COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Teaira McCowan had 21 points and 25 rebounds to help Mississippi State reach the national championship game for the second straight year with a 73-63 overtime win over Louisville on Friday night.
Down three points, Roshunda Johnson hit a 3-pointer from the wing to tie the game at 59 with seven seconds left in regulation. Louisville’s Myisha Hines-Allen then drove the length of the floor but missed a layup as time ran out with McCowan dogging her.
In overtime, the Bulldogs asserted themselves and Morgan William, who hit the game-winning shot in OT last year in the Final Four to end UConn’s 111-game winning streak, made two free throws in the last minute to help Mississippi State (37-1) pull away.
Louisville (36-3) managed just one basket on 10 shots in the extra period.
McCowan broke the rebounding mark set by Charlotte Smith of North Carolina in 1994 when Mississippi State’s 6-foot-7 center grabbed her 24th board.
Asia Durr scored 18 for Louisville (36-3), which was making its third appearance in the Final Four. Jazmine Jones added 15.
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