WOMEN’S FINAL FOUR Huskies’ 111-game run ends at buzzer
DALLAS — Connecticut’s record 111-game winning streak came to a startling end when Mississippi State pulled off perhaps the biggest upset in women’s basketball history, stunning the Huskies 66-64 on Morgan William’s overtime buzzer beater in the national semifinals Friday night.
William hit a 15-footer to cap it, moments after a replay review awarded UConn two free throws for a flagrant 1 foul call that tied the game with 26.6 seconds left.
“I live for moments like this,” William said. “UConn, they’re an incredible team. For me to make
that shot against them, it’s unbelievable. I’m still in shock right now. I wanted to take the shot. I wanted to take the shot and I made it.”
UConn coach Geno Auriemma had a wry smile on his face after the final shot. There wasn’t much else he could do, the chance for a fifth straight national title suddenly beyond his grasp.
The Huskies hadn’t lost in 865 days, with that defeat coming to Stanford in overtime on Nov. 17, 2014.
“We had an incredible run, but we came up against a much better team tonight,” Auriemma said.
The Bulldogs (34-4) will play South Carolina (32-4) for the national championship Sunday night in a matchup of two Southeastern Conference teams.
South Carolina, which will make its first appearance in the national title game, beat Stanford 6253 in the other semifinal, mostly on the strength of Allisha Gray’s 18 points and A’ja Wilson’s 13 points and 19 rebounds.
Erica McCall had 14 points and 14 rebounds to lead Stanford (32-6), which took a big hit when star Karlie Samuelson hurt her right ankle with about 4½ minutes before halftime.
Mississippi State and UConn met in the Sweet 16 last season and the Huskies won by 60 points — the most-lopsided win in regional semifinals history. All season long the Bulldogs had that humiliating loss on their minds. Now they’ve erased that defeat, beating UConn (36-1) on the grandest stage in one of the sport’s greatest games.
“I don’t have to play them 100 times. Only have to beat them once,” Mississippi State coach Vic Schaefer said. “That is one heck of a basketball team, the greatest of all-time. But how proud am I of my kids?”
Mississippi State led 6462 before a replay review gave Katie Lou Samuelson the two free throws that tied the game. After a UConn turnover, William held the ball at the top of the key before dribbling to her right and pulling up for the shot, with the ball in the air when the buzzer sounded.
The Bulldogs ran onto the court, piling up at center court while UConn players stood stone-faced. Schaefer grabbed William in a bear hug, with former Mississippi State star Dak Prescott — the Dallas Cowboys quarterback — helping lead the cheers.
Prescott said he’d try to come back Sunday for the title game.
UConn rallied from a 16-point deficit, its biggest during its NCAA record streak, to take a 59-56 lead in the fourth quarter. The teams were tied at 60 when the Bulldogs had a chance to win it in regulation, but William’s shot was blocked by Gabby Williams, sending the game into overtime.
“Maybe we’re just not ready for this. Maybe we were ready for everything else, but maybe we’re just not mature enough for this,” Auriemma said. “Maybe all our young kids needed to experience this so that we can come back and really be ready for this.”
Neither team scored much in OT with Teaira McCowan’s layup with 1:12 left in the extra session breaking a 62-62 tie. It was the lone basket for Mississippi State in OT until William’s game-winner.
During their last two decades of dominance where they’ve won 11 national championships, the Huskies rarely found themselves trailing — let alone by double-digits. This was the first time this season that UConn was losing in the fourth quarter.