She grew up in along the banks of the Mississippi River, and you wonder if she spent much time thinking about it -- how many lives played out along the stops up and down the timeless waterway.

	In the most recent NCAA stats, LaToya Thomas ranked sixth in scoring (24.1 ppg).

But all LaToya Thomas really says of her hometown of Greenville, Miss., and the muddy ribbon that splits the country is how there were so many big mosquitoes.

"I can deal with them,'' she says, not making the connection that she can do the same with larger pests of a two-legged variety, the kind that double- and triple-team her at Mississippi State.

Sunday, MSU lost 77-72 to fourth-ranked LSU and tried to urge fans to "Pack the Hump,'' ie. fill up Humphrey Coliseum for a key SEC game and for Thomas' sake.

A 6-foot-2 forward who likely will be named to the Kodak All-America team for the fourth time, Thomas could well be the No. 1 WNBA draft pick this April. She has never played in front of a full house at home, not even close. MSU's biggest crowd was 5,863 vs. Tennessee on Feb. 17, 2000.

So how big a game is this for Thomas?

"It means a lot,'' she says.

Has she been glad to stay in her home state, to go to college in Starkville, two hours from where she grew up?

"Yeah, it was nice. I was fortunate,'' she says.

There so much history of women's basketball in Mississippi. Up the road from Greenville is Cleveland, home of Delta State. Margaret Wade played there in the 1930s, and then the school got rid of women's hoops, deciding the game was too strenuous for females.

Wade coached high school ball for more than 20 years, compiling a 453-89 record, and then from 1959-73 was the director of women's physical education at Delta State. At the end of the "Dark Ages'' for U.S. girls and women's sports, Delta State brought back varsity women's basketball in 1973.

At age 60, Wade took over as Delta State coach and did that until 1979. From 1975-77, Delta State went 93-4 and won three AIAW championships. The Wade Trophy, for the top collegiate player each year, began in 1978.

There's Lucy Harris-Stewart, who starred for Delta State during the championship run. There's the Gillom sisters, Jennifer and Peggie, who were standouts at Mississippi. There's Patricia Hoskins, who played for Mississippi Valley State and set the NCAA career scoring mark in the 1980s -- a record that stood until Southwest Missouri State's Jackie Stiles broke it in 2001.

Now, there's LaToya Thomas nearing the end of a college career matched by few others. Does she sense that historical link with her state's past greats?

No, not really at all.

"I knew Lucy Harris went to Delta State,'' Thomas said. "I met her, last year I think.''

What did they talk about?

"Nothing much,'' Thomas said. "She just complimented my game.''

The Gillom sisters?

"I don't really know them, but one of them recruited me at Texas A&M,'' Thomas said, referring to Peggie, the Aggies coach. "I don't know much about the history. I'm the type of person that somebody would have to tell me.''

And then Thomas says the most insightful thing about herself: "I'm a quiet person, I don't like to talk. I like to listen.''

Thomas isn't always quiet; she laughs and jokes with her teammates and she's very close to MSU assistant coach Jocelyn McGilberry, a Mississippi native who played basketball at Auburn. Around them, she might open up more.

If you think nothing's going on inside Thomas -- because that's the image she projects -- you're missing the real kid. Here's another clue: When asked what she would title her autobiography, she said, "The Storm is Over.''

Why? This is where Thomas begins to really talk, just a little.

"It means ... it hasn't been easy since I've been here,'' she said. "Trying to get used to conditioning, lifting weights, running. There were things I'd never done before. I've had ups and downs, that's why I picked that. It's been a storm.''

More mentally or physically?

"I think it was the mental part,'' she said. "Anybody can do the physical part, you've just got to put your mind to it.''

And that has been hard sometimes, especially when her mind has been other places. In December, she lost a sister and a nephew in a car accident. She doesn't say much about it. Like most things, it stews internally.

You ask if she thinks, just a little, about the attention Alana Beard or Diana Taurasi get. What about her?

"I do ... wonder about that,'' she said, then to no one's surprise adds, "but I'm a person who doesn't say much about it.''

Mechelle Voepel is a regular contributor to ESPN.com's women's basketball coverage. She can be reached at mvoepel@kcstar.com.