Mississippi State’s No. 2 ranked women’s basketball team, has produced all three finalists for the C Spire Gillom Trophy, announced Monday morning.

That’s never happened before in the history of the Gillom and Howell trophies, which go annually to the outstanding women’s and men’s college basketball players in Mississippi.

Three-time Gillom winner Victoria Vivians and teammates Teaira McCowan and Blair Schaefer are the three finalists for the Gillom Trophy, named for former Ole Miss basketball great Peggie Gillom-Granderson.

Finalists for the Howell Trophy, named for Mississippi State and NBA legend Bailey Howell are Mississippi State’s brother combination of Quindarry and Nick Weatherspoon and Cortez Edwards of Southern Miss.

Voting for the finalists was done by a panel of Mississippi sports writers and sportscasters.

Howell and Gillom trophy winners will be selected by another round of media voting, combined with fan voting conducted by C Spire. Fans may vote for their favorite players by going to www.csopavoting.com from Monday at 5 p.m. through Saturday at 5 p.m.

Twelve different men’s players received votes. Eight different women’s players received votes, with all five MSU starters getting support. Ole Miss players have won the Howell Trophy the last five seasons. Vivians is the only three-time winner in the history of the C Spire Gillom Trophy.

Creative Commons License

Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.

Take our 2023 reader survey

Rick Cleveland, a native of Hattiesburg and resident of Jackson, has been Mississippi Today’s sports columnist since 2016. A graduate of the University of Southern Mississippi with a bachelor’s in journalism, Rick has worked for the Monroe (La.) News Star World, Jackson Daily News and Clarion Ledger. He was sports editor of Hattiesburg American, executive director of the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame. His work as a syndicated columnist and celebrated sports writer has appeared in numerous magazines, periodicals and newspapers.
Rick has been recognized 13 times as Mississippi Sports Writer of the Year, and is recipient of multiple awards and honors for his reporting and writing.