While the Mississippi State Bulldogs hope their third time playing South Carolina this season will be the charm, the Gamecocks hope it leads to their first-ever national championship.
The No. 1 Gamecocks (32-4, 14-2 SEC) have already defeated the No. 2 Bulldogs (34-4, 13-3 SEC) twice this season -- once at home on Jan. 23 and once to clinch the SEC Tournament title on March 5. But coach Dawn Staley and her players believe they’ll be seeing a different team come Sunday.
“They're playing at an all-time high,” Staley said. “You can't go into the game thinking you can just do the same old things. You got to give her different looks. You got to make sure that she's not getting hot and into a groove.”
MSU is coming off a two-point overtime victory against No. 1 UConn on Friday, snapping the Huskies’ 111-game win streak. Junior guard Morgan William hit a buzzer-beating jumper and scored 13 points to eliminate Geno Auriemma’s perfect team from title contention.
“Obviously, Morgan William is very hot right now,” junior guard Allisha Gray said. “She’s a great player. We just have to come out and play and compete.
“We’ve just got to approach them like we’ve never played them before and not overlook the team.”
USC handed MSU its first loss of the season at Colonial Life Arena in January. Junior forward A’ja Wilson matched her SEC career-high with 26 points, while Alaina Coates nearly notched a double-double with nine points and 12 boards.
The second time the teams met, Coates did not play due to injury and MSSU came out the gate blazing. The Gamecocks trailed by five late in the third quarter, but outscored Vic Schaefer’s Bulldogs 19-4 in the fourth, leading them to a 10-point victory and their third consecutive SEC Tournament title.
“I mean, it’s confident that you beat the team twice,” Gray said. “You’ve just got to come out and compete. Each time, Mississippi State, they came out at a high level ready to play us. We've just got to come out ready to play.”
Wilson scored in double-figures in both games against the Bulldogs, but said the timing of the matchup late in the season presents potential difficulties for the Gamecocks.
“We’ve seen them so many times that they probably know us better than we know ourselves, so it’s actually tougher because now you don’t change up anything around this time of the month. But something’s going to have to change because they know you that well,” Wilson said.
Sunday’s matchup will be the first time two SEC teams play for the NCAA women’s championship since Tennessee beat Georgia, 83-65, in 1996. Regardless of whichever team wins, Wilson said she’s proud to see the conference being represented on the national stage.
“When we noticed Mississippi State won and it was going to be an SEC Championship rematch kind of, it was a good feeling,” Wilson said. “Of course, we would love for the SEC to win anything. We support each other. Honestly, it’s good to have an SEC team competing for the national championship.”