‘Itty Bitty’ guard big in Bulldogs lore after UConn shocker

Last season, before Mississippi State faced CT in the Sweet 16, Schaefer said he watched the film “Miracle”, about the 1980 US hockey team that famously defeated the heavily favored Soviet Union in the semifinals of the Olympic Games before going on to a gold medal. It was the most streamed women’s Final Four game, with 233,000 viewers.

There are two questions that will determine the outcome of this game: will Mississippi State be able to tamper their emotions long enough to focus on this evening, or will the Gamecocks lean on the same recipe that got them the first two wins against the Bulldogs – and the vast majority of their wins this season? “That’s why they’re so good”.

Ironically, the first team to defeat the Bulldogs on the campaign was SC who snapped a Bulldog program best 20 game winning streak to begin the season. SC has made it work to its advantage in the head-to-head games against Mississippi State. All season long the Bulldogs had that humiliating loss on their minds.

This year, the Bulldogs returned the favor at the American Airlines Center when Mississippi St’s Morgan Williams made the game-winning bucket before the timer went triple 0’s and the buzzer echoed all over the arena; signaling not just the end of the game, but the end of the streak.

William was never much of a factor, even sitting during a fourth-quarter run that got Mississippi State within four after the Bulldogs trailed by as many as 14 points in the third quarter.

“Wilson’s size-she’s listed at 6’5″ on South Carolina’s athletic website-proved to be a big problem for Mississippi State. “You got to give different looks”.

Family man is a convenient description for Schaefer, because basketball at Mississippi State is a family affair. Head Coach Vic Schaefer feels the team must match South Carolina’s success on the perimeter and also their dominant weapon in the paint, 6’5′ forward A’ja Wilson. She had one more shot in her.

“[The game-winning play] wasn’t originally for me”, William said. We want her to embrace being that tough, vocal, firm leader, but we have to embrace how she does it.

Wilson admitted to being frustrated by Stanford’s physical play, and Mississippi State will try to frustrate USC, as well.

Gray had a big second half and led the Gamecocks with 18 points against Stanford, and Davis will be looking to bounce back from a 2-of-15 shooting night in the Final Four debut for both guards. “That’s our job, my job as the coach”. “The fact that it never happened, that doesn’t mean I went home thinking it’s never going to happen”. “We need shots at the rim”. Of course the Huskies’ winning streak was good for women’s college basketball. Teaira McCowan had a team-high 10 rebounds.

SC is halfway to its first NCAA women’s championship in a matchup of first-time finalists with Mississippi State.

After watching the first half of Sunday’s game, I don’t think William’s absence changes the outcome of the game. “This game, I’m not going to have seven turnovers”.

For me, this is what made this upset even more unbelievable. It was the margin the Bulldogs had lost by a year earlier to CT in the Sweet 16. “The excitement that was in Mississippi State’s locker room, we’ve been there”.

“I have to continue executing on defense and offense”.

“She committed to impacting the game by picking Morgan William up”, said head coach Dawn Staley. The Gamecocks went through, around and over anything MSU had and nothing worked for the Bulldogs. SC will need production from Davis against the Bulldogs, but it doesn’t just have to be scoring. Mississippi State’s Vic Schaefer was on Texas A&M’s staff when the Aggies won the championship six years ago. The Gamecocks depth on the roster are keeping them alive in the tournament.

“Probably wasn’t our best effort, but they had everything to do with that…and it was just a wasn’t our best day…that game doesn’t define these kids, or this season, or really these seniors career”. The Huskies will be back next season, older, wiser, more mature. The Gamecocks offensively versatility will keep the Bulldogs on their toes.

SC (33-4) shot 45.5 percent on the evening.

Coates has been out the entire tournament with an ankle injury but Wilson and her team aren’t missing a beat. “She has been playing great this whole tournament”.

William is producing at a level that forces the world to take her WNBA dreams seriously, with Schaefer comparing her to 11-year league veteran Temeka Johnson, who stood just 5-foot-3.