DALLAS, TX – MARCH 31: Victoria Vivians #35 of the Mississippi State Lady Bulldogs drives against Gabby Williams #15 of the Connecticut Huskies in the first half during the semifinal round of the 2017 NCAA Women’s Final Four at American Airlines Center on March 31, 2017 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images)
NCAABBy Fred Segal on

The Mississippi State women’s basketball team shocked the world Friday night as they upset UConn 64-66 in an overtime thriller at the Women’s Final Four in Dallas.  The loss snapped UConn’s 111-game winning streak and guaranteed that a team besides the Huskies will win the national championship for the first time in five seasons.

The Mississippi State doubters and Husky believers were out in full force Friday night. Let’s review some of the takes…

Given UConn’s dominance during the past four years, it should come as no surprise that the Huskies were the odds on favorite to win this year’s NCAA  Tournament. Many didn’t even give another team a chance to beat UConn this season. For instance, back on February 14, Phiadelphia Daily News columinst John Smallwood wrote this article…

Here’s Smallwood’s lede…

IS THERE ANY practical need to hold the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Tournament this year?

Couldn’t we just save everybody the trips to subregionals and regional finals? And who wants to spend April Fools’ weekend in Dallas anyway?

It’s a little less than a month before “Selection Monday” for the 2017 NCAA women’s tournament, but it’s already been confirmed that 63 of 64 teams won’t matter.

It would be easier to just ship the national championship trophy to the University of Connecticut to reside with the other 11 already in Storrs.

ESPN College Basketball analyst Kara Lawson made it clear that she believed the Huskies winning streak would extend far beyond this season.

Even the twitter feed of the hilarious sports satire site The Sports Pickle took a jab at UConn’s Final Four competition.

When the game began, notwithstanding their heavy underdog status, Mississippi State got off to a hot start and were up by 16 at the beginning of the second quarter. However, the big lead wasn’t enough to convince most people that MSU would win the game…

UConn went on a big run before the end of the second quarter to cut the Bulldog lead to 8 at halftime. At this point, folks were starting to concede the game to UConn, figuring that, in the second half, the Huskies would continue where they left off from the end of the first half.

https://twitter.com/tomloy247/status/848005102464098304

Not even three minutes into the third quarter, UConn had already cut MSU’s lead to 4.  To some, that signified the end of the road for Mississippi State and that UConn was about to take over…

UConn ended up taking the lead at one point, but with just over 20 secods left in the 4th quarter, the game was tied.  If there was one common theme on twitter at this point, it was that MSU needed to win the game in regulation if they were to win at all…

https://twitter.com/alyssalang/status/848021053431578624

Unfortunately (at least so they thought), the game did go to overtime. Some were a tad pessimistic about MSU’s chances…

Morgan William wasn’t having it.  Here’s her game winner…

It was fun while it lasted, UConn.

 

About Fred Segal

Fred Segal, 35, grew up in the Miami, Florida area and currently lives in Coral Springs, Florida, with his wife and two children. He is currently an attorney practicing in West Palm Beach, Florida, at the law firm Broad and Cassel. Fred is a graduate of the University of Florida and is a rabid, borderline unhealthy, supporter of the Florida Gators.

View all posts by Fred Segal