COLUMBUS, Ohio — Shooters know.
When there isn’t time to think about the enormity of the moment, shooters rely on repetition.
Catch. Set your feet. Follow through.
It sounds simple, but that training pays whether there is a crowd of 1,000 or nearly 20,000 in the stands.
Vic Schaefer relied on that repetition when he designed the Mississippi State women’s basketball team’s final play of regulation for Johnson.
Johnson found the peace Friday night to let her years of practice take over. As a result, Johnson hit one of the biggest shots in MSU basketball history.
Johnson’s 3-pointer with 5.7 seconds remaining in regulation set the stage for the MSU to pull away in overtime and beat Louisville 73-63 before a crowd of 19,564 in the first national semifinal at Nationwide Arena
MSU (37-1) will play Notre Dame (34-3), which defeated Connecticut 91-89 in overtime, at 5 p.m. today (ESPN) for the national title.
“We work on scenarios during practice,” said Johnson, a 5-foot-7 redshirt senior guard. “We work on catching and shooting in the last minute or the last second. I was ready and I was prepared and I got my feet set and I had to take the opportunity.”
Trailing 59-56, Schaefer called timeout with 11.3 seconds to play to advance the basketball to halfcourt. He had senior guard Blair Schaefer, who entered the game with a team-leading 95 3-pointers but was scoreless, inbound the basketball from the right of his team’s bench on the left side of the court to senior point guard Morgan William. Schaefer then printed across the top of the key to the other side of the court.
“I came off really hard and acted like I was getting the ball, so I tried to be a decoy,” Schaefer said. “When I saw the ball leave Ro’s hands it looked good and I was like, ‘Oh, this looks good. It looks good,’ and it went in.”
Instead of going to Schaefer or Vivians, coach Schaefer opted for Johnson. His reasoning was simple: As a left-hander, Johnson would be coming back to her strong hand, so he knew the key was getting Teaira McCowan to set a good screen near the free-throw line to give Johnson the space she needed.
McCowan (21 points, career-high 25 rebounds) then set a screen that won’t show up on any stat sheet but was just as important as any of her points, rebounds, or three blocked shots.
“Ro set it up, too,” McCowan said. “She kind of walked (Louisville’s Arica Carter) toward the other side of the court and then she came off. I saw her and coach always says, ‘If you’re going to set a screen, make sure you get them. Don’t miss them by a little bit.”
McCowan said Carter ran right into her chest at the center of the free-throw line and then she tried to push past her to get to Johnson.
Carter didn’t get there in time.
“It was textbook,” William said. “I just stayed in the middle of the floor.”
William said the Bulldogs’ confidence in any of their shooters didn’t waver on a night they went 4-for-15 from 3-point range. On this night, Johnson delivered when it easily could have been Schaefer or Vivians or William taking the final shot.
“With Blair, Ro, and Tori, they are the best 3-point shooters in the SEC, probably in the country,” William said. “I know (Connecticut’s) Katie Lou (Samuelson) is probably No. 1, but I feel like Blair, Ro, and Tori are up there.
“When I see them with an open three, I think it is going in. I have that much confidence in them.”
Still, Johnson had to make the shot.
Johnson admitted the left wing would be her “spot” on the court because she is able to step into the shot with her right foot. She said it doesn’t matter how she is coming off a screen because she knows she has to set her feet and fall back on her training.
“I felt it,” Johnson said. “I felt it as soon as it left my hands I was like, ‘Oh yeah, that’s in,’ ” Johnson said.
The shot helped MSU become the first team to win two Final Four semifinal games in overtime. Last season, William hit the game-winning shot in overtime to lift MSU to a 66-64 victory against four-time reigning national champion Connecticut.
This time, Johnson answered the call, even though she was 1-for-5 from the field prior to taking a shot that could have been her last one as a Bulldog.
“My teammates always have confidence in me, and so it doesn’t matter who takes the shot. We’re always behind one another,” Johnson said. “It didn’t matter if I took the shot or if Tori took the shot. Make or miss, we were still going to be together.”
Still, MSU had to survive a missed layup by Myisha Hines-Allen (11 points) that was contested by McCowan. Jazmine Jones (15 points, nine rebounds) rebounded the miss, but her follow bounced off the back rim to send the game to an extra five-minute session.
MSU limited Louisville (36-3) to 1-for-10 shooting in overtime. Vivians (game-high 25 points) had MSU’s first five points of the overtime before she fouled out with 58.2 seconds left in OT. But the Bulldogs hit 6 of 8 free throws in the final 46 seconds. McCowan hit the final free throw to cap a three-point play that sealed MSU’s second-consecutive trip to the national title game.
A year after William’s shot created a play-of-the-year moment, Johnson added another chapter to what has been a magical ride for her in Starkville.
“Coach Schaefer always says your window is going to be very small,” Johnson said. “I knew when I got the opportunity I looked back and I saw she was stuck a little bit on Teaira. I knew I was wide open because everybody else was on Teaira, Tori, and Blair. Nobody was there to help.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 36 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 36 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
