Antonia Rodriguez

Although the Baylor Women’s team was eliminated from the NCAA tournament by Oregon State on Friday, March 23rd, I continued to watch the tourney because I enjoy good games. I enjoy good games regardless of if my team is playing or not. During the UCLA-Miss. St. game, the Bulldogs of Mississippi State pulled out with the lead early and, despite their effort, UCLA could not bounce back.

Below is my live-blog coverage of the game:

[6:35 p.m.] ESPN Coverage begins.

[6:37 p.m.] Official Tip-Off, UCLA gains possession.

[6:40 p.m.] Miss. St. strikes first. 0-3, 9:06 left in 1^st quarter

[6:46 p.m.] UCLA calls timeout as Miss. St. pulls ahead with the lead, 17-6 with 3:48 left in the 1^st quarter. UCLA hasn’t scored in 3 minutes.

[6:55 p.m.] End of 1^st quarter. Both teams end the quarter with respective threes (Dean, Japreece-UCLA and William, Morgan-Miss. St). 23-17, end of 1^st quarter, Miss. St. leads UCLA.

[7:06 p.m.] McCowan, Teaira (Miss. St.) makes jumper after back and forth rebounding under the basket. UCLA has got to do better going up to get those rebounds if they want to stay in this game. Miss. St. is killing UCLA with all the second chance shots they’ve been able to take. 30-19, Miss. St. leads.

[7:14] UCLA’s 4^th turnover. Usually, UCLA looks to make the other team turn the ball over. This is uncharacteristic and might be the key to UCLA’s demise. With these turnovers and lack of rebounding, UCLA is not looking like themselves against this Miss. St. team.

[7:21 p.m.] Halftime, 42-26, Miss. St. leads. Onyenwere, Michaela (UCLA) was the only player to make a field goal in the 2^nd quarter. Defensively, UCLA needs to rebound more in order to stay in this game. Offensively, UCLA needs to take smarter shots and stay for a put-back if necessary. Mississippi State is doing everything right in this game; they are making big plays in transition and keeping the tempo up where UCLA struggles.

[7:38 p.m.] Start of 3^rd quarter. Canada, Jordin (UCLA) is not starting and is not on the bench. Came out of locker room with a taped left wrist, said to be a sprain of some sort. Canada is right-handed.

[7:43 p.m.] William, Morgan (Miss. St.) made lay-up. William is now the 4^th Bulldog in double-digit points. 50-32, Miss. St., 6:42 left in 3^rd quarter.

[8:00 p.m.} End of 3^rd quarter. 63-50, Miss. St. leads. UCLA came out of halftime pretty strong and Miss. St. has missed some major shots. With a 13-point lead and only one quarter left, UCLA could still pull off a win.

[8:08 p.m.] Canada, Jordin (UCLA) makes jumper to cut lead to 6 points. 67-61, Miss. St., 6:46 left in 4^th quarter. Mississippi State continues to miss vital shots and UCLA is, finally, finding their rhythm.

[8:25 p.m.] Johnson, Roshunda (Miss. St), fouls Burke, Kennedy (UCLA). Burke makes both free throws. 76-70, Miss. St leads, 2:28 left in 4^th quarter.

[8:31 p.m.] McCowan, Teaira makes tip-in jumper following an offensive rebound. 81-73, Miss. St. leads, 0:55 left in 4^th quarter.

[8:41 p.m.] Final: Mississippi State – 89, UCLA – 73. Mississippi State continues on to their second straight NCAA Women’s Final Four. They will play #1 Louisville in Columbus, Ohio on Friday, March 30^th.