OKLAHOMA CITY - No. 1 seed Baylor Lady Bears ended their 2017 NCAA Tournament run with a nail-biter 94-85 loss in overtime to No. 2 seed Mississippi State on Sunday night in Oklahoma City, ending their season with a 33-4 overall record.
Mississippi State will move on to the Final Four in Dallas on Friday to take on the winner of the No. 1 seed Connecticut and No. 10 seed Oregon matchup.
The Bears’ main scorers, all with double-digits, were sophomore forward Kalani Brown (27), senior forward Nina Davis (18) points, and senior guard Alexis Jones (16). Jones also recorded seven assists.
Brown came out strong in the beginning go the first quarter with a quick seven points for Baylor, helping to secure the lead for a short while before a layup by MSU forward Breanna Richardson tied the score at 11-11.
The Lady Bears hit the second quarter trailing 19-21 before a layup by freshman guard Natalie Chou tied the score at 21. The Bulldogs and Lady Bears continued to trade scores without either expanding out, but it was MSU who eventually went into the half with a 43-40 lead.
Brown and Davis both secured double figures in the first half of the game.
Baylor once again took the lead in the third quarter, with Brown hitting the 20-point mark, her eighth 20-point game of the season and the ninth of her career. The Bulldogs and Lady Bears continued their back-and-forth pace until a 3-pointer by Jones and a jump shot by Davis late in the third set the Lady Bears at 61-60 going into the final period.
Tied at 75-75 at the end of the fourth, the game went into a five-minute overtime where the Bulldogs took an early lead with a 3-pointer by MSU guard Victoria Vivians.
Guard Kristy Wallace, who had seven turnovers, sank two free throws to tie the score again at 80-80, until a jump shot and a 3-pointer by Morgan William gave Mississippi State the lead for good. The Lady Bears wouldn’t be able to receover.
William recorded a game and career-high 41 points for the Bulldogs.
This was the Lady Bears fourth straight loss in the Elite Eight matchup.
The Lady Bears still lead the overall series against the Bulldogs 3-2, and are now 2-1 against MSU under head coach Kim Mulkey.
Despite the loss, Baylor’s 2017 Tournament run included four national records and seven program NCAA Tournament records in its Round of 32 matchup against No. 16 seed Texas Southern, including the record for most points in a game at 119, and largest margin of victory at 89 points.
Davis became the only player in conference history to receive four career All Big-12 Tournament nods.
