Bulldogs face Irish for another shot at title

A year after loss in championship game, Mississippi State tries to win first crown.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Vic Schaefer and his Mississippi State Bulldogs carry a constant reminder of how far they went in the women’s NCAA tournament last year, and what must still be done.

It’s right there, engraved on the side of their runnerup rings: “ONE MORE.”

A season after losing to South Carolina 67-55 in the title game, Morgan William and the Bulldogs try again to win that elusive first crown. They play Notre Dame on Sunday night in a matchup of teams that both have spoiled perfect seasons for mighty Connecticut.

“We would say add another one a lot. One More,” Schaefer said. “It came from two Navy SEALs who worked with the kids in the fall — Sam and Brian. One of the things they talk about all the time is one more.”

Schaefer learned a lot from last year’s loss in the title game. He felt his players were tired after practicing the day after the monumental upset of UConn that ended the Huskies’ record 111-game winning streak.

So he’s changed his philosophy the second time around and will be taking it a bit easier on his team.

“I told my seniors and they called the doctor thinking I had lost my mind,” Schaefer said. “We’re not going to kill ourselves in practice. We’ll spend a lot of time stretching especially with those kids that played a lot of minutes [Friday] night. We are going to shoot a lot, go through their stuff and our stuff. That’s about it.”

The Bulldogs won another thriller, beating Louisville in overtime to advance to the title game a second straight year. This time, though, it was the first semifinal and the players were able to get to bed about three hours earlier than last year.

“Yeah, we watched the UConn-Notre Dame game but then were able to get to sleep around 12:30 a.m.,” said William, who hit the buzzer-beating shot that dropped UConn last season.

This time it was Notre Dame that ended the Huskies’ undefeated season. Arike Ogunbowale hit a jumper from the wing with a second left in overtime to beat UConn.

A win on Sunday would give coach Muffet McGraw a second title at Notre Dame. The Irish won in 2001 before falling short in the championship game in 2011, 2012, 2014 and 2015.