Game 397 - (2) Mississippi State women vs. (1) Connecticut

NCAA Tournament national semifinals
March 31 at American Airlines Center in Dallas, TX
ESPN2

Morgan William!

After some cold water splashed on my face and about 10 minutes of failed leads, that's the best I could come up with for this classic ending.

The Mississippi State guard, all 5-5 (5-3?) of her, hit a pull-up jumper at the overtime buzzer that sent the No. 2 seed to a 66-64 victory over previously-unbeaten Connecticut and into the national championship game.

Not only did Connecticut's bid for five consecutive national championships come to an end, but so did the Huskies' 111-game winning streak. They lost for the first time since November, 2014, while Mississippi State, which will play for its first-ever national title on Sunday, avenged a 60-POINT LOSS TO THE HUSKIES IN LAST YEAR'S SWEET 16.

William followed an absurd, 41-point performance in a win over top seed Baylor in the Elite 8 with the greatest shot in the history of womens college basketball.

Unbelievable.

Connecticut actually had two huge chances to first tie, then win the game themselves at the end of overtime. First, in a two-point game, Mississippi State's Dominique Dillingham was called for a flagrant 1 foul when she hit Katie Lou Samuelson in the throat on a loose ball play with 26.6 left. Terrific commentators Doris Burke and Kara Lawson seemed adamant about it being a flagrant. I wasn't sure. Either way, Samuelson hit two free throws to tie the game at 62-62.

Because of the foul call, Connecticut also kept the ball and should've just held for the final shot, but Saniya Chong inexplicably drove the lane with plenty of time still remaining and threw an air ball out of bounds. The Bulldogs got the ball with 12 seconds to go and after dribbling for a bit at the top of the key, Dillingham handed off to William, who drove to the right elbow and drained the jumper over the out-stretched arm of Gabby Williams.

MSU out-played the defending champions in the first half, stunning basically everyone on the face of the earth by building a nine-point lead after one, as much as a 16-point cushion in the second quarter and eventually taking a 36-28 lead into the halftime locker room.

Not surprisingly, Connecticut fought back and took its first lead of the night (40-39) at the 6:16 mark. The teams were tied at 48-48 after three, then after a back and forth fourth quarter, William actually had her first chance to win the game against Williams, but the Huskies' star, playing with four fouls, blocked a driving lay up with about three seconds to go.

MSU went up 64-62 on a lay-in by Teaira McCowan at the 1:12 mark of overtime. It was one of only three combined field goals made over the final five minutes.

I have a feeling we'll remember No. 3 for a long time.