By Mike Siroky
Moments after UConn assured elimination of another Final Four team, it was Mississippi State’s turn to take on the same threat on Final Four Sunday.
Breathing the rare air of three straight Elite Eights, the best team in the best conference in women’s basketball, the Southeastern, had to get ready for the final elimination challenge and a prize of another Final Four.
Mississippi State had lost twice this season. One was to Oregon, in Oregon. In a revenge tour, they played Oregon in Oregon again, in the Portland Regional final, the second of No 1 vs. No. 2 seeds of this tournament.
The ‘Dawgs start with the All-American center, Teaira McCown. The previous game, she had her 222nd rebound of the NCAA tournaments, the all-time record.
Oregon counters with the power of its forward line, All-American Sabrina Ionescu
She scores 20 per game. Two others average 17.
She can declare for the WNBA draft based on age. She has said out loud she’ s considering it. So the next loss could also be her last college effort.
If either star is subdued, it will be up to the supporting cast . . . or defense.
In the other encounter this season, McCowan scored five.
It is one of three games she did not hit double figures. She was limited by fouls. Ionescu scored 29.
It is her third straight Elite Eight as well. They average 85 points per game and allow 62. State scores 86 and allows 57. Mirrors.
This was the expected Portland No. 1 vs. a No. 2, perhaps the first real elimination challenge. Then again, every Regional had a No. 1 vs. a No. 2. The No. 2s won the first pair.
Oregon (33-4) 88, Mississippi State (33-3) 84
Coach Vic Schaefer told his team in pregame preparation to not look around at an arena favoring the home state opponent.
He told them to be laser-focused on the game itself, to keep their eyes on the prize.
The team with four senior starters could not match the best single player in this game.
They allowed her 11 points over her average.
But every one of the now three seasons, there had been the one team that figured Mississippi State out.
Neither side could establish itself in the first half. The wiggly stat was the Bulldogs always triumphed when ahead at the break and Oregon led by two.
Ionescu scored 15, 3-of-5 3s. Oregon had eight 3s, twice as many as State and that was the difference.
Why go inside when you can sniper them from the outside?
Oregon had yet to shoot a free throw.
Teaira McCowan had 12, 4-of-5 each fields goals and free throws. She had doubled for the 31st time this season, with 10 rebounds. Senior Anriel Howard had nine points.
So each side had a defensive adjustment to make. The offenses were playing to speed.
The Ducks stretched the lead to six but the ‘Dawgs pulled them back in.
Senior Jordan Danberry emerged with 10 points. Senior Jazzmun Holmes had eight assists. Every Mississippi State player was filling a role.
Ionescu only added one basket.
State needed rebounds from Howard. State pulled ahead by one with two and a half minutes left.
Punch and counter-punch.
It was appropriately 59-all with 10 minutes left in several careers.
McCowan had picked up three fouls. Ionescu had none.
Each side had three in double figures. One coach was mentally preparing the “I’m proud” speech for post-game.
Did the fact Oregon had been to this point and lost for the two previous seasons fuel them? Did the confidence of Mississippi State fuel them?
Howard grabbed two rebounds, hit two free throws and got a steal Ionescu stole it right back.
Mississippi State could not stop her.
Reserve Breamber Scott hit a 3 for Mississippi State.
Oregon got the next two rebounds.
Holmes hit a jumper and a free throw.
It was 70-69 with five minutes left. State was seven points past the usual Oregon allowed. The Ducks were 13 ahead of the usual ‘Dawg defense.
Oregon pushed the lead to five with four to go as Ionescu scored off a rebound. State was not showing a wall of defense.
McCowan missed a layup inside of two minutes, remaining three back.
With a minute to go, Holmes missed a layup.
Ionescu hit a 3.
State needed a 6-0 finish to continue.
McCowan missed another layup. She was done scoring. State had muffed all of its chances.
Oregon was dancing on the sideline.
Had Schaefer been outcoached?
The answer favors the winning team.
He will not be the consensus National Coach of the Year.
Scott, the emerging leader for next season, made a layup.
Oregon hit its 13th 3, more than twice as many as Mississippi State at that point.
Holmes sped into a layup. But the deficit was five with 26 seconds left.
State fouled four times to force a free throw.
Oregon hit both.
The seven-point edge looked gaudy.
Audra Espinoza Hunter, too little too late, hit a 3.
Of course, they fouled Ionescu.
Of course she hit two, for 31 total points, five 3s. Another Espinoza Hunter 3 was irrelevant after the inside game collapsed.
This is why McCowan will not be National Player of the Year, even if she is the top draft pick in the WNBA.
Careers laid shattered so far from home.
Oregon gladly takes the cross-country trip to its destiny.
State only lost three times, but twice to the Ducks. Each side Has 33 wins. Oregon outscored the defensive State average by 33.
McCowan scored but 19, with 15 rebounds and the NCAA tournament record 237 rebounds. She scored seven in the second half. Howard scored 18, Holmes 15, Danberry 12.
This game was never about offense.
They allowed Oregon to hit 52 percent from the field and gave them 14 free throw chances in the second half.
They could not contest the rainbows.
Oregon surpassed the average points allowed by 31.
Schaefer had the long walk to the locker room with the wrong color confetti trailing him once again.
He started with the “proud” statement.
.
“For us, man, I just can’t be prouder of my team today,” he said. “You talk about competitive, tough.
“ I just thought my team just fought tooth and nail today in a really hostile environment. Credit to the community, for the people that came out supporting women’s basketball. A great crowd out there today. It’s great for our game.
“My team was just phenomenal. I mean, I couldn’t be prouder of them for how hard they played, how hard they fought against a really good team. I’ve watched a ton of film.
“ I’ve not seen them make that many 3s in a while. They made shots today. When you make shots in a big game like that, you got to tip your hat to them.
“For us, really thankful for Anriel and Jordan, who transferred to us. Could have gone anywhere.
“Believed in our program. Wanted to be a part of it. Trusted us. Their families entrusted us with them.
“Of course, Jazz and T have been with us, along with Zion, all four years. Jazzmun 13 assists, no turnovers today, 13 points.
“It’s what she’s doing now. I mean, she has just continued to develop and develop and develop. I’ve never seen a point guard in four years develop as much as she has.
“Of course, Teaira, I can say the same thing about her. I told her when I walked in there, four years ago up in Connecticut, we got beat in the Sweet 16.
“That’s the last time we’ve ever come in from a post-season and not be headed to the Final Four. That was not a good day.
“But I walked in that day, Teaira McCowan might have been the only one that competed that day when we got beat by UConn.
“To see her growth and development over the past four years, even into today, I mean, you can see it. I see it. Man, she’s going to be an unbelievable pro and have a tremendous career. I’m just so proud of her.
“She made this whole team, all four of them, they’ve impacted my life in an unbelievable way. Made me a better coach, husband, better father. I’m just so thankful for them.
“When Jordan came to us, just how humble she was. She was a McDonald’s All-American coming out of high school.
“She just wanted to be somewhere, she said, I just want to be part of a team and a family. Nothing about minutes. Nothing about starting. Just want to be part of a family.
“Anriel, very similar. But wanted to win championships. ‘Coach, I’ve never won a championship. I want to win championships. I want you to develop my game, help get me to where I want to go to.’
“For us, my staff, that team in there is hurting. I am just really proud of them. I told them, they’ve impacted a community and a university unlike anything I’ve ever seen.
“We could all go through life and not have the opportunity nor the impact that these kids have had on a place like Mississippi State. It is a very special place. The impact that these kids have had, like I said, it’s unlike anything I’ve seen.
"Yeah, I mean, 13 out of 26 from the three-point line. You turn those into twos, you know, you win the game. We were trying. We made notes at halftime. They made eight, I think, at half. We knocked that down to five in the second half.
“First thing that jumps off is (Holmes) 13 assists, no turnovers in an Elite 8 game. I’m never getting off my soapbox about that kid. What an injustice to have an award and she’s not one of the top five in the country. That’s a joke.
“They shot it really well. I don’t know that I’ve ever been in a game where we turned it over six times and we didn’t win. I’ve never had that happen in 34 years in coaching. But we only forced them into eight.
“I got six kids that shot 47 percent or better. But, you know, at the end of the day, y’all, it’s on me because we got to guard better. Obviously I didn’t have them in the right position to do that. I pride myself on being a pretty good defensive coach. I gave up 88 points tonight. You’re not supposed to win those, quite frankly.
“I’m disappointed in myself that it didn’t happen for us. I’ll go back, I’ll watch the film, and I’ll get better.
“I’ll learn. But these kids, they did everything they could do. I mean, I couldn’t be prouder of them. They fought their guts out today in a really difficult arena against a really good team.
“The game seemed to be called differently in the third quarter.
“I don’t know. Obviously it was one quarter. In the fourth quarter, we had four fouls before we got into the bonus with 50-some seconds left.
“I don’t know. I’m all into the game, so at that moment I’m just trying to coach my kids. That was part of my notes, in our first game, we got into a little bit of a foul situation with them.
“That was part of my message today. I read them part of my notes going into the game. One of them was, Hey, got to play harder defensively, got to do a better job in help, and we got to clean it up, we got to be clean.
“I’m going to be clean, and I’m done.
“ We can talk all we want about home-court advantage, but we’re not on the floor making decisions.
Was there anything you can remember about the game that you feel might have gone a different way if this were a true neutral site?
“You know, I just think -- I know where our game is, to answer your question. I get it. It was a great environment. Our kids, we’ve been in that environment a bunch.
“ We played on the road in the Southeastern Conference. I just thought a great environment. I was proud to be a coach in that game today, be a part of an industry, women’s basketball.
“Here is the thing. We probably could have played it somewhere else and been on a completely neutral floor and played in front of a thousand people. Do we want that or do we want to play in that environment today?
“You know what, I liked playing out there today. I think my kids liked playing out there today. It was a great environment.
“You know what, I have no clue what the outcome would have been playing in front of a thousand. But I know what it was today.
“ And again, I’m aware of that. That’s my responsibility, I’m the head coach.
“My kids fought their guts out. I could not be prouder of a team to play the way they played today.
“ We talked about it (the 3s) at halftime. We got to chase them off the line. So you start chasing them off the line, now you take your help out of there on the roll, on the pick-n-roll stuff.
“So, again, I think Sabrina made some really tough shots tonight. Obviously she’s a heck of a player. But I thought she made some really tough shots at the shot clock. That’s what great players do. They’re going to make shots when your team needs it. I thought she was really, really hard to guard.
“I’m just telling you, we got two pretty good defensive players, by the way, at Mississippi State. They guard. They did a heck of a job, did the best they could.
Sometimes you got to pat them on the back and move to the other end, say, ‘Hey, great shot.’ I think that’s where you were today.
“That kid made some great shots today. When they make shots like that, y’all, and we were very similar to that way last year with our four shooters around the perimeter, T inside, we were hard to guard.
“ They’re hard to guard when you do that.
“Again, I watched I can’t tell you how many films. They’ve been a little bit -- haven’t shot it as well lately, up until today.
“I know y’all haven’t seen us a lot up here, but we really pride ourselves on ball pressure, denying one pass away, not letting somebody run their pretty offense, making one-handed passes, things like that.
“I don’t think that we did that a lot today. But they’re really good. They’re really good. When you’re involved in pick-n-roll all night long, I mean, you really got to do a good job. It’s not just the two people.
“When we work on pick-n-roll defense, it’s not a two-man game. You got three people in help. That’s what people don’t get.
“I go to clinics, they’re talking about pick-n-roll, you want to jam them, you want to ice them, you want to edge. When I work on pick-n-roll defense, I’m working on my help, too. It’s not just two people.
“You got to have a third person locked in and running help, locked in on that roll and locked in on your shooter.
“Again, give them credit. They’re really good at what they do. They made shots. We contested a bunch of ‘em.
“ Some of ’em not so much, but we were high end on a lot of ’em. Sabrina made a couple of them, I don’t know how she got it off. They ain’t touching anything, so you pat them on the back, move to the other end because they made a tough shot.
“ I mean, we scored 84 points. If I’d have known that coming into tonight, I’d have said, ‘I’ll take it.’ I think our offense was adequate tonight. We just didn’t guard.
“That’s what I walk out of here -- again as a defensive coach, I’ll kick myself still I’m standing back up here a year from now.
“T got some good looks. She got 10 shots off. She was seven out of eight at the free-throw line. When you’re doubled and tripled and they’re laying on you, where you can’t literally move, and when you do, it could possibly be an offensive foul, that’s difficult.
“Then you got to play through her. That’s where the kid has grown and matured so much. We play through her a lot.
“She had two assists. Just did a good job. We missed some shots where she passed it to us first half. I think we got it to her quite a bit. She finished a lot. Again, you’re right, it’s hard down there when you got a campfire built around you.”
“Going back to Anriel. I’ve been doing this 34 years y’all. Every day, smile. Every day, motor is 120 percent. Every day, competing. What she brought to our program . . could have gone anywhere in the country.
“She’s a great kid. Her mom, her family have done an unbelievable job with her. Just an unbelievable competitor. She’s not done playing, trust me.
“What she brings, the energy and the effort she brings, y’all, I promise y’all never seen anything like it on a consistent basis every day.
“Again, she came to a place where she was a great rebounder. She came to a place that had the best rebounder in the country, who has the best rebounder in the history of the NCAA tournament.
“That’s the confidence that this kid has. That’s the giver that she is. She knew that number may suffer, that’s not about me. Let me see if I can help her with those numbers and see if we can win a championship together.
“That’s what needs to be said about Anriel Howard. She is a tremendous young lady and an unbelievable competitor. I mean, motor is off the chart.”
“We’ll move on. We know what that feels like. We’ll go back to work.”
“We just knew they were going to sag on T.”
Holmes said “Whenever I got an open look, I took it. Coach told me, ‘Whenever you get the open look, take it,’ so I did.
“Same as what Jazz said,” Danberry said. “We just knew we had to knock down those shots, play through Teaira, just make ‘em.”
McCowan said, “A loss is a loss, you know. It doesn’t feel good. But I’m proud of my team, my coaching staff we got this far. We had a great season. Nothing to hang our heads on. Yeah, it hurts, but we’ll be OK.”
Howard said, “I believe that the first game they hurt us a lot on the pick-n-roll. I think that we adjusted, we did good. We defended the pick-n-roll much better this time. They found another option, which were the open shooters, and they were knocking down shots.”
“ I mean, it’s not easy. We lost both times. But I do think that we played harder the second time.
“ The first time was on their court. They had that advantage. But this time they still had a lot of their fans here.
“Like coach said, they shot the ball great. They had great ball movement. Whenever we took away one thing, they were kicking out to shooters. They weren’t recovering. That was the challenge. We didn’t guard the line.
Howard said, “Everything that coach said is all accurate. I came here to win championships. I got two. It’s a wonderful feeling. I never had a championship in basketball, not at any level.
“Just to be able to get a feeling of that with these group of girls and this coaching staff and the community and the fans, all of that, is something that is indescribable.
“It’s definitely a blessing. I’m just really grateful for the opportunity that the coaches gave me and the girls for welcoming me and the community, like I said. It’s just been awesome.
“I just want to say thank you to everybody. So thank you.”
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