Ring that Cowbell! Mississippi St shocks UConn in Final Four


Mississippi State guard Morgan William (2) shoots the winning shot against Connecticut in an NCAA
college basketball game in the semifinals of the women's Final Four, Friday, March 31, 2017, in Dallas.
Mississippi State won 66-64. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

DALLAS (AP) — Mississippi State coach Vic Schaefer last year was showing the movie "Miracle" to his players and hoping for one.

Now, the Bulldogs are living one.

A year after an embarrassing 60-point loss to mighty UConn in the Sweet 16, the Bulldogs are headed to their first national championship game. Morgan William's overtime buzzer-beating jumper gave them a 66-64 victory over the four-time defending national champion Huskies in the national semifinals Friday night.

"It was personal. ... We had to prove we're a much better team than last year," said Victoria Vivians, who led the Bulldogs with 19 points.

"What an unbelievable gutsy performance that no one in the country, including all of y'all, probably thought could happen, and that's OK," Schaefer said. "But we knew it could happen."

Just like the 1980 U.S. men's Olympic hockey that upset the heavily favored Soviet Union team on way to the gold medal, Mississippi State (34-4) still has one more game to play after ending UConn's 111-game winning streak.

The Bulldogs, with four seniors and four juniors, will play South Carolina in an all-SEC matchup for the national title Sunday night.

"This year, I wasn't showing 'Miracle.' We weren't watching any movies, I wasn't talking about the Philistines slaying giants, although it was in the back of my mind," Schaefer said. "We beat the greatest team with the greatest streak in the history of sports."

Schaefer was part of a national championship while on coach Gary Blair's staff at Texas A&M in 2011, then became Mississippi State's head coach.

Now the Bulldogs are one win away from one of their own after perhaps the biggest upset in women's basketball history.

"We didn't have to play them best-out-of-seven, didn't' have to beat them best-out-five," Schaefer said. "We just had to play them one time, beat them one time."

Schaefer described his team has having tremendous heart and some pride, which got stepped on by UConn last season.

William, who scored 41 points in Mississippi State's regional final victory over top-seeded Baylor, had 13 points against the Huskies. She had a layup attempt blocked at the end of regulation.

"Ain't any shots bigger than then one she hit tonight," Schaefer said.

"Well, Coach called the timeout. He was like, 'Morgan, you can win the game.' That's what he said," William said. "When I made the shot, I was in shock. I'm still in shock."

So is UConn.

Stunning, I didn't think it was possible. Good for them.

Your right basketball sucks A$$ and C%^T basketball really sucks, no words to express it !!

Fans get to thinking their team will never lose.

When the team gets that thought, they usually do.

A tip of the hat to Miss St.

women's sports? Meh.

I'd rather watch women's college basketball than the NBA.

Kudos to Miss St for accomplishing the impossible.

Congratulations to Mississippi State for a tremendous accomplishment. As I pointed out in another thread, had it been football, the accomplishment would be denigrated, and the emphasis would have been on UConn losing the game rather than MS winning it.

Who cares ??

I care!

Go Bulldogs!

It's a shame women's sports get such short shrift. It's just the way it is, but I do feel bad for the ladies. We went through this in fastpitch with our daughter. They vied for a state championship every year, and the only ones that showed for the game were the parents and grandparents. Heck, the high school principal couldn't ever drag his lazy azz across the parking lot to come watch a game.

That was a hell of run. Yes it's always a thriller when the squeaker shot at the end comes through. I do think highly of the players who mention that the first shot made at the beginning was just as important though.

Congrats to both teams, for the long winning record and the upset victory.

#HailState! Sec! Sec! Sec! Feels good to beat Geno&Uconn.

probably the best college game of the year men or women!! go m-state

welcome to the fire!

This^ Used to be a rabid Boston Celtics fan in the Russell/Havlicheck/Cowens/Bird era. Now it's a clown show. Act like you've been there before!

Well I wasn't going to watch it since Baylor wasn't in it but after reading Red Neck's post about this little pint sized point guard from Miss St...I decided I'd watch it. Boy, am I glad I did. That young lady can play ball. It's not the fact that she hit the winning shot, it was her amazing play through out the entire game. By far the best performance by any player male or female I've seen all year. She seems like a quality person as well. Thanks Red Neck, powdr

I had Ruthie Hebard in my class yesterday talking to the students about how academics were more important than sports. Sure, the Lady Ducks got blown out by Uconn but much of it was because she was doubled during the entire game. Mark my words she will be a top player by her senior year.

Me too.

donsm70

Yea,

But it's still basketball.

Way to go Bulldogs!

Evidently you do. You went on this thread, and then posted on it.


UConn will be back with vengeance next year.....it's tough to win every game, every year; especially when you lose 3 All-American seniors last year.

That game was fantastic - and that little guard William was unreal...

Yep, they got beat at the last second but when Mississippi can match their winning streak then you can crow..

I was at the game in OKC when the bulldogs beat Baylor. Was one of the better college ball games Ive seen. Men or womens. Williams scored 41 points in that game.

That's sour grapes. UCONN had a great run, but give credit and let them crow. It was a great win and made the finals game a lot more interesting.

Good points, the underdog very seldom gets credit for an upset. It does leave us wondering how South Carolina would have fared against UConn.

Ditto... That little gal is QUICK...

UConn has beaten SC the previous 3 meetings in the past 3 seasons, including win # 100 (not sure what the all-time record/streak is).....

As for a final game match-up, it would all depend on which UConn team showed up.....

Not sour grapes at all just a statement of fact..

Yes, true, the final points went to MSU within the last second - but they played well the entire game (led for quite a while) and put themselves into that position - to win in the end. Breaking a 110 game win streak is something about which to crow, particularly if the heroes go in as huge underdogs among the "knowledgeable". So, crowing is in order.

However, the loss takes nothing away from the UConn team/coach and their fabulous record. If anything, that kind of loss to such a team seems to make their great record even more significant. Sooner or later every long winning streak ends and sometimes that comes about because the loser was not able to sustain the quality and strength of play that enabled them to set the record. UConn did not measure up to its normal standard - that can lead to such a loss when an opponent like MSU plays somewhat above its usual level.

That winning streak is not likely to be matched for a long time - if ever.