How South Carolina won its first national championship

Michelle Smith has covered pro and college sports for AOL Fanhouse, the San Francisco Chronicle and espnW.

But Wilson and Gray made the key baskets SC needed in the fourth quarter to keep the Gamecocks in the lead.

“Everybody in the grocery store is a basketball coach”, Wilson said.

SC won its first women’s NCAA basketball title Sunday with a victory that represented a diversity of opportunity both for coaches and teams playing for a championship. SC would make a couple baskets to start to pull away, then Mississippi State would answer with a couple scores to close back in. Eastern time. The Bulldogs won 66-64 in overtime on William’s buzzer-beater, which was one of the biggest shots in NCAA women’s tournament history. “It’s a tough thing at times”.

The momentum stayed with the No. 1 seed, which built a 14-point lead in the third quarter and seemed to make a big play whenever Mississippi State tried to come back. “Again, y’all, it’s a long, hard grind of a year, of a season”.

As Arizona State’s Sophie Brunner put it after Wilson’s heroics helped the Gamecocks into the Sweet 16, “She’s their money player, so we knew they wanted to get it to her”.

Voepel says Vivians has struggled at times this season with her scoring. Morgan William is playing some of the best basketball I’ve ever seen played in a player. “She’s put in so much time and sweat into this”.

“You’ve got to envision it”.

SC was threatening to run away with the title before Mississippi State clawed back into the contest in the third quarter. “I’m very thankful for him, it’s my father and I love him so much”, said Victoria Patrick of her father, Hosea. “It’s still unbelievable. I don’t know how to celebrate”. But junior center A’Ja Wilson stepped up. Again, you have to take your hats off to SC and Dawn Staley for a tremendous effort today. From 2001 to 2008, Staley led Temple to a 172-80 record before moving onto SC.

In the most shocking development of quite an unusual basketball season, the top-ranked Connecticut Huskies will not be playing in the 2017 NCAA women’s basketball title game.

Player of the game: A’ja Wilson.

Vivians finished the game with 12 points for the Bulldogs. The Gamecocks, who converted 11 of their first 13 free throw attempts, continued to collect points at the line, and two more from the charity stripe by Wilson established a 25-16 advantage with less than seven minutes to play in the second quarter.

Westbrook finished with 40 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists. “It sunk in for me after we huddled up after the game”.

When she reaches the tunnel, she remarks to no one in particular, “This is incredible”. In these win-or-go-home games this season, South Carolina’s A’ja Wilson has put SC on her back even as the defensive focus on her doubled in the absence of her long-time frontcourt partner Alaina Coates. She was thrilled to help Staley get her first title. Honestly, I’m just going to go and enjoy the moment, just take it all in.

“Hopefully, that will be the case here” after Staley’s success, Lapchick said. “But it’s not defining our season”, Bulldogs coach Vic Schaefer said. But Staley realizes the extra burden on Wilson. Staley played so well she was named Most Outstanding Player even in a losing effort, but winning that individual trophy didn’t satiate her desire for the team award. Mississippi State needs to capitalize right now. “She said, ‘When you win your national championship, just return it'”.

Staley said patience has been the key to getting the best out of Wilson. The absence of an NCAA championship, she said, “has been a void in my career”. In the last game against Mississippi State, she was stymied by Mississippi State’s size, particularly 6-7 Teaira McCowan, for three quarters. She had good energy on defense and offense, and she scored and made good passes. Staley, in her ninth season at USC, is allowing herself to imagine what winning on Sunday would be like. “We’re a little bit different than what we were six games ago”.