UConn’s streak ends, Miss St. wins with buzzer-beater

DALLAS (AP) — UConn’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, shocking the Huskies 6664 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.

The Bulldogs (34-4) will play South Carolina for the national championship Sunday night in a matchup of two SEC teams.

Mississippi State (335) 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) — which had won the last four national championships — on the grandest stage in one of the sport’s greatest games.

UConn coach Geno Auriemma had a wry smile on his face after the final shot. There wasn’t much else he could do, another title suddenly beyond his grasp.

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 stonefaced. Mississippi State coach Vic Schaefer grabbed William in a bear hug, with former Mississippi State star Dak Prescott — the Dallas Cowboys quarterback — helping lead the cheers.

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, sending the game into overtime.