Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
McCowan leads Bulldogs to title
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Mississippi State Coach Vic Schaefer couldn’t have been more ready to face South Carolina, and he showed his passion when his players needed it.
Schaefer loudly protested a third-quarter foul on Bulldogs guard Andra Espinoza-Hunter, coming up the court and drawing a technical with his team trailing 39-34.
“I had had enough,” Schaefer said he recalled thinking. “I’m ready to fight. Who’s in with me?”
Mississippi State’s players showed they shared Schaefer’s fire. Teaira McCowan had 18 points and 17 rebounds to help the fifth-ranked Bulldogs rally from 10 points down and hold on through a wild finish to defeat No. 14 South Carolina 68-64 and win the SEC regular season title on Sunday.
The Bulldogs (27-2, 15-1 SEC) were up 11 points with under seven minutes left before the Gamecocks rallied to 66-64 on Tyasha Harris’ steal and breakaway layup with 42.7 seconds to go. But it was Mississippi State that made the big plays after that.
Anriel Howard got the rebound after teammate Jordan Danberry missed two free throws on the next possession. Danberry got the board when Espinoza-Hunter missed a short jumper with 10 seconds left.
And the 6-foot-7 McCowan picked up Danberry’s missed foul shot with 2 seconds to go to secure the win for Mississippi State.
McCowan was not much of a factor in the first two quarters with just four points and two fouls. Schaefer put her back in right before the half.
“He told me to be smart and do what an All-American does,” she said.
McCowan responded with her 24th double-double this season. She finished with 44 points and 41 rebounds in Mississippi State’s regular-season sweep of the Gamecocks (21-8, 14-2).
The Bulldogs had wrapped up the No. 1 seed for next week’s league tournament with Kentucky’s victory over Georgia.
South Carolina led 39-32 at halftime, holding Mississippi State to its lowest-scoring first half this season.