Staley, Gamecocks get to celebrate
DALLAS — Dawn Staley finally got to raise an NCAA championship trophy.
South Carolina junior center A’ja Wilson scored 23 points to help her coach and the program 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 never won. She also led the Gamecocks to the national semifinals two years ago before losing to Notre Dame.
Once the final buzzer sounded, Staley grabbed the trophy, held it high over her head and paraded it around the court. She cut down the final piece of the net, waving it to the huge throng of Gamecocks fans while Wilson and Kaela Davis danced as the South Carolina band played.
“You have to give tribute to the former players,” Staley said. “Go back to my Temple days, they believed in our vision. We took that vision to South Carolina, and that vision was we’ll be national champions. If you stick with us and if you’re disciplined, if you believe — all these players believed in that. Happy our words came true to them.”
Mississippi State had all the momentum on its side after a shocking overtime win against overall No. 1 seed UConn on Friday night that ended the Huskies’ record 111-game winning streak and their bid for a fifth straight title.
The Bulldogs were unable to muster the same type of performance against the Gamecocks. Undersized point guard Morgan William, who had become the face of the tournament with the game-winning shot 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, closing 54-50 on Jazzmun Holmes’ jumper. That brought a huge cheer from the thousands of Mississippi State fans who made the eight-hour trip from Starkville, but it
was as close as the Bulldogs got.
It was their third loss this season to the Gamecocks. They dropped a game at South Carolina in the regular season as well as the SEC tournament title game in Greenville, S.C.
“Today doesn’t define us,” said Mississippi State coach Vic Schaefer, who is 0-9 in his career against South Carolina. “It certainly doesn’t define this team or this season. We had a heck of a year. Obviously we’ve had some hard times dealing with them. Today was no different.”
South Carolina’s victory in front of a sellout crowd came one day after the school’s men’s basketball team lost in the Final Four in Glendale, Ariz.
Wilson, who grew up in South Carolina, 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 came off the court with tears of joy.
She sees a repeat in the future for the Gamecocks, who return most of their core players.
“Man, just be with us next year,” Wilson said after winning the most outstanding player award for the Final Four. “We’re trying to be in this same spot next year, we’re going to see how it goes.”