South Carolina women win title
DALLAS — Dawn Staley is going to savor her first NCAA championship. It took her a long time to finally be able to raise the trophy over her head.
A’ja Wilson scored 23 points to help the head coach and South Carolina win their first national championship with a 67-55 victory over Mississippi State on Sunday night.
Staley made the Final Four three times as a player at Virginia but did not win the title. She also led the Gamecocks to the national semifinals two years ago before losing to Notre Dame.
“It means that I can check off one of the things that had been a void in my career,” said Staley, wearing the championship net around her neck in the postgame news conference. “Something I wanted to do. It was one of two opportunities that I saw women play when I was younger: national-championship games and Olympics.”
Wilson, a native South Carolinian who was Staley’s biggest recruit ever, was the key. Wilson was thrilled to help Staley get her first title.
“I can’t put into words how much it meant to win the game for coach,” Wilson said. “She’s put in so much time and sweat into this.”
Staley became the second African American head coach to win the national championship.
Mississippi State had all the momentum on its side after a shocking upset over UConn on Friday night that ended the Huskies’ record winning streak at 111 games. The Bulldogs couldn’t muster the same effort against the Gamecocks. Morgan William, who had become the face of the tournament with the game-winner against the Huskies after a 41-point performance against Baylor, was held to eight points.
South Carolina (33-4) turned a 10-point halftime lead into a 45-31 advantage midway through the third quarter before the Bulldogs rallied. Mississippi State (34-5) slowly cut into the deficit, trimming the margin to 54-50 on a Jazzmun Holmes jumper. That brought a huge cheer from the thousands of Mississippi State fans who made the eight-hour trip from Starkville, Miss.
That’s as close as the Bulldogs could get.
Wilson blocked a shot on one end of the court and then hit a short jumper in the lane that started a 12-2 run to put the game away. Staley emptied her bench with less than a minute left and Wilson left with tears of joy. The Gamecocks return most of their core players next season.