Morgan William  hit the shot that created a roar in Dallas, Texas that might have been heard across the entire country.   Because that shot has changed the face of women’s basketball.    With 5 seconds left in overtime, William drove towards the basket, pulled up near the free throw line, and hit a jumper that gave the Bulldogs a 66-64 victory over the mighty UConn Huskies.

The last time the Huskies lost was in November 17, 2014 – an overtime lost to Stanford.    They had won 33 of their 36 games this year by double digits – which had extended their unbeaten streak to 111 games.

The last time the Huskies played Mississippi State was last year’s Sweet 16, where the Huskies ended their season with a 98-38 pounding.   Mississippi State kept a reminder of that game – they hung the number 60 in their weight room as a reminder.

The Bulldogs jumped out to a 29-13 lead, but the Huskies chipped away at that lead to reduce it to 8 by halftime.   That 8 points was still the largest halftime deficit the Huskies had faced during their 111 game winning streak.  UConn kept chipping away at the lead and took a 3 point lead of their own with 2 1/2 minutes off a Gabby Williams jumper.  But Victoria Vivians, who led the Bulldogs with 19 points, hit a free throw and a big three pointer with a minute left to give MSU a 1 point lead.  Connecticut tied the game at the free throw line, but that gave the Bulldogs a chance to win the game in regulation.   Morgan William drove to the basket to try to win the game but her layup was blocked by Gabby Williams and we headed to overtime.

The Bulldogs had a 64-62 lead late in overtime and looked like they had made a big defensive stop – but a flagrant foul was called away from the ball on Dominique Dillingham who had knocked down Katie Lou Samuelson.   Samuelson hit both free throws to tie the game, and the flagrant foul gave the Huskies the ball.  Saniya Chong drove toward the basket to try to win the game, but Morgan William played great defense and forced Chong to lose the ball out of bounds.

William’s great defense then set the stage, where she pulled up and hit a high-arching jumper over the same person who blocked her shot in regulation, and all the Huskies could do is watch as the ball floated into the basket as the buzzer rang.

You have to give a lot of credit to the UConn Huskies – their streak of 111 wins might not ever be matched again.  But Friday night belonged to the Mississippi State Bulldogs – they have advanced to the Women’s Championship game on Sunday.   There, they will face a re-match of the SEC championship – as South Carolina had made their way to the championship earlier by beating Stanford 62-53.    South Carolina has beaten MSU twice this season (by 10 in the SEC championship and at home in late January by 3).   But after knocking off a team that had won 111 straight, anything is possible for this Mississippi State team.