COLUMBUS, Ohio — Morgan William now has company when it comes to hitting memorable shots in the Final Four.
Roshunda Johnson’s 3-pointer with 5.7 seconds remaining in regulation set the stage for the Mississippi State women’s basketball team to pull away and beat Louisville 73-63 in overtime 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. Sunday (ESPN) for the national title.
“We talk about when things get a little bit tough and too tough for most people, when it gets really really hard, that’s when it gets about right for us,” MSU coach Vic Schaefer said. “Today was pretty tough. You’re down three with 11 or 12 seconds left and you’re going to have to do something eight, and a lot of people are going to have to do it right.”
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.
“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.
MSU’s Blair Schaefer inbounded the basketball to Morgan William. Schaefer cut hard across the top of the key area to the right wing. She said she felt her movement drew defenders to her and opened the left wing for Johnson, who used a screen by junior center Teaira McCowan (21 points, career-high 25 rebounds) at the free-throw line area to lose Arica Carter. Johnson had enough time to spot up and take her time with the shot.
“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.
William had 10 points and four assists, while Jordan Danberry had 10 points, four rebounds, and three steals in a career-best 26 minutes at MSU. That total was one shy off the number of minutes Danberry played in the Bulldogs’ last four games.
All-American Asia Durr led Louisville with 18 points, but she was 6-for-17 from the field, including 3-for-9 from 3-point range. Johnson and Danberry shared the responsibility for guarding Durr. Jones added 15 points and nine rebounds for the Cardinals, while Myisha Hines-Allen added 11 points, four rebounds, and four steals in 30 minutes.
Louisville led 53-46 with 7 minutes, 13 seconds remaining. But MSU responded with a 10-0 run in a game that featured four ties and 15 lead changes. Louisville answered with a 6-0 spurt that put itself in position to win in regulation, only to have Johnson ruin those plans.
“Johnson’s three was huge,” Louisville coach Jeff Walz said. “Obviously, send the game into overtime. … Everybody is going to look at that play and be like, man, that’s the play of the game.
“I’ve got about six of them I can show you from the first half where we didn’t communicate, we didn’t switch like we were supposed to.”
McCowan added to Louisville’s problems by scoring 13 points and grabbing 16 rebounds in the second half. She wreaked havoc on the Cardinals’ defense by grabbing 13 offensive rebounds for record her 28th double-double of the season.
“When you get one rebound and you go up and your teammates say, ‘Get the next one,’ ” McCowan said. “When you get a rebound and you look at your teammates and they’re shaking their heads like you’re doing good. It is a good feeling knowing they’re feeding off me getting rebounds and stick backs and I am kicking it out. It works for all of us.”
It also worked for Johnson, who capitalized on McCowan’s big body to give her the space and time she needed.
“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.
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