NCAA TOURNAMENT / WOMEN
Stanford 76, Notre Dame 75
Even after Alanna Smith and Stanford pulled off a huge rally to put Stanford in position to reach the Final Four, there still was work to do.
That's when Erica McCall stepped up and blocked Notre Dame's path.
Smith's layup with 23 seconds left capped Stanford's comeback from a 16-point deficit in the second half, McCall swatted a last-second shot and the Cardinal edged top-seeded Notre Dame Sunday for its first Final Four trip since 2014.
The Irish had the ball under their own basket with 2.2 seconds left and there was a series of timeouts before play resumed. Akire Ogunbowale caught the inbounds pass and drove to the basket, and McCall blocked the shot from behind.
"She took a dribble, and I'm like, I'm going for it whether I get the foul or not," McCall said. "I got a nice clean block off of it. We get the win. Whew, so I'm excited."
Brittany McPhee scored 27 as the second-seeded Cardinal (32-5) won its eighth in a row overall. This was the third straight year Stanford and Notre Dame have met in the NCAA Tournament, with the Cardinal winning the past two in the Lexington Regional.
Mississippi State 94, Baylor 85
Morgan William scored a career-high 41 points, and No. 2 seed Mississippi State upset top-seeded Baylor in overtime to reach the Final Four for the first time.
William, a 5-foot-5 guard, was chosen Most Outstanding Player of the regional. She set a school record for most points in an NCAA Tournament game.
Victoria Vivians scored 24 points and Teaira McCowan added 10 for Mississippi State (33-4).
Kalani Brown scored 27 points and Nina Davis had 18 for Baylor (33-4), which lost in the Elite Eight for the fourth consecutive year.
William made a 3-pointer to give Mississippi State a 73-68 lead in regulation, but Baylor responded with a 7-0 run, and Brown's basket put the Lady Bears ahead by two.