Mississippi State Lady Bulldogs win against Louisville, advance to national championship game
Published 9:14 pm Friday, March 30, 2018
(AP) — The team that pulled off the big upset in last year’s women’s Final Four is headed to the title game again.
Roshunda Johnson hit a 3-pointer with 5.7 seconds left in the fourth quarter to tie it at 59, and Mississippi State pulled away in overtime for a 73-63 victory over Louisville on Friday night in a semifinal.
The Bulldogs ended UConn’s 111-game winning streak last year before losing to South Carolina in the title game. UConn and Notre Dame play in the other semifinal.
Victoria Vivians led the Bulldogs with 25 points. Teaira McCown had 21 points and 25 of Mississippi State’s 46 rebounds, setting the rebound record for a Final Four. McCowan set the Final Four record for rebounds, besting Charlotte Smith’s previous record of 23 set in 1994 while playing for North Carolina.
Louisville had a chance to win it in the closing seconds of regulation, but Jazmine Jones’ layup attempt rolled off the rim at the buzzer.