DALLAS — Don’t underestimate the heart of a Bulldog.
Whether it has been against DePaul, Washington, or Baylor, the experts have picked against the Mississippi State women’s basketball throughout the NCAA tournament.
MSU’s victories against those three teams sealed its first trip to the Final Four, but they had little effect on the national media, which penciled Connecticut in as a lock to play for its record 12th national title.
Morgan William and the Bulldogs had other plans.
William hit a 14-foot jump shot just before the final horn Friday night to lead MSU to a 66-64 overtime victory against four-time reigning national champion UConn at the American Airlines Center.
“What an unbelievable, gutsy performance that no one in the country, including all of y’all, probably thought could happen, and that’s OK,” MSU coach Vic Schaefer said. “But we knew it could happen.”
With the win, MSU (34-4) snapped UConn’s 111-game winning streak and secured a spot in its first national title game. It will take on Southeastern Conference rival South Carolina, which beat Stanford 62-53 in the first national semifinal, at 5 p.m. Sunday (ESPN).
William, who scored a career-high 41 points in a 94-85 overtime victory against Baylor in the Elite Eight, again proved to be the hero. With the game tied at 64, MSU took possession following a timeout with 12.3 seconds left. Dominique Dillingham took the inbounds pass and moved the ball up the court. She dribbled to the right of the top of the key and didn’t pass the ball to William until there were less than four seconds remaining. William was to the left behind Dillingham, but she didn’t waste any time and moved quickly to the right of the free-throw line. With 5-foot-11 Gabby Williams guarding her, William stopped just inside the foul line and rose up and appeared to fade to her right a little. Her high-arching shot swished through the basket nearly in sync with the final horn and the lights on the backboard.
“Coach (Schaefer) was like, ‘Morgan, you can win the game,'” said William, who had 13 points, three rebounds, six assists (two turnovers), and three steals. “(The play) wasn’t originally for me, but the way they had guarded, I told Dom to get the ball and take it down the court. Time was just ticking. I knew the last — end of regulation, I went for a layup, they blocked it. I was like, ‘She probably thinks I’m going to do it again.’ I got in the space, I jumped up, I made the shot.
“When I made the shot, I was in shock. I’m still in shock. I’m over here like, Hey, I just won the game. My teammates are just so happy and proud of me. I can’t thank them enough because I can’t be playing the way I’m playing without them.”
UConn (36-1) tied the game after the officials reviewed video of a UConn possession that ended in a tipped pass by Teaira McCowan and a turnover. Following the review, the officials assessed a foul on Dillingham for an elbow to the throat/face of Katie Lou Samuelson. Samuelson hit two free throws to tie the game. UConn then had possession and a chance to take the lead, but Saniya Chong lost the basketball on a drive to set up the final play.
“We didn’t want them to penetrate too deep, which they did,” said Williams, who had a game-high 21 points, eight rebounds, two assists, four blocked shots, and two steals. “We were trying to face guard a little bit and put pressure on the guards so they couldn’t bring it up s fast. Just had some help defense but came up short.”
UConn coach Geno Auriemma felt Chong, who started out guarding William on the final sequence, did a “pretty good job.” Unfortunately, he said, William “made a great play.”
“We said if they’re going to make a shot it’s got to be a pull-up jump shot,” Auriemma said. “(It) can’t be a stand-still (shot). (It) can’t be a layup.
‘That’s one of the toughest shots to make from that distance under that kind of pressure. … I always tell my team one play doesn’t cost you a game. It almost never does. … But a lot of times one play will win you a game. That’s exactly what she did.”
MSU built a 15-8 lead on a 3-pointer by William with 3 minutes, 59 seconds left in the first quarter. The Huskies cut the deficit to 15-13 only to have the Bulldogs go on a 14-0 run that stretched into the second quarter. William jumped up and deflected the ball away from Samuelson and Victoria Vivians (19 points) collected the loose ball for a layup that capped the run and gave the Bulldogs a 29-13 lead with 7:39 to go in the first half.
But UConn responded with a 12-0 run to get back into the game. Vivians hit a pull-up jump shot that ended UConn’s run. Vivians scored the Bulldogs’ final five points of the half to help them preserve a 36-28 lead.
UConn committed nine turnovers and had only four assists. The Huskies rebounded from a 4-for-12 shooting performance from the field in the first quarter to shoot 4-for-6 from the field in the second quarter. They were 9-for-13 from the free-throw line.
Last season, UConn defeated MSU 98-38 in the Sweet 16 in Bridgeport, Connecticut. The Huskies limited the Bulldogs to 28.6-percent shooting from the field (18-for-63) while shooting 62.7 percent (37-for-59). UConn led 32-4 after one quarter and 61-12 at halftime. The margin of victory was the largest in a regional semifinal. Breanna Stewart had a game-high 22 points to lead the Huskies. Samuelson was next with 21.
This season, Vivians’ 12 points paced MSU, which had a 21-11 edge in rebounds in the first half. The Bulldogs built their advantage despite William and McCowan picking up two fouls. McCowan played only three minutes but had four points.
MSU also attempted 18 more shots from the field (13-for-36) than UConn in the first half.
But the Bulldogs’ defense down the stretch was crucial. MSU held UConn to 4-for-16 shooting from the field in the fourth quarter and in overtime after the Huskies shot 12-for-18 (66.7 percent) from the field in the second and third quarters.
“We beat the greatest team with the greatest streak in the history of sports,” Schaefer said.
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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