For the first time in 865 days the Connecticut Huskies lost. UConn, who had won 111 straight games in that period, fell to Mississippi State 66-64 in overtime at the Final Four.
The Bulldogs claimed the victory on Morgan William’s buzzer-beating jumper in overtime.

“I live for moments like this,” said William, who scored 13 points, according to ESPN.com. “UConn, they’re an incredible team. For me to make that shot against them, it’s unbelievable. I’m still in shock right now. I wanted to take the shot. I wanted to take the shot and I made it.”
The game was a dramatic see-saw as the Bulldogs would jump out in front only for the Huskies to storm right back. Mississippi State led by nine after the first quarter. The Bulldogs’ largest lead was 16 points early in the second quarter, which was Connecticut’s largest deficit during the winning streak. UConn pulled within four only to see the lead jump back up to eight at halftime.
Connecticut scored 12 of the first 15 points of the second half to take the lead. The two teams then went back and forth the rest of the night.
The overtime period was low-scoring as Mississippi State outscored Connecticut 6-4. Prior to William’s game-winner, UConn evened the score at 64 on two free throws on a flagrant foul call with 26.6 seconds remaining. The Huskies then turned the ball over, which gave the Bulldogs the opportunity they needed to complete the upset.
“When stuff like this happens, it kind of makes me shake my head and go, `You know how many times this could have happened and it didn’t happen?’” UConn head coach Geno Auriemma said, according to ESPN.com. “The fact that it never happened, that doesn’t mean I went home thinking it’s never going to happen. I knew this was coming at some point. I’m just shocked that it took this long to get here.”
Gabby Williams led the way for UConn with 21 points.
UConn and Mississippi State faced each other in the 2016 tournament in the Sweet 16 – a game that the Huskies won 98-38. Connecticut’s last loss prior to Mississippi State was to Stanford in November 2014.
Stanford was in the other national semifinal and suffered a fate similar to UConn. The Cardinal lost to South Carolina 62-53.
The Cardinal took a nine point lead into halftime behind a second quarter in which it outscored South Carolina 17-6. The Gamecocks turned the table in the third quarter by outscoring the Cardinal 21-8.
Stanford’s struggles coincided with star Karlie Samuelson twisting her ankle late in the second quarter.
South Carolina was led by A’ja Wilson, who had a double-double with 13 points and 19 rebounds, and Allisha Gray, who scored 18 points.
“I can’t even put into words the feeling that I have right now,” Wilson said, according to ESPN.com. “This is a very special team. I feel like we’ve earned this spot that we’re in now. We know that we’re not done. But just the feeling of just making history at your school is just something really special.”
This victory marks the first time Dawn Staley defeated Tara VanDerveer. Staley had been 0-5 against the legendary Stanford coach.
Looking ahead:
For the first time since 2012 the national champion will not be Connecticut. The Huskies have won the last four titles.
The championship game pits South Carolina against Mississippi State in an all-SEC tilt. This game marks the first title game appearance for either program.
The two teams met twice during the season. South Carolina won 64-61 on Jan. 23 and won 59-49 in the SEC championship game on March 5.
The Gamecocks and Bulldogs will square off Sunday at 6 p.m. with the national title on the line.