DALLAS — When the final shot beat the buzzer and UConn’s record streak was over, Geno Auriemma had to smile.
After all the winning, the Huskies coach could appreciate a thrilling victory — even from the other side.
UConn’s 111-game run came to a stunning end when Mississippi State pulled off perhaps the biggest upset in women’s basketball history, winning 66-64 on Morgan William’s overtime jumper in the national semifinals Friday night.
“You know what? When stuff like this happens, it kind of makes me shake my head and go, ‘You know how many times this could have happened and it didn’t happen?’” Auriemma said. “The fact that it never happened, that doesn’t mean I went home thinking it’s never going to happen. I knew this was coming at some point.”
“I’m just shocked that it took this long to get here,” he said.
The Huskies hadn’t lost in 865 days, with that defeat coming to Stanford in overtime on Nov. 17, 2014. Winning had become routine, often by routs. But in an instant, their drive toward a fifth consecutive national championship had been blocked.
When William’s jumper dropped, Auriemma broke into that wry smile. He turned to his bench, then went to congratulate the Bulldogs.
“I just kind of shook my head. This kid’s had an incredible run,” Auriemma said. “When it went in, it was almost like, of course. Of course, it’s going to go in.”
“Look, nobody’s won more than we’ve won,” he said. “I understand losing, believe it or not. We haven’t lost in a while, but I understand it. I know how to appreciate when other people win.”
It took an incredible shot by Mississippi State’s diminutive point guard to end the historic streak.
William hit a 15-footer to cap it, moments after a replay review awarded UConn two free throws for a flagrant 1 foul call that tied the game with 26.6 seconds left.
“I live for moments like this,” William said. “UConn, they’re an incredible team. For me to make that shot against them, it’s unbelievable. I’m still in shock right now. I wanted to take the shot. I wanted to take the shot and I made it.”
William’s shot came one game after she scored a career-high 41 points to help Mississippi State beat Baylor and advance to its first Final Four.
The Bulldogs (34-4) will play South Carolina for the national championship Sunday night in a matchup of two SEC teams.
Mississippi State and UConn met in the Sweet 16 last season and the Huskies won by 60 points — the most-lopsided win in regional semifinals history. All season long the Bulldogs had that humiliating loss on their minds.
Now they’ve erased that defeat, beating UConn (36-1) on the grandest stage in one of the sport’s greatest games.
“I don’t have to play them 100 times. Only have to beat them once,” Mississippi State coach Vic Schaefer said. “That is one heck of a basketball team, the greatest of all-time. But how proud am I of my kids?”
Mississippi State led 64-62 before a replay review gave Katie Lou Samuelson the two free throws that tied the game. After a UConn turnover, William held the ball at the top of the key before dribbling to her right and pulling up for the shot, with the ball in the air when the buzzer sounded.
The Bulldogs ran onto the court, piling up at center court while UConn players stood stone-faced. Schaefer grabbed William in a bear hug, with former Mississippi State star Dak Prescott — the Dallas Cowboys quarterback — helping lead the cheers in a sellout crowd.
Prescott said he’d try to come back Sunday for the title game.
UConn rallied from a 16-point deficit, its biggest during its NCAA record streak, to take a 59-56 lead in the fourth quarter. The teams were tied at 60 when the Bulldogs had a chance to win it in regulation, but William’s shot was blocked by Gabby Williams, sending the game into overtime.
“Maybe we’re just not ready for this. Maybe we were ready for everything else, but maybe we’re just not mature enough for this,” Auriemma said. “Maybe all our young kids needed to experience this so that we can come back and really be ready for this.”
Neither team scored much in OT with Teaira McCowan’s layup with 1:12 left in the extra session breaking a 62-62 tie. It was the lone basket for Mississippi State in OT until William’s game-winner.
During their last two decades of dominance where they’ve won 11 national championships, the Huskies rarely found themselves trailing — let alone by double-digits. This was the first time this season that UConn was losing in the fourth quarter.
The Bulldogs got off to a great start, taking it right at the Huskies like not many teams had done during the streak. The Bulldogs led 15-13 before scoring 14 straight points to go up 29-13. It was the biggest deficit UConn had faced during its historic streak and one of the largest during the last 22 years, which the Huskies have dominated with 11 national championships.
The Huskies rallied to within 29-25 as senior Saniya Chong scored seven points during a 12-0 run. Mississippi State answered and was up 36-28 at the half.
UConn came back in the third quarter behind its trio of All-Americans with Williams, Napheesa Collier and Samuelson keying a 12-3 run to start the second half. That run brought Huskies alums Sue Bird, Breanna Stewart and Maya Moore, who were sitting 20 rows behind the UConn bench, to their feet.
“We had an incredible run, but we came up against a much better team tonight,” Auriemma said.
Streak buster: The loss ended a 28-game NCAA Tournament winning streak for UConn. The last loss came to Notre Dame in 2012 in the Final Four. That was the last OT game in the national semifinals.
USC 62, Stanford 53
DALLAS — South Carolina was able to speed up the tempo after halftime, A’ja Wilson managed a double-double even while almost constantly surrounded by defenders and Dawn Staley finally got a win against Tara VanDerveer.
With all that, the Gamecocks are going to their first national championship after beating Stanford 62-53 Friday night in the women’s national semifinals. The Cardinal led early, but struggled after star Karlie Samuelson sprained her ankle.
“I can’t even put into words the feeling that I have right now. This is a very special team,” said Wilson, who had 13 points and 19 rebounds. “I feel like we’ve earned this spot that we’re in now. We know that we’re not done. But just the feeling of just making history at your school is just something really special.”
Allisha Gray scored 18 points for the Gamecocks (32-4), who lost in the semifinal of their only other Final Four appearance two years ago.
Down 29-20 at halftime, South Carolina went ahead to stay with 13 straight points in the third quarter.
“The second half, I thought we just imposed our will from a defensive standpoint, sped the game up, and got playing at a pace which benefited our style of play,” Staley said.
Stanford (32-6) took a big hit when Samuelson hurt her right ankle with about 4 1/2 minutes before halftime, after the Cardinal had taken an eight-point lead with a 13-1 run.
“Karlie twisting her ankle really kind of gave us a tough time,” VanDerveer said. “She’s really been the glue to our team all year. She talks, she makes big shots. If someone told before the game she won’t score, I’d say we’re in trouble. … Psychologically and physically, it was a challenge.”
Samuelson was injured when she was making a move toward the basket, and stepped on the foot of South Carolina guard Bianca Cuevas-Moore. Samuelson’s right foot then slid onto the floor before twisting awkwardly. The senior guard grabbed near her ankle with both hands after falling down.
Two teammates came off the bench to carry Samuelson off the floor. She returned for the first 73 seconds after halftime, and got back in several times after that without making much of an impact.
“It hurt really bad when it happened,” said Samuelson, who was scoreless in 25 minutes. “I sprained my ankle and we just didn’t get the win.”
The senior guard’s younger sister, Katie Lou, played for UConn in the second semifinal game Friday night in the home of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks. The four-time defending national champion Huskies played Mississippi State.
Erica McCall had 14 points and 14 rebounds for the Cardinal, but made only 7 of 19 shots. Alanna Smith had 14 points and 12 rebounds.
South Carolina went ahead 35-33 when Wilson, with defenders around her like most of the night, found Cuevas-Moore open for a 3-pointer that she hit from right in front her teammates on the bench during that big run.
Stanford missed three shots on its next possession, and South Carolina quickly extended the lead on freshman Tyasha Harris’ one-handed bullet pass to Doniyah Cline, who was open under the basket for a layup.
That was the only assist for Harris, who finished with 10 points.
“She was shocked and amazed just like us,” Harris said of Staley. “We just made history and she’d never done it before.”
STALEY VS TARA: Staley played for VanDerveer on the U.S. women’s team that won the 1996 Olympic gold medal. Staley had been 0-5 as a coach against her. “You’d think at some point the law of averages should play out,” she said, smiling. Staley also made three consecutive Final Four appearances as a player for Virginia from 1990-92. Two of those included semifinal losses to VanDerveer and the Cardinal on way to their only national titles (1990, 1992).
BEING SURROUNDED: “Of course, it was very frustrating. It was very tough to remain tough. But it was something I’ve seen before in the SEC,” Wilson said of all the defenders around her.
BIG PICTURE
Stanford: The Cardinal, who were down by nine points in the fourth quarter, couldn’t pull off another comeback. They had trailed by at least seven points in six games it has come back to win this season. That includes five of their previous six games, all in the Pac-12 and NCAA Tournaments. They were down by 16 points after halftime in the regional final game against Notre Dame.
South Carolina: The victory kept up a big run by the South Carolina basketball teams. The men’s team takes on Gonzaga in the Final Four on Saturday.
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More AP college basketball: http://collegebasketball.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP_Top25
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