Bulldogs nominated for two ESPY awards
Mississippi State's upset of Connecticut at the NCAA Women's Basketball Final Four made quite an impression on many different people.
The Bulldogs will find out on Wednesday night just how popular the win over the Huskies was.
MSU's 66-64 historic victory in overtime over UConn produced two ESPY nominations. The Bulldogs are up for the Best Upset of the Year by ending the 111-game winning streak of the Huskies, while Morgan William is in the running for the Best Play of the Year. She hit the winning jumper in the extra session against UConn.
“It's going to be special for our kids and I'm really excited for our program,” State coach Vic Schaefer said.
William had 13 points in the upset, while Victoria Vivians led the Bulldogs with 19 points. They were both selected to the All-Final Four team for their production.
MSU won a school-record 34 games, but none were more impressive than the one over UConn.
The Bulldogs are making the trip to Los Angeles for the ESPYs and William can't wait to be a part of the festivities.
“It's a big accomplishment,” William said of even being nominated. “I'm excited to be going to L.A. It will be me, Tori (Vivians), Bre (Breanna Richardson), Chinwe (Okorie), Ketara (Chapel), Dom (Dominique Dillingham) with all the coaches and coach Schaefer. Hopefully my mom can come.”
William's successful shot gave MSU a pair of firsts. It gave the Bulldogs their first-ever win over a No. 1 team in the country and put them in the national championship game for the first time. It was the first Final Four appearance for the women.
The magnitude of the moment still finds a tough time sinking in at times for William.
“I still find myself in awe,” William said. “I get chills. I relive it every day. Someone always asks me, ‘you hit the shot against UConn,' on Twitter, social media and anything. Everybody is constantly treating it like it the national championship game. It sort of felt like it because it took everything out of us. It was nice to be going to the Final Four and the big stage and ending their 111-game winning streak.”
As an extra bonus for MSU fans, former quarterback Dak Prescott of the Dallas Cowboys also has an ESPY nomination for Breakthrough Athlete of the Year.
“You throw Dak in on top of that, Mississippi State will be well-represented at the ESPYs,” Schaefer said.
There is still time to vote for William and the Bulldogs by visiting http://www.espn.com/espys/.
The ESPYs ceremony will be hosted by Peyton Manning on Wednesday and will be televised by ABC at 7 p.m. The show can also be viewed on WatchESPN.