This is what it takes to slay a dragon. In the semifinal of the 2017 NCAA tournament, Mississippi State faced about as mighty an opponent as you can imagine. The University of Connecticut women’s basketball team had not lost a tournament game in years. They’d won 111 straight games overall. They’d beaten Mississippi State by 60 — SIXTY!— points in the 2016 tournament, and dealt nothing but drubbings to their 2017 opponents. And this was supposed to be kind of a down year for the Huskies!
But the Bulldogs showed they were ready to avenge that huge loss. Vic Schaefer’s program had built gradually to become a genuine contender, and a breakout star, 5’5 Morgan William, propelled them into the Final Four. With seconds remaining in overtime, William had one more chance to play the hero.
This episode of Rewinder examines the wild events immediately preceding that moment, as well as the very different histories of these two programs.
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