Despite her youth, Chloe Bibby might be the most experienced basketball player the No. 6 -ranked Mississippi State women's basketball team has on its roster.
Bibby hails from the Land Down Under in Warracknabeal, Australia, and played against some of the best players in the world with the Australia National team in the FIBA World Cup. Despite the experience of playing against some of every style of play the game presents, she’s had to adjust her game in the United States while playing basketball in the Southeastern Conference.
At 6-foot-1, Bibby has the body to defend the low post but her game was built around knocking down 3-point shots. With the loss of some critical pieces to the scoring lineup from the last two years, she’s been tasked with being that long-ball shooter and doing it as a wing.
“We lost four great seniors that were shooting guards so my role has to be to step up. I’ve been working on it all summer and that’s what coach Schaefer expects,” Bibby said. “It is different but it’s just about knocking down shots and playing hard.”
Bibby had her moments as a freshman last season. She helped MSU win some big SEC games and a conference title as she scored 3.9 points per game with 2.1 rebounds, but everything was going to have to evolve for MSU to equal their production from last year’s Final Four run.
So the dedicated hooper hit the gym over the summer. She spent hours getting shots up and perfecting her craft to be as sharp a shooter as she could possibly be. Through six games, she’s among State’s top scorers with 12.0 points per contest, she’s averaging 11 more minutes than a season ago with 24.8 per game, she’s knocking down 53 percent of her shots and has hit 17-of-30 3-pointers after going 15-of-47 in 37 games last year.
“She’s in the gym, that’s why she’s shooting the ball well. She’s in there more than anybody on my team,” MSU head coach Vic Schaefer said of his sophomore shooter. “From my perspective as a coach, she’s being rewarded. She’s in the gym right now and that’s why she’s confident. I’m confident. I’m hollering at her to shoot it in games when she’s open.”
While Bibby’s offense is the most important piece, she’s spent a lot of time on her defense as well which is an area that Schaefer wants to have her contend. She averages 5.5 rebounds so far with eight steals and six blocks which has shown her progress.
She admits that it’s been hard work getting up to speed on the defensive side of things but she’s doing what it takes to fit the puzzle pieces into Schaefer’s frame.
“I’m not going to say that it’s been easy because is hasn’t. The way coach Schaefer plays defense is aggressive and he wants everything you’ve got,” Bibby said. “I’m going to have those learning curves throughout the season, but I have great teammates behind me that are going to help me on defense.”
Because of Bibby’s early surge, a lot of questions about the 2018-19 team could be answered when it comes to scoring. That also got a boost when Connecticut transfer Andra Espinoza-Hunter was granted immediate eligibility this year.
The Bulldogs have already had as many 100-point games as they did a season ago and those have come in the last four contests. They’re also averaging 14 more points per game this year than they did last year at this point and have hit 45 3-pointers.
Espinoza-Hunter and Bibby have been the biggest catalyst in the long ball and it was their work ethic that developed a quirky relationship that has been built over the last few months. The two have become the best of friends.
“We were in the dorms together and I suppose that he put that expectation on us during the summer that we were the shooters and we had to make shots,” Bibby said of she and Espinoza-Hunter. “We really took it upon ourselves to do it and we just bonded over that. She’s my roommate now and we try to get better competing with each other.”
Both Bibby and Espinoza-Hunter know that they have a heavy burden on their shoulders this season and the Aussie is welcoming her responsibilities.
“I do feel a little bit of pressure but it’s not unwanted pressure. I’m glad it’s there and I have that from my coaches and teammates,” Bibby said. “I have to step up and make shots because we lost great shooters last year. Now I’m a sophomore so I’ve got to step up.”
