TOP 25 WOMEN
NO. 5 MISSISSIPPI STATE 68, NO. 14 SOUTH CAROLINA 64
COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Mississippi State Coach Vic Schaefer couldn't have been more ready to face South Carolina, and he showed his passion when his players needed it.
Schaefer loudly protested a third-quarter foul on Bulldogs guard Andra Espinoza-Hunter, coming up the court and drawing a technical with his team trailing 39-34.
"I had had enough," Schaefer said he recalled thinking. "I'm ready to fight. Who's in with me?"
Mississippi State's players showed they shared Schaefer's fire. Teaira McCowan had 18 points and 17 rebounds to help the fifth-ranked Bulldogs rally from 10 points down and hold on through a wild finish to defeat No. 14 South Carolina 68-64 and win the SEC title on Sunday.
The Bulldogs (27-2, 15-1 SEC) were up 11 points with under seven minutes left before the Gamecocks rallied to 66-64 on Tyasha Harris' steal and breakaway layup with 42.7 seconds to go. But it was Mississippi State that made the big plays after that.
Anriel Howard got the rebound after teammate Jordan Danberry missed two free throws on the next possession. Danberry got the board when Espinoza-Hunter missed a short jumper with 10 seconds left.
And the 6-foot-7 McCowan picked up Danberry's missed foul shot with 2 seconds to go to secure the win for Mississippi State.
McCowan was not much of a factor in the first two quarters with just four points and two fouls. Schaefer put her back in right before the half.
"He told me to be smart and do what an All-American does," she said.
McCowan responded with her 24th double-double this season. She finished with 44 points and 41 rebounds in Mississippi State's regular-season sweep of the Gamecocks (21-8, 14-2).
The Bulldogs had wrapped up the No. 1 seed for next week's league tournament with Kentucky's victory over Georgia.
South Carolina led 39-32 at halftime, holding Mississippi State to its lowest-scoring first half this season.
In other Top 25 women's games Sunday, Asia Durr scored 17 points, and No. 3 Louisville beat Pittsburgh 67-40 to claim a share of the Atlantic Coast Conference title for the second consecutive season. ... Jackie Young had 22 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds, leading No. 4 Notre Dame to its sixth consecutive victory, this one over Virginia 103-66. ... Sabrina Ionescu scored 12 of her 19 points in the fourth quarter as No. 6 Oregon beat No. 21 Arizona State 66-59 and earned a second consecutive Pac-12 championship. ... Dijonai Carrington had 19 points and eight rebounds, leading No. 7 Stanford over Washington 72-53. ... Mikayla Pivec had 21 points and 14 rebounds, and No. 9 Oregon State outlasted Arizona 65-60 in 2 OTs to close out the regular season. ... Senior DD Rogers scored a career-high 21 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, helping No. 10 North Carolina State to a 70-68 victory over No. 15 Miami. ... Tatyana Wyatt scored 17 points and Rhyne Howard and Jaida Roper hit clutch three-pointers down the stretch to help No. 11 Kentucky beat Georgia 58-53. ... No. 12 Iowa's Megan Gustafson had 34 points and 12 rebounds for her 82nd career double-double in her final regular-season home game as the Hawkeyes beat Northwestern 74-50. ... Selena Lott scored 19 points, Isabelle Spingola had 17 and No. 13 Marquette beat Providence 80-57 to win the outright Big East regular-season championship. ... Tiana Mangakahia had 27 points, 8 assists and 7 rebounds, sending No. 17 Syracuse to a 76-59 road win over Boston College in its regular-season finale. ... Kiah Gillespie had 12 points and 13 rebounds, and No. 22 Florida State used a balanced attack to pull away from Georgia Tech 64-55 for the road win. ... Sara Rhine scored 19 points, and No. 23 Drake beat Missouri State 70-61 to take over sole possession of first place in the Missouri Valley Conference. ... Michaela Onyenwere scored 18 points to lead No. 25 UCLA to an 84-50 runaway win over Colorado.
Sports on 03/04/2019