Mississippi State women come up short of miracle NCAA finish

Mississippi State’s 66-64 upset that snapped the Huskies’ record 111-game winning streak Friday night means a third meeting this season with SC, this time on Sunday for the title.

The eternal dream of a kid from the playgrounds of North Philadelphia was finally fulfilled in adulthood Sunday night when Dawn Staley-coached SC topped Mississippi State, 67-55, to win the NCAA women’s basketball championship. It goes to show the commitment on that side of the ball. “You have to take them for who they are, and I feel like Morgan is making a statement for that across the world”. “They were the better team today”. We just had a couple kids that didn’t quite have the energy that we needed today.

The Bulldogs got as close as four points after trailing by as many as 14 in the third quarter, but Kaela Davis hit a jumper just before the buzzer to push South Carolina’s lead to 52-44 on Sunday night. Twice in the game’s final 12 minutes, Mississippi State cut the deficit to four, but each time, the champions answered. Four-time defending champion UConn is not playing for a fifth straight title because, of course, Mississippi State upset the Huskies Friday night in a national semifinal game. Each time, an A’Ja Wilson jumper stretched USC’s lead to six. When Mississippi State was able to press and clog the lane, it had success.

Wilson’s 23-point, 10-rebound, four-block performance, including a late burst in the closing moments of a close game, gave SC its first NCAA title.

Many thought that the women of Mississippi State wouldn’t be denied after their heroic win on Friday night over UConn, but it was too much A’ja Wilson and SC on Sunday.

Jazzmun Holmes gave the Bulldogs a 14-12 lead with 2:46 left in the first quarter, but the Gamecocks scored the next nine. SC also leads the nation in attendance for women’s basketball. The Gamecocks used a big second quarter run to take a double digit lead, and then the Bulldogs made a run in the third quarter to put the game in the balance.

“Being from SC has given me a lot of joy”, Wilson said as she soaked in the accomplishment.

“I really want to congratulate SC, they played really well today”, Mississippi State Vic Schaefer said. Obviously, we’ve had some hard times dealing with them. She was the game’s second-leading scorer, with 18 points, and equaled Wilson with 10 rebounds. Connecticut’s Gabby Williams rounded out the team. William didn’t play in the final 11:33 on Sunday. Did a nice job of attacking us. ESPN.com women’s basketball writer Mechelle Voepel says Vivians was the recruit head coach Vic Schaefer pursued the hardest when he took over the program in 2012.

MSU jumped out to an early lead but couldn’t hold it, losing to SC for the third time this season.

Staley has been to the White House before, representing the U.S. Olympic team when George W. Bush was president in 2004.

“I really can’t even put into words the feeling of how much it meant to win this game for Coach”, Wilson said. The Bulldogs shot 34.5 percent (19-for-55) from the field. She was hounded defensively by South Carolina’s Bianca Cuevas-Moore and managed just eight points and four assists before sitting the entire fourth quarter.

Nigel Williams-Goss scored 23 points, Gonzaga’s big men combined for 27 and the Bulldogs used some last-second strategy for a 77-73 victory over SC on Saturday in a matchup of first-time teams at the. Carolina dominated inside. Along with the huge margin in points in the paint, the Gamecocks out-rebounded the Bulldogs 40 to 28.