KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The greatest class in the history of the Mississippi State women’s basketball program will have one more weekend to add to its legacy.
Senior Victoria Vivians scored a game-high 24 points, and junior Teaira McCowan added 23 points and a career-high 21 rebounds to lead No. 1 seed MSU to an 89-73 victory against No. 3 seed UCLA in the championship game of the NCAA tournament’s Kansas City Regional before a crowd of 4,089 at the Sprint Center.
MSU (36-1), which added to its program record for wins, will face No. 1 seed Louisville (36-2), which defeated No. 6 seed Oregon State 76-43, at a time to be determined Friday in the Final Four in Columbus, Ohio. ESPN2 will broadcast the game.
Senior Morgan William had 17 points, five rebounds, and five assists, redshirt senior Roshunda Johnson had 12 points and five assists, and senior Blair Schaefer had nine points to help the senior class record its program-record 125th victory. That total is second in the Southeastern Conference and fifth nationally in that span. It comes on the heels of MSU’s first SEC regular-season title and the league’s first undefeated regular season in 20 years.
MSU led 42-26 at halftime and by as many as 18 in the third quarter. The Bulldogs held a double-digit lead in the fourth quarter before the Bruins (27-8) cut the deficit to six points six times in the final 10 minutes. Each time, MSU had an answer to help it reach the Final Four for the second-straight season.
Vivians and McCowan, who had a regional record for rebounds in her 27th double-double of the season, were named co-Most Outstanding Players of the regional.
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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Mississippi State University women's basketball players and head coach Vic Schaefer raise the trophy after the win over the UCLA Bruins in the championship game of the Kansas City regional of the women's basketball 2018 NCAA Tournament at Sprint Center. Photo by: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports
