COLUMBUS, Ohio — Accountability is a tenet of the Mississippi State women’s basketball program.
Vic Schaefer hasn’t had to accept responsibility for not getting his team to the finish line on the past two seasons, but the sixth-year head coach willingly accepted that burden Sunday night after Arike Ogunbowale’s 3-pointer with 0.1 seconds remaining lifted Notre Dame to a 61-58 victory against MSU before a crowd of 19,599 at Nationwide Arena.
“You’re up five with 1:40, it’s my job to get them home, and I didn’t get them home,” Schaefer said. “It’s always been my philosophy up four, down four, as a head coach it’s my job to get them home inside of four minutes. I didn’t get them home today. I’ll wear that maybe for the rest of my career.”
Blair Schaefer said Saturday one of the whys behind her motivation to help MSU win its first national title was to help her father realize that goal. She challenged the head coach’s comment with one of her own after a member of the media noticed she was shaking her head when her father made his comment.
“He said it was his fault because he didn’t get us home, but at the end of the day, we have to go out and execute,” Blair Schaefer said. “But he’s always been accountable, and he always takes everything on his shoulders. I think one time we need to accept that we didn’t make that one more. But I’m just proud of him for getting us back here and being able to experience this with him has been really special.
“I don’t think it should be his fault, and I don’t think anyone should think it’s his fault, either.”
When asked in the locker room to expand on the thoughts behind that comment, Blair Schaefer said, “I just felt like something in me I needed to say it because he always takes credit for everything, no matter if it is his fault or not. At the end of the day, he can’t go play for us, so I feel like people need to know it wasn’t his fault. He is a great coach. He has won three (national) coach of the year awards this year. It is not like he doesn’t know what to do in moments like that. I just felt like I needed to say that so everyone could hear.”
Missed opportunities
Even thought MSU had a 30-17 halftime lead, the margin could have been a lot larger.
The Bulldogs missed their first six shots of the second quarter when the Fighting Irish were struggling through a 1-for-9 frame. The three points were the fewest in a Final Four game in NCAA tournament history.
Notre Dame’s 17 points in the first half was the second-fewest total in a national title game. The fewest is 12 by Connecticut against Stanford in the 2010 championship game.
MSU had more chances in the quarter, but a shot clock violation and another turnover later at the end of the frame robbed the Bulldogs of opportunities.
“It is definitely hard to look at because you go back and look throughout the game and see our turnovers and our missed shots or the shots we didn’t block out and they got the putback,” MSU senior guard Blair Schaefer said. “It is just little things like that you think of when you lose a game like this because essentially that is what it comes down to, that one more play, or what if we would have boxed out or done this or that. It is just tough, but Notre Dame is a great team, so we knew it was going to be hard to beat them.”
The final 6 minutes, 40 seconds of the third quarter also were costly for the Bulldogs. MSU missed its last seven shots from the field and committed two turnovers. The Bulldogs went 1-for-5 from the free-throw line in that stretch. Notre Dame capitalized with a 16-1 run to tie the game at 41 after three quarters.
“Too many turnovers against the zone,” coach Schaefer said. “Good gosh, 15 turnovers. We started the game with five. Really disappointed in our start. We forced 17 (turnovers). They end up shooting 42 percent, 22 from three, but they made the big one that needed to make.
“We had some good looks that we didn’t make. We got deep in the shot clock, which is uncommon for us a lot. Out of bounds plays, not knowing the shot clock. That’s uncommon for us. I don’t know what to attribute that to, but we just had some real lapses where we didn’t realize what the shot clock was even after talking about it in a timeout.”
Schaefer said he wanted the Bulldogs to attack the zone and split it and try to create action toward the rim. Unfortunately, he said the Bulldogs “appeased” the Fighting Irish by passing the basketball around the perimeter instead of attacking the rim.
“They pushed us out and pressured us in the zone,” MSU senior guard Morgan William said. “We knew they were a second-half team. That is what they do best. They come out in the second half and they just go after it. I think they just wanted it a little bit more than we did.”
McCowan vows to have the Bulldogs ready in 2018-19
Junior center Teaira McCowan recorded her 29th double-double of the season with 18 points and 17 rebounds.
She had a chance to add to that total with less than a minute to play and the game tied at 58. The Bulldogs found McCowan in the middle of the lane and she used a drop step to seal her defender and attempt a shot on the left side of the rim. Unfortunately, McCowan left the shot short.
After the game, she said she didn’t remember the shot.
“We executed well, but they just made one more play than we did,” McCowan said. “We were getting stops, but 15 turnovers played its part on us. We didn’t take our time.”
When asked how the game would help motivate her and the Bulldogs for next season, McCowan said, “I will have my team ready.”
McCowan finished the NCAA tournament with a record 109 rebounds, shattering the old mark of 75 by Minnesota’s Janel McCarville in five games in 2004.
McCowan also set the two-game NCAA Final Four record for rebounds with 42. Old Dominion’s Tracy Claxton had the previous record of 37 in 1985.
Legacy finalized
Seniors Roshunda Johnson, Blair Schaefer, Victoria Vivians, and Morgan William ended their careers by representing MSU in the post-game media availability.
The seniors were a huge part of back-to-back trips to the national title game, the program’s first Southeastern Conference regular-season championship, the SEC’s first undefeated regular season in 20 years, and many other record-breaking accomplishments.
Schaefer, Vivians, and William finished their college careers with 126 wins and as the program’s winningest class.
“We tried it last year and it didn’t work and we tried it in my last year and it still didn’t work, so it is kind of hard knowing that you couldn’t bring it back to the state,” Vivians said. “You can always do more, and I felt that last play determined the game. I feel like if we would have another chance it wouldn’t have ended that way.”
Big 3-pointer by Johnson
“Ro hit that big three to put us up five, but we end up going down there and not getting a stop and they get a big three,” William said. “The momentum kind of swung because we were only up two, but we didn’t score on our next possession and they scored. Notre Dame is a dangerous team.”
Second-half surge
After holding Notre Dame to a season-low 17 points, the Fighting Irish scored 24 in the third quarter.
Notre Dame shot 15-for-29 from the field and was 12-for-14 from the free-throw line in a much more aggressive final 20 minutes.
“We knew they were a second-half team,” Vivians said. “It was just us. They made a great adjustment. We just were stagnant and just let them attack us.”
All-tournament team
Notre Dame’s Arike Ogunbowale was named Most Outstanding Player, while teammate Jessica Shepard joined her on the squad.
Vivians, McCowan, and Connecticut’s Napheesa Collier rounded out the team.
This and that
Notre Dame was making its sixth appearance in the national championship game. It beat Purdue 68-66 to win the 2001 national title. Notre Dame lost to Texas A&M in 2001, Baylor in 2002, and Connecticut in 2014 and 2015. … MSU was making its second-consecutive appearance in the national title game. It lost to South Carolina 67-55 last season.
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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