Written by Adrian Beecher
Columbus, OH - True grit, and a never quit mentality, led by a 21 point and 25 rebound performance by Teaira McCown, along with a 25 point performance from Victoria Vivians, led the Mississippi State Bulldogs to a 73-63 win over Louisville in the National Semi-Final in the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament.
Here's how it all went down in Columbus at Nationwide Arena.
Both squads got off to a slow start with the first five field goals of the game missing the mark. Louisville's Asia Durr hit a triple and was fouled on the shot.This sent her to the line where she would make it 4-0 early for the Cardinals. They would hold a 6-0 lead before Mississipi State finally got their first points of the game.
Those points would come at the free throw line as Teaira McCown sank both to make it a 6-2 game with the Bulldogs trailing. This helped get things rolling a bit for the State, who was able to get on an 11-4 run to end the first quarter as they took a 13-11 lead over Louisville. Victoria Vivians, five points on that run, led the Bulldogs in scoring at the end of the 1st quarter. Durr was the Cards leading scorer with six.
As the 2nd quarter got underway, Louisville wasted no time getting things knotted back up with a basket from Dana Evans. Then, it was Morgan William hitting from beyond the arc to give the Bulldogs a three-point lead, that would grow to five with 7:12 left in the 1st half.
Then the Cardinals went on a 10-2 run to take regain the lead at 25-22 with 4:42 left in the half. The Bulldogs of Mississippi State would return the favor with a 9-3 run of their own to end the first half. As the teams went into the locker room, the Bulldogs held the 31-30 advantage over Louisville.
Miss. State center, Teaira McCown grabbed nine 1st half rebounds. This put her at 76 total rebounds for the NCAA tournament, which set a new NCAA tourney record.
To start the second half, Vivians got things going for State with a jumper to push their lead to 3. For the Cardinals, it was Durr with the first 2nd half bucket on a jumper on the ensuing possession.
Things maintained a back and forth pace with no one team gaining an advantage over the other in the third quarter. In the final minute of the third quarter, after both teams averaged just 10% combined from beyond the arc, they started falling. Durr drained one with 46 seconds left to play in the quarter to take a 45-43 lead. Then Vivians hit one at the other end with just 25 seconds left on the clock to put the Bulldogs back in front. Then right before the final buzzer at the end of the 3rd, Durr again drained one to give State the 48-46 lead.
Keeping with the rhythm, Myisha Hines-Allen drained a triple to open the 4th quarter for the Cards to extend their lead at 51-46. Shortly after that, Durr hit a fadeaway jumper from eight feet away to give the Cardinals their largest lead of the game at 7. With 6:59 left to play, it was 53-46 Cards.
Miss. State head coach Johnnie Harris took a timeout to regroup the squad. The timeout indeed paid off as back to back buckets out of the break for the Bulldogs went on a 6-0 run to cut the deficit just one after a bucket from McCowan made it 53-52 with 4:49 to play.
The run would continue after a Louisville turnover, as McCowan snagged her 16th rebound and put the offensive board back up for a Bulldogs bucket. Then on the ensuing Mississippi State possession, Sam Fuehring from Louisville was called for a technical foul, which tallied as her 5th personal as she fouled out. Both free throws were hit by William for the Bulldogs to make it 56-53 with just 2:42 left to play.
The 10-0 run for Mississippi State was put to a halt by Hines-Allen, who hit a jumper to start a 6-0 run for the Cardinals. With 11 seconds left to play the Cardinals looked like they were headed to the title game with a 59-56 lead over the Bulldogs.
Roshunda Johnson, however, had other plans as she drained a game-tying triple with 7 seconds left to play. Down the other end of the floor, Louisville was unable to get in a basket and time expired to send the game into overtime.
The first basket of overtime came from Vivian's who drained a triple to give State a 62-59 lead with 4:23 left in overtime. Neither team would score for the next three minutes until Vivian's hit another basket with 1:20 left to play to push the Bulldogs lead to five. A set of free throws from Durr would give the Cardinals their first points of the overtime.
The first field goal for the Cardinals in overtime followed soon after as Bre'Amber Scott hit a jumper to make it a one-point deficit with 50 seconds left in the OT. However, that would be the last time a point would go on the board for the Cardinals as Mississippi State ended the game on a 9-0 run to punch their ticket to the 2018 Women's Basketball National Championship game.
Here's how it all went down in Columbus at Nationwide Arena.
Both squads got off to a slow start with the first five field goals of the game missing the mark. Louisville's Asia Durr hit a triple and was fouled on the shot.This sent her to the line where she would make it 4-0 early for the Cardinals. They would hold a 6-0 lead before Mississipi State finally got their first points of the game.
Those points would come at the free throw line as Teaira McCown sank both to make it a 6-2 game with the Bulldogs trailing. This helped get things rolling a bit for the State, who was able to get on an 11-4 run to end the first quarter as they took a 13-11 lead over Louisville. Victoria Vivians, five points on that run, led the Bulldogs in scoring at the end of the 1st quarter. Durr was the Cards leading scorer with six.
As the 2nd quarter got underway, Louisville wasted no time getting things knotted back up with a basket from Dana Evans. Then, it was Morgan William hitting from beyond the arc to give the Bulldogs a three-point lead, that would grow to five with 7:12 left in the 1st half.
Then the Cardinals went on a 10-2 run to take regain the lead at 25-22 with 4:42 left in the half. The Bulldogs of Mississippi State would return the favor with a 9-3 run of their own to end the first half. As the teams went into the locker room, the Bulldogs held the 31-30 advantage over Louisville.
Miss. State center, Teaira McCown grabbed nine 1st half rebounds. This put her at 76 total rebounds for the NCAA tournament, which set a new NCAA tourney record.
To start the second half, Vivians got things going for State with a jumper to push their lead to 3. For the Cardinals, it was Durr with the first 2nd half bucket on a jumper on the ensuing possession.
Things maintained a back and forth pace with no one team gaining an advantage over the other in the third quarter. In the final minute of the third quarter, after both teams averaged just 10% combined from beyond the arc, they started falling. Durr drained one with 46 seconds left to play in the quarter to take a 45-43 lead. Then Vivians hit one at the other end with just 25 seconds left on the clock to put the Bulldogs back in front. Then right before the final buzzer at the end of the 3rd, Durr again drained one to give State the 48-46 lead.
Keeping with the rhythm, Myisha Hines-Allen drained a triple to open the 4th quarter for the Cards to extend their lead at 51-46. Shortly after that, Durr hit a fadeaway jumper from eight feet away to give the Cardinals their largest lead of the game at 7. With 6:59 left to play, it was 53-46 Cards.
Miss. State head coach Johnnie Harris took a timeout to regroup the squad. The timeout indeed paid off as back to back buckets out of the break for the Bulldogs went on a 6-0 run to cut the deficit just one after a bucket from McCowan made it 53-52 with 4:49 to play.
The run would continue after a Louisville turnover, as McCowan snagged her 16th rebound and put the offensive board back up for a Bulldogs bucket. Then on the ensuing Mississippi State possession, Sam Fuehring from Louisville was called for a technical foul, which tallied as her 5th personal as she fouled out. Both free throws were hit by William for the Bulldogs to make it 56-53 with just 2:42 left to play.
The 10-0 run for Mississippi State was put to a halt by Hines-Allen, who hit a jumper to start a 6-0 run for the Cardinals. With 11 seconds left to play the Cardinals looked like they were headed to the title game with a 59-56 lead over the Bulldogs.
Roshunda Johnson, however, had other plans as she drained a game-tying triple with 7 seconds left to play. Down the other end of the floor, Louisville was unable to get in a basket and time expired to send the game into overtime.
The first basket of overtime came from Vivian's who drained a triple to give State a 62-59 lead with 4:23 left in overtime. Neither team would score for the next three minutes until Vivian's hit another basket with 1:20 left to play to push the Bulldogs lead to five. A set of free throws from Durr would give the Cardinals their first points of the overtime.
The first field goal for the Cardinals in overtime followed soon after as Bre'Amber Scott hit a jumper to make it a one-point deficit with 50 seconds left in the OT. However, that would be the last time a point would go on the board for the Cardinals as Mississippi State ended the game on a 9-0 run to punch their ticket to the 2018 Women's Basketball National Championship game.