KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Mississippi State women’s basketball team is going back to the Final Four.
Victoria Vivians scored a game-high 24 points, and Teaira McCowan had 23 points and a career-high 21 rebounds Sunday night to lead No. 1 seed MSU to an 89-73 victory against No. 3 UCLA in the championship game of the NCAA tournament’s Kansas City Regional at the Sprint Center.
Vivians and McCowan were named co-Most Outstanding Players of the tournament.
MSU (36-1) will take on Louisville at a time to be determined Friday (ESPN2) in one of the national semifinal games in Columbus, Ohio.
MSU went 11-for-15 from the free-throw line in the final 3 minutes, 35 seconds to help close out its second-straight Final Four.
McCowan put back a missed drive by Morgan William (17 points, five assists) and converted the free throw with 54.6 seconds remaining to give the Bulldogs an 82-73 lead. UCLA missed its final four shots from the field.
Roshunda Johnson added 12 points and Blair Schaefer had nine points for MSU.
Jordin Canada led UCLA with 23 points. Japreece Dean added 16. Canada and Monique Billings were named to the all-tournament team.
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino in Twitter @ctsportseditor
Check back later tonight for a story from the game and more coverage. You can also check Monday’s print edition of The Dispatch.
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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