Mississippi State falls in Women’s National Championship Game

Mississippi State fell short in its bid to win the school’s first-ever national championship in any sport Sunday.

South Carolina beat MSU 67-55 in the Finals of the NCAA Women’s Tournament on Sunday afternoon at American Airlines Center in Dallas.

MSU (34-5) was swept by the Gamecocks this season. South Carolina also won 64-61 at home and 59-49 win in the SEC Women’s Tournament Championship game last month. The Gamecocks had also beaten MSU 11 consecutive times.

The Bulldogs punched their ticket to the Tournament Finals with a 66-64 win over No. 1 UConn, snapping the Huskies’ NCAA-record 111-game winning streak on Morgan Williams’ jumper at the buzzer in overtime.

Two former Sun Herald girls’ basketball players of the year — Harrison Central’s Jazzmun Holmes and Ameshya Williams of West Harrison- are on MSU's team.

MSU also came close to winning a national title in baseball four years ago. UCLA swept the Bulldogs in the 2013 College World Series best-of-3 championship series. The men’s basketball team also reached the 1996 Final Four, falling to Syracuse in the national semifinals.

This story was originally published April 2, 2017 at 7:18 PM with the headline "Mississippi State falls in Women’s National Championship Game."