The winning shot for Mississippi State was a 15-foot jumper at the buzzer by the smallest player on the court, the 5-foot-5-inch point guard Morgan William. With 26.6 seconds left in overtime, UConn had tied the game at 64-64 on a pair of free throws by Katie Lou Samuelson after a flagrant foul for elbowing was called on Mississippi State’s Dominique Dillingham.This is not an April Fool's thing:
UConn kept possession but fumbled a chance to win when Saniya Chong became rushed and put up an awkward shot with 12.3 seconds remaining, trying to draw a foul. Instead, she turned the ball over.
Mississippi State called a timeout, and in its huddle Coach Vic Schaefer looked at William and said, “Mo, you’re about to win the game.”
It happened. It really happened.
— ESPN (@espn) April 1, 2017
The buzzer-beater that ended an epic streak and sent Mississippi St. to the natty: pic.twitter.com/ZXIxGQrC3b
Posts
60 comments:
Great balance, great shot from a shorter player. Meanwhile the 7 footers cannot hit their foul shots.
S.J. says...
Zags win I win!
At 5' 5" she's used to shooting over taller players. Did you see the arch she put on that shot?
Oh, no. My friend Tricia must be so bummed. She's the only person that I know who cares...
Good thing they play with a smaller ball. (Sorry, could not resist the snark)
Fantastic! Gives me goosebumps, especially as a fellow short person.
Mississippi State defeated the undefeatable!
I am a UCONN fan from the beginning, and my hats off to Miss and Ms. Williams. She had a great game, and they deserved the win!! UConn was a great team, but they were never expected to do as well as they did THIS year, and did a great job making it as far as they did. Good luck to both teams left...neither of which have ever been in the finals before!!
Big Mike, Exactly. She reminds me of a female Mugsy Bogues. I lived in KC when Tiny Archibald played for the Kings and saw him play many times in person. Tickets were cheap and plentiful! Tiny had a high arch shot but he was about 10 inches taller than Mugsy. Hell, Mugsy was 2 inches shorter than this young woman! The man was 5'3"!!
Mugsy is still alive. I have a tense problem!
"Barely more than a calendar year ago, UConn had dominated Mississippi State 98-38 in the Sweet 16, the biggest margin ever at the regional level in the women's tournament. The 60-point loss had become a motivating factor for Mississippi State, with the number plastered in the team's weight room for offseason motivation."
There is no need to win a basketball game by more that thirty points, except if you feel the unbearable desire to spit in the eye of the karma god.
Earnest, I grew up in CT. The arrogance and classless running up scores starts w/ their coach. He is tolerated, not loved, by many UConn fans.
Watching about 3.1 seconds of any women's basketball game is just about right for me. I think all of their games should last a total of five seconds. It it's a tie after that, then sudden death overtime.
I'm sure they will all have a great career in the WNBA, if anyone cares.
She'll always have that. As to girl's basketball, here is some perspective for you, the average middle school boy's teams could beat a college girl's basketball team.
Kudos to Mississippi State! Great win.
Now...go Zags and go Ducks.
"ndspinelli said...
Earnest, I grew up in CT. The arrogance and classless running up scores starts w/ their coach. He is tolerated, not loved, by many UConn fans."
I've never watched a UConn game, so if I may ask someone who appears to have: Does the coach leave the starters in for too long, or do the bench players come in when the outcome is settled and just keep on running up the score? Are they pressing the whole game, or do they press at all?
Nice move, nice shot, poor defense.
UConn beat them by 60 last year. That is sweet revenge.
Future Sarah Palins!
Don't quit, don't quit, don't quit.
Barracuda!
The thread in which I agree with so called Chuck.
What Michael K said.
While MSU's win is noteworthy, so is the paint that is drying on the wall opposite me.
@wendybar That was a painful game to watch last night, but it had to happen sooner or later. Here's Geno on the loss. Classy guy. Miss.State deserved to win because they played great D and gat the UConn girls out of their game. As Geno said this is real life.
@Wilbur UConn substitutes when they have a big lead. They do not intentionally run up the score. What happens is that everyone on the team plays hard for four quarters and plays good defense making it hard for the other team to play catch up. Many opposing teams give up thus the score differentials. In the tournament UCLA never gave up. They played hard all four quarters regardless of the score and only lost by i5. MSU never gave up and they won.
I doubt that there are many in CT who complain about Geno Auriemma and the way he runs the UConn program.. He is a great coach and he produces great graduates. John Calipari probably has never had anyone graduate from a school where he coached - a problem typical of the men's game.
For those of you who disparage women's BB. It's a different game from the men's. Admittedly it has nowhere near the athleticism of the men, neither does it have the poor defense, hot dogging and bad attitude that you see in a lot of men's programs. I lettered in three varsity sports in college so I am pretty conversant with men's athletics. I will not watch men's BB - ever - but I am huge fan of UConn women's BB because they are well coached, they appear to be a good bunch of kids, and oh BTW they actually go to class. (I do think that, after I stop grieving, I will think last night's game was great for women's BB.)
@dreams Where do you get your data on boy's middle school teams? I would be very interested in your analysis.
This is great news for women's basketball. While dynasties are impressive in their own terms, for the game to grow you need to see different teams win championships once in a while. The men's game improved and gained popularity once UCLA's domination ended.
Blogger khesanh0802 said..."@Wilbur UConn substitutes when they have a big lead. They do not intentionally run up the score. What happens is that everyone on the team plays hard for four quarters and plays good defense making it hard for the other team to play catch up."
They could miss baskets on purpose (I guess).
Big Mike said... [hush][hide comment]
At 5' 5" she's used to shooting over taller players. Did you see the arch she put on that shot?
Helium
If the subs come in, I would expect them to play as hard and as well as they can until the end of the game. If they widen the lead, it's the opponent's problem.
a flagrant foul for elbowing was called on Mississippi State’s Dominique Dillingham.
Admittedly, I have not seen the video on this.
But I have seen basketball officiating before. And so I would have my doubts about the call.
With the big dynasty teams and with superstar players, they have two distinct advantages over the competition -- (1) their own legitimate talent, (2) the refs tend to help them out with the calls.
So am I supposed to put in the obligatory claim that the Russians hacked the game, given there is no other possible explanation for red state Mississippi beating blue state Connecticut?
Congratulations to Mississippi State.
If all you do is win it starts to get boring. Remember John Wooden's UCLA teams back in 60's? Or North Carolina womens soccer for a very long time? Good sport is about good competition, at least from the spectator's point of view.
Static Ping beats me to it!!
How long until women's college basketball is dominated by male to female transgenders?
"But I have seen basketball officiating before. And so I would have my doubts about the call."
I do watch Wisconsin basketball games because, well, they're Wisconsin, but I have a hard time getting excited about basketball specifically because of the officiating. This is not meant to be a slam on the refs; I'm sure they are doing the best they can, but I have seen so many bad calls it would be demoralizing if I allowed myself to care. Aparently, officiating this fast moving game is not possible.
"For those of you who disparage women's BB. It's a different game from the men's."
Yeah, we disparage it, because its 2nd rate. They say, white man can't jump, well women - even the black ones - REALLY can't jump. Look at the clip, the centers couldn't jump over an envelope.
Throw in the fact, they are slow, and don't shoot the ball that well, there's no reason to watch it.
Would would most basketball fans watch a NCAA Women's BB team that would lose to a good Men's High school team? And if I was to start a men's professional league made up of 5/6 guards and gawky 6/5 centers that couldn't jump or make a free throw, no one would watch. But people will watch bad BB because the players have vaginas.
The WNBA audience seems to be made up of 4 groups: Lesbians, white knights, Feminist Men, and sports geeks who'll watch anything.
Thanks for sharing this. Otherwise, I would never have wasted the 7 seconds.
Emil Blatz said...
Thanks for sharing this. Otherwise, I would never have wasted the 7 seconds.
Your little-picture-guy looks a lot like Morgan, William, so you might be related.
I love the confidence instilled by Coach Schaefer.
@mark You should look at the video. In hockey it would have been a 5 minute major. I don't think there was evil intent on Dillingham's part but she did elbow Samuelson in the throat. The rules are very clear about that. By and large the refs did a good job in that game. Very little for either side to complain about. The flagrant foul was indeed flagrant and the refs got it right.
@rcocean I am surprised some of our women commenters haven't called a foul on you. You don't like women's BB. That's okay. It isn't men's BB. However the girls work just as hard as the guys, they seem to enjoy it as much as the guys and they don't pretend to be men's players. Serena Williams would probably lose to most ranked men's players, but that doesn't mean we should denigrate her abilities or accomplishments just because she has a vagina.
The happiest man on the court seemed to be UConn's coach. He was smiling ear-to-ear - apparently thrilled by his team's loss. Yes Mam, a real piece of work, if you ask me.
@David Baker Geno was smiling because as Morgan Williams was taking that shot he said to himself "Of course that shot's going in". Geno is neither irony impaired nor unappreciative of the other teams' players.
Geno has been predicting that his immature team would arrive at a game where their immaturity proved their undoing and last night was the night. If you look at the post game interview I linked above you will get a much fuller explanation. Geno is a great BB coach, and like John Wooden he is an excellent builder of character. To paraphrase what he told his team: they were experiencing what other teams had been experiencing playing UConn for 111 games and that this was a lesson in real life that they will benefit from.
"Serena Williams would probably lose to most ranked men's players, but that doesn't mean we should denigrate her abilities or accomplishments just because she has a vagina."
I don't denigrate women's basketball. It's a different game and has merits on its own. And I read NOTHING above to say the negatives were because the players have a vagina. That's the kind of "SHUT UP because" crap that drives me crazy.
Women's basketball is a different game. As noted, slower, WAY less athletic and, to me much less interesting. Watch the crowd reaction to a major slam where the player gets his elbows above the rim in men's BB. The crowd goes wild. In women's BB it's news when someone can even perform what can be called a routine dunk.
That doesn't mean the women try less or they are not top level athletes for their gender. Nor does it mean coaching is poor or the skill levels are mediocre.
But I don't watch women's BB on TV. Just like I would not watch high school boys BB on TV if it were broadcast where I live.
The UConn losing after 111 wins with a buzzer beater would be one of the top sports stories of the year...... except it isn't. Because most sports fans don't really care.
FWIW I love college football. Had a nephew that played DII. I went to his games when I could. Don't watch DII playoffs on TV, not even because they have testicles.
>>Women's basketball is a different game. As noted, slower, WAY less athletic
Easy there... some might assume you are saying there are differences between the sexes. That's crimethink, of course.
@JAORE Here is rcocean's comment to which my Serena Williams response. Note the last word in the last sentence.
"Would would most basketball fans watch a NCAA Women's BB team that would lose to a good Men's High school team? And if I was to start a men's professional league made up of 5/6 guards and gawky 6/5 centers that couldn't jump or make a free throw, no one would watch. But people will watch bad BB because the players have vaginas."
Natty-headed women?
Basketball players on the floor know when a foul was committed and know when a violation (double-dribble, traveling) occurs. Everyone near the play knows. The officials know it, too.
The NCAA officials have impressed me this year. They make the NBA officials seem like potted plants.
How 'bout them Zags?? :-)
Regarding the running up the score. I coached baseball for 30 years. There are things you do in baseball to allow the defeated team to save face. I'll give some examples if anyone asks. Saint Geno doesn't do the little things like telling his substitute players to use the entire shot clock. Listen, athletes don't like it when you put the brakes on them. I understand that. But Geno is an arrogant prick who likes to run it up. Sometimes it's tough, but if you have class you make it happen. And, if you have class your team will as well.
Finally, to mention Geno in the same breath as Wooden shows total ignorance. Geno couldn't shine Wooden's shoes.
" But people will watch bad BB because the players have vaginas."
I stand corrected.
(Although technically he didn't say they play badly because they have vaginas, or that people won't watch them because they have vaginas. He said people watch them, despite the bad play, because they have vaginas.)
I think the comparisons between Serena Williams and Women's BB are misplaced.
Yes, its true that Serena probably couldn't beat the 200th best man on the Tennis tour. But she could probably beat the 500th best. The same is true of the LPGA. The best LPGA player couldn't make a living on the tour, but she's still better than the 500th best male golfer.
OTOH, a good men's High BB team could beat a WNBA team. And there are probably 5,000 men in the USA who could beat a WNBA all-star in a game of one-on-one. For example, everyone on my mediocre white boys High school BB team could dunk. Even our 5 11 guard. How many in the WNBA could?
There's that much difference. If anyone, wants to watch inferior basketball because the players have a vagina, well God Bless you, but lets not pretend its equal in quality to the mens game. Its not, because BB was a game invented by a man for boys and it favors men. It favors people who are tall, strong, fast, and can jump. And also shoot the ball.
I always find it humorous that the people who really seem to care about women's team sports - like BB, soccer, hockey - aren't women, they're men.
Most women don't care about watching sports, and those that do, usually favor men's sports or women's individual sports like Gymnastics, swimming, figure skating, tennis, etc.
I wonder how many Women basketball players ended up playing because their Dads were frustrated "Stage mothers" living through their daughters.
UConn substitutes when they have a big lead. They do not intentionally run up the score.
Karma god says you're as clueless as the UConn coach.
Room for all.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJLY9-RCQMU
Girls basketball stinks. Neither of these teams could beat a goo high school boys team.
We learned last night that she's actually only five foot two and a half.
We learned on Sunday that she's just five two and a half.
As to girl's basketball, here is some perspective for you, the average middle school boy's teams could beat a college girl's basketball team.
Last year's UConn team would beat the McDonald's high school all-star team.
Post a Comment