Jackson Free Press

Making history is becoming the norm for the Mississippi State University Women’s Basketball Team. After climbing to a historic No. 4 ranking in both the Associated Press and the USA Today Coaches Poll, the Bulldogs made more history on Tuesday, Feb. 8.

MSU climbed to No. 3 in the USA Today Coaches Poll for the first time in program history, which set a school record. The Bulldogs moved back up to their No. 4 ranking in the Associated Press Poll.

After a 64-61 loss at the University of South Carolina, MSU dropped to No. 5 in both polls. MSU is on a three-game winning streak since they dropped their first game of the season to the Gamecocks and are rising back up the polls.

MSU has been in the top 5 of the rankings for 10 weeks and is currently half a game behind South Carolina for No. 1 in the SEC. MSU is a game and a half ahead of No. 3 Texas A&M University.

The Bulldogs learned Monday, Feb. 6, that the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship Sport Committee still has MSU as one of its top four teams. MSU is No. 4 in the latest top-16 seeding order.

The University of Connecticut is No.1, Baylor University is No. 2 and South Carolina is No. 3 in the second of three peaks at the potential bracket. Connecticut and South Carolina are scheduled to play on Feb.13 at UConn. The outcome of that game could help the Bulldogs rise up in the seedings.

MSU seems to be a lock for one of the four national seeds and has the home-court advantage that goes along with being a top seed. The Bulldogs must avoid an Atlanta Falcons-like collapse over the final six regular-season games and in the SEC Tournament.

In a 70-53 win against the University of Missouri, the seniors on this team won their 100th game. MSU senior forward Breanna Richardson scored her 1,000th career point in the win over the Tigers. That moved the Bulldogs to 23-1 overall and 9-1 in SEC play as the regular season starts to wind down.

Bulldogs’ junior guard Morgan William is one of the 19 players in the nation on the Dawn Staley Award watch list. The Dawn Staley award goes to the top guard in the nation who shows ball handling, scoring, ability to distribute the ball, and the will to win like Staley did during her college career.

William leads the team in assists with 4.6 per game and steals with two per game. She is second on the team in scoring with 10 points per game.

MSU is back in action on Thursday night at 8 p.m. as it hosts Vanderbilt University on the SEC Network as the team looks to continue rewriting the record book.

Ever since Chane's announcement last year that the future of Fondren's First Thursday was up in the air, many people have speculated what will happen to it. Fondren Renaissance Foundation put out a press release on FFT this morning. Here is the release verbatim.

Jackson, MS—Fondren's First Thursday, the monthly neighborhood street party held in Historic Downtown Fondren, will return on March 2, 2017 - with a twist.

Event organizer Ron Chane says "FFT Remixed" will be a new system of alternating presenters each month to expand the depth of creativity of the two-year-old event.

Included in this year's FFT slate are three State Street Concert Series events presented by Sneaky Beans and Rooster's, showcasing a headlining main stage act; the return of Fondren Renaissance's Arts, Eats & Beats, a 15-year-old Fondren tradition; a special art-focused night helmed by the Mississippi Museum of Art; and FRF's Fondren Unwrapped, on a new date, Dec. 7. Three FFT "Throwbacks," presented by Studio Chane, round out the year and will follow a structure similar to past year's first Thursday events. Two of these, June and September, will offer vendors opportunities.

"This event has taken two years to reach its creative maturity," says Chane, who will continue to guide and support the full roster of events for 2017. "This is still a positive night of people enjoying people, seeing our neighborhood from different perspectives. There will be an ebb and flow with much more variety. In short, something for everyone."

The events for 2017 are:

• March 2 - State Street Concert Series presented by Rooster's and Sneaky Beans
• April 6 - Fondren's First Thursday Throwback presented by Studio Chane
• May 4 - Arts, Eats & Beats presented by Fondren Renaissance
• June 1 - Fondren's First Thursday Throwback presented by Studio Chane
• July 6 - State Street Concert Series presented by Rooster's and Sneaky Beans
• August 3 - End of Summer
• September 7 - Fondren's First Thursday Throwback presented by Studio Chane
• October 5 - State Street Concert Series presented by Rooster's and Sneaky Beans
• November 2 - Art Night presented by Mississippi Museum of Art
• December 7 - Fondren Renaissance's Fondren Unwrapped presented by Bank Plus

For more information: Ron Chane - FFT - [email protected] Jim Wilkirson - Fondren Renaissance - [email protected] Byron Knight - State Street Concert Series - [email protected] Nathan Glenn - State Street Concert Series - [email protected] Julian Rankin - MS Museum of Art - [email protected]

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