PORTLAND, Ore. – Mississippi State earned back-to-back Final Four trips in the last two seasons under head coach Vic Schaefer and they did it with challenges in front of them.
None were bigger than they faced in Portland on Sunday.
The Bulldogs had two losses in the regular season and one of them came on the road against Oregon in Eugene. Sunday’s matchup proved to be even more of a hostile environment as the No. 1 seeded Bulldogs were playing what was essentially a road game.
As if over 11,000 green-and-yellow-clad Oregonians wasn’t enough, the Bulldogs were faced with defending one of the nation’s most explosive offenses and one of the best players in the country in Sabrina Ionescu. In a valiant effort, there wasn’t enough in the tank for the Bulldogs to overcome and book tickets to a third-straight Final Four.
Ionescu dropped in 31 points and eight assists and the Ducks made 13 3-pointers on their way to a 88-84 win. The Bulldog loss ended the season at 33-3 with two of the three losses coming against the Ducks in Oregon.
“I just thought my team was phenomenal. I couldn’t be prouder for how hard they played, how hard they fought against a really good team,” Schaefer said. “I’ve watched a lot of film and I haven’t seen (Oregon) make that many threes in a long time. You’ve got to tip your cap to them.”
The loss wasn’t going to be without the four MSU seniors fighting tooth and nail for every inch. Teaira McCowan had 19 points and 15 rebounds in her final game as a Bulldog. That came after scoring just five points against the Ducks in the previous meeting.
Additionally, MSU had 18 points and six rebounds from Anriel Howard. Jazzmun Holmes had 15 points and amassed 13 assists with zero turnovers. Jordan Danberry had 12 points.
The Bulldogs had just six turnovers, but Schaefer didn’t like his defense. Oregon finished the game scoring on all but one possession in the final nine possessions of the game which came with less than 5 minutes left and the Bulldogs trailing by one point.
“They shot it really well. I don’t know that I’ve ever been in a game where we turned it over six times and we didn’t win. I’ve never had that happen in 34 years of coaching,” Schaefer said. “It’s on me because we've got to guard better. I pride myself on being a pretty good defensive coach. I gave up 88 points (Sunday).”
There were blows from each team in the first half that the other took and fired right back as the game saw 11 lead changes and seven ties. The Bulldogs jumped out to as much as a seven-point advantage in the first quarter but Oregon’s 3-point shot kept them within striking distance as they hit five of them in the first quarter to cut State’s lead to 21-19.
The Ducks would stay hot in the second and out-scored the Bulldogs 21-17 to take a 40-38 lead at the half after Ionescu’s 3-pointer in the final minute. All total, Oregon was 8-15 from long distance in the first 20 minutes.
The third and fourth provided that same back and forth as Oregon’s six-point lead early in the third was short-lived and the two began to trade blows again. State briefly took a lead in the quarter but it was all knotted up at 59 when things were finished.
The Ducks continued their barrage of 3-pointers and Ionescu began to come alive. After scoring two points in the second quarter, the All-American scored seven in the first six minutes to put Oregon up 74-69 with 4 minutes left.
Ionescu’s biggest shot came at the 1 minute mark when she hit a step-back 3-pointer in the waning seconds of the shot clock to put the dagger in the Bulldogs’ chest and essentially end the season. Oregon hit another 3-pointer to seal it in the final seconds.
Ionescu scored 14 of her points in the final quarter as she closed the Bulldogs out. It was a game that Howard felt was every bit as hard as the one in Eugene that handed MSU its first loss. She was proud of the effort.
“We lost both times, but I do think we played harder the second time,” Howard said. The first time was on their court. They had that advantage. This time, they still had a lot of their fans here.”
Along with the seniors in double figures was Andra Espinoza-Hunter who had 12 points on 4-of-7 rom 3-point range. State hit 8-of-14 from long range, but the 13 3-pointers from Oregon was too much.
Oregon also won the rebounding 32-31 as McCowan had 15 of those boards.
It was the end of another era for Schaefer and he’s back to work on another one on Monday. For McCowan, the next step is likely an early selection in the WNBA Draft in two weeks. The All-American center finished her career with a 31st double-double this season, the 70th of her career. She felt she left it all on the court.
“A loss is a loss, you know. It doesn’t feel good,” McCowan said. “But I’m proud of my team, my coaching staff that we got this far. We had a great season. Nothing to hang our heads on. Yeah, it hurts, but we’ll be okay.”
