Sunday, April 2
Dallas, Texas (American Airlines Center)
5:00 PM
Mississippi State
vs
#3 South Carolina
It’s An All-SEC National Title Tilt With Bulldogs, Gamecocks On Sunday
April 01, 2017 | Women's Basketball
DALLAS – One goal was prevalent when practice began in October. Win a championship.
With one game left in this magical 2017 campaign, Mississippi State finds itself 40 minutes away from achieving the feat of winning the school's first team national championship.
The second-seeded Bulldogs, fresh off their historical 66-64 overtime win against No. 1 Connecticut on Friday, play SEC rival South Carolina for the coveted title in a 5:15 p.m. tip at American Airlines Arena in Dallas.
The contest will be aired nationally on ESPN, with Dave O'Brien, Doris Burke, Kara Lawson and Holly Rowe handling the broadcast.
Jason Crowder and Charlie Winfield will have the radio call on the MSU Radio Network and www.hailstate.com/plus.
The national radio broadcast will come on Sirius/XM, College Sports Nation, channel 84 and online on www.ncaa.com. Fans can also listen via TuneIn and the NCAA March Madness app.
Mississippi State (34-4) enters the game after snapping the Huskies' record 111-game winning streak and looking to snap a 10-game losing skid to the Gamecocks.
The Bulldogs, who lost twice to South Carolina this year by a combined total of 13 points, punched their ticket to the finals following a dramatic, buzzer-beating shot by junior guard Morgan William, who finished with 13 points, 6 assists and 3 steals in 44 minutes of play. Her shot, which will go down as one the most clutch in women's basketball history, comes after her SEC record 41-point performance in the regional final against Baylor.
Fellow junior Victoria Vivians, who is averaging 16.2 ppg in the five NCAA Tournament games, totaled a team-high 19 points before fouling out, while Breanna Richardson added 12 and Teaira McCowan 10.
McCowan, back in her home state of Texas, also hauled in 8 rebounds while collecting two steals.
The winner of Sunday's highly-anticipated showdown will join Tennessee as the only SEC teams to win a national championship.
BULLDOGS VS. GAMECOCKS
With one game left in this magical 2017 campaign, Mississippi State finds itself 40 minutes away from achieving the feat of winning the school's first team national championship.
The second-seeded Bulldogs, fresh off their historical 66-64 overtime win against No. 1 Connecticut on Friday, play SEC rival South Carolina for the coveted title in a 5:15 p.m. tip at American Airlines Arena in Dallas.
The contest will be aired nationally on ESPN, with Dave O'Brien, Doris Burke, Kara Lawson and Holly Rowe handling the broadcast.
Jason Crowder and Charlie Winfield will have the radio call on the MSU Radio Network and www.hailstate.com/plus.
The national radio broadcast will come on Sirius/XM, College Sports Nation, channel 84 and online on www.ncaa.com. Fans can also listen via TuneIn and the NCAA March Madness app.
Mississippi State (34-4) enters the game after snapping the Huskies' record 111-game winning streak and looking to snap a 10-game losing skid to the Gamecocks.
The Bulldogs, who lost twice to South Carolina this year by a combined total of 13 points, punched their ticket to the finals following a dramatic, buzzer-beating shot by junior guard Morgan William, who finished with 13 points, 6 assists and 3 steals in 44 minutes of play. Her shot, which will go down as one the most clutch in women's basketball history, comes after her SEC record 41-point performance in the regional final against Baylor.
Fellow junior Victoria Vivians, who is averaging 16.2 ppg in the five NCAA Tournament games, totaled a team-high 19 points before fouling out, while Breanna Richardson added 12 and Teaira McCowan 10.
McCowan, back in her home state of Texas, also hauled in 8 rebounds while collecting two steals.
The winner of Sunday's highly-anticipated showdown will join Tennessee as the only SEC teams to win a national championship.
BULLDOGS VS. GAMECOCKS
- Sunday marks the 36 meeting between MSU and USC, with the Gamecocks holding a 19-16 advantage.
- The two last met in the SEC championship game back in early March, with South Carolina rallying to win, 59-49.
- MSU's last win came in February of 2010, 55-53 in Columbia.
- South Carolina advanced to the title game with a 62-53 win against Stanford in Friday's first semifinal game.
- The Gamecocks were paced by Allisha Gray's 18 points, while A'ja Wilson score 13 to go with 19 rebounds.
- Wilson is averaging 18.4 ppg in the NCAA Tournament and leads South Carolina for the season with 17.7 ppg.
- Mississippi State will be playing for its first national title in its first Final Four appearance. MSU also made its first appearance in the Elite Eight.
- The Oklahoma City Regional champions snapped UConn's historic 111-game win streak to set up an all-SEC final against South Carolina.
- UConn's 28 first-half points tied its lowest of the season, while its 60 points in regulation was a season low.
- Mississippi State seeks to win its first national championship in any team sport.
- It is the third time two SEC teams have met for the national title, the last coming in 1996.
- The last team to win a title in its first Final Four appearance was the 2011 Texas A&M squad Vic Schaefer was part of.
- MSU is the third-straight school Schaefer has helped take to the Final Four. He was part of the staffs at Arkansas and Texas A&M that went to the Final Four.
- Friday's win was MSU's first against a team ranked No. 1. It is also the first time State has won back-to-back games against Top 5 teams.
- MSU has four-straight wins against ranked opponents, a first in school annals.
- Sunday's win was MSU's program-best 34th of the season. MSU has set the single-season wins record each of the last three seasons (27 - 2014-15; 28 - 2015-16; 34 - 2016-17).
- The championship game appearance adds another milestone for seniors Ketara Chapel, Dominique Dillingham, Breanna Richardson and Chinwe Okorie, who claimed a program best and SEC second-best 111th win while snapping UConn's 111-game win streak. The class is 111-33 (.771) since 2013-14.
- Vic Schaefer is one of four finalists for Naismith Coach of the Year. He was also named a regional coach of the year by the WBCA.
- Victoria Vivians was named an Associated Press Third Team All-American, while Morgan William was an honorable mention selection. Vivians is also a WBCA All-America region finalist.
- Vivians scored 19 points against the Huskies, giving her 21.5 ppg the last two games. William is averaging 27.0 ppg in that stretch.
- William hit the game-winning shot against UConn one game removed from a 41-point performance against Baylor that earned her Oklahoma City Regional Most Outstanding Player.
- William also became Mississippi State's all-time career assists leader with 476. With 177 assists this year, she is two shy of tying Angela Harris for the MSU single-season record.
- Vivians is averaging 17.8 ppg this season against ranked foes, William 13.8 ppg.
- Teaira McCowan is averaging 12.6 points, 9.7 rebounds per game in the Big Dance.
- With 12 points against UConn, Breanna Richardson is averaging 8.8 in the NCAA Tournament.
- MSU's four turnovers was the fewest a team has had against Baylor this season.
- State was only the third team (Texas and UConn) to shoot 43% or higher against Baylor, and the Dawgs' 50% from 3-point range is the highest the Bears have allowed this season.
Players Mentioned
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