No. 14 Bulldogs Set For Sweet 16 Showdown Against No. 1 UConn
March 25, 2016 | Women's Basketball
STARKVILLE, Miss. – No. 14 Mississippi State has the opportunity to make history once again Saturday as the Bulldogs face No. 1 Connecticut in the NCAA Bridgeport Regional semifinal.
Tip at Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport, Connecticut, is set for 10:30 a.m. CT.
ESPN will televise the game nationally, while the radio call will be available on WKBB-FM 100.9 in the Golden Triangle, WXWX-FM 96.3 in Tupelo and WKCU-FM 92.9 and WKCU-AM 1350 in Corinth.
For Mississippi State, Saturday's game presents the opportunity to advance to the Elite Eight for the first time after punching its second Sweet 16 appearance with a 74-72 win against No. 16 Michigan State on Sunday at Humphrey Coliseum.
Hosting the first and second rounds for the first time, MSU notched win No. 28 on Sunday to better last season's mark for the most victories in school history.
The Bulldogs, who have won 20 games in three-straight seasons for the first time, also have the opportunity to halt the Huskies' 71-game win streak that is second-longest in NCAA history.
“The Sweet 16. What a great opportunity,” MSU head coach Vic Schaefer said. “I am excited for our players and our university. Obviously we are going to play a really good team. We are looking forward to playing well and competing at the highest level.
“Obviously it's not their home court, but it will certainly be their home state and home crowd. Any time you play on the road and have people hollering against you, it can test you. We are playing against a great team that lives off of great runs. The test is to try to eliminate certain things (UConn) wants to try to do. When you are playing UConn, you have to realize that there is a reason why they have won as many games as they have in a row. At the same time, we have to realize that we are here for a reason and that we are pretty good too. So we have to go in and be who we are, execute, and put ourselves in a position to be successful while also keeping ourselves out of situations that can hinder us from being successful. That is as important as anything.”
Sophomore Victoria Vivians paced Mississippi State's second-round win with 24 points, bringing her season average to an SEC second-best 17.4 ppg. Sunday's effort pushed her over 600 points for the season (610), making her the first Bulldog since former All-American Tan White in 2005 to score 600 points in a season.
The Carthage, Mississippi, native, who is scoring at a 17.0 clip against ranked foes, enters Saturday's game averaging 21.5 ppg in the NCAA Tournament. She has tallied 19 or more points in six of the team's last eight games.
Classmate Morgan William added 14 points in the Bulldogs' win against Michigan State, raising her season total 9.9 ppg this season.
The Birmingham, Alabama, standout also dished nine assists against the Spartans, bringing her team-leading tally to 176, three shy of matching the school record set by Angela Harris in 2000.
William can also claim the school's free-throw percentage record for the second-straight season, as she enters Saturday making 84.4 percent.
Junior Chinwe Okorie paces the Bulldogs on the boards, grabbing 6.1 per game to go with 7.0 ppg.
UConn improved to 34-0 on the season after advancing to the Sweet 16 with a 97-51 win against Duquesne on Monday.
Breanna Stewart led the way with 21 points, while Morgan Tuck and Moriah Jefferson tallied 20 points each.
Stewart paces the Huskies in scoring with 19.2 ppg, including a 17.0 average in the postseason. She is also her team's leading rebounder at 8.4 rpg.
Jefferson and Tuck both bring 12.8 scoring averages into Saturday's game.
