefer’s second team at MSU won 22 games and advanced to the quarterfinals of the WNIT, despite a 5-11 SEC season last year. Martha Alwal, the league’s co-defensive player of the year, was returning with several others and Schaefer found a gem on the recruiting trail.

Parade All-American Victoria Vivians scored over 5,700 points in her prep career and signed with the Bulldogs. She’s leading the team in scoring this year as MSU has shot into the top-four of the conference and is challenging USC’s A’ja Wilson for SEC Freshman of the Year.

Each has four double-doubles and has been honored numerous times as SEC Freshman of the Week (Wilson five, Vivians four). Wilson is 10th in scoring and 11th in rebounding across the SEC, while Vivians is fifth in scoring.

Wilson sees healthy competition for Thursday’s game but doesn’t think who does better in the head-to-head competition is a shoo-in for the award.

“It’s a goal of mine,” she said. “It’s a goal of hers as well.”

There are several storylines, and a big one is how the three seniors will be able to shuck the emotion of being honored just before tipoff and get ready to play. Ibiam, Gaines and Welch did a walk-through of the ceremony at practice on Wednesday, Welch claiming that she will burst out crying when the real thing happens.

But Welch also declared that it wouldn’t be a problem to turn that off and concentrate on Vivians and the rest of the Bulldogs.

“You have to,” she said. “We all know the importance of the game we have tomorrow.”

This story was originally published February 25, 2015 at 8:12 PM.