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March Madness: Ranking the college basketball national championship games across all three divisions

By Daniel Benjamin

Apr 3, 2017; Phoenix, AZ, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels team holds up the trophy after the win over the Gonzaga Bulldogs in the championship game of the 2017 NCAA Men's Final Four at University of Phoenix Stadium. North Carolina defeated Gonzaga 71-65. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 3, 2017; Phoenix, AZ, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels team holds up the trophy after the win over the Gonzaga Bulldogs in the championship game of the 2017 NCAA Men's Final Four at University of Phoenix Stadium. North Carolina defeated Gonzaga 71-65. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports /
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Apr 2, 2017; Dallas, TX, USA; South Carolina Gamecocks forward A’ja Wilson (left) and head coach Dawn Staley takes a twitter selfie after the game against the Mississippi State Lady Bulldogs in the 2017 Women’s Final Four championship at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 2, 2017; Dallas, TX, USA; South Carolina Gamecocks forward A’ja Wilson (left) and head coach Dawn Staley takes a twitter selfie after the game against the Mississippi State Lady Bulldogs in the 2017 Women’s Final Four championship at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports /

2. D-I Women’s Championship

The South Carolina Gamecocks claimed their first-ever NCAA women’s basketball national championship with their victory over the Mississippi State, 67-55, on Sunday night in Dallas. Both the Gamecocks and Bulldogs were playing in their first national championship game.

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Mississippi State (34-5) jumped out to a quick 7-1 lead and held a lead until the 2:08 mark in the opening quarter when Allisha Gray knocked down a jumper to tie the score at 14. South Carolina scored the final four points to take a 18-14 lead after the first 10 minutes of action.

The Gamecocks continued their momentum in the second quarter, tallying seven of the first 11 points of the period. The Gamecocks extended their run to 17-4 a little less than two minutes later as they took control of the game, 31-18, with 3:43 to go in the half. The Bulldogs were able to cut the deficit to single digits, though, A’ja Wilson free throw made it 36-26 at halftime.

South Carolina controlled the first half of the third quarter, pushing the lead to 45-31 with 5:41 remaining. Miss State went on a 9-0 over the next two minutes to get within 45-40. The Gamecocks would take a 52-44 lead heading into the fourth following Kaela Davis’ jumper with two ticks on the clock.

Jazzmun Holmes’ jumper got the Bulldogs within 54-50 with a little less than seven minutes remaining. But that is when Gray and Wilson took over. Gray scored four points while Wilson tallied eight of her game-high 23 points down the stretch as the pair combined for 12 of the Gamecocks final 13 points.

Gray and Wilson were terrific in the championship game as they were all postseason. Wilson posted a double-double as she also hauled in 10 rebounds to go along with four blocked shots. Wilson became the fifth player to be named SEC Player of the Year and Final Four MOP in the same year.  Gray also had a double-double (18 points, 10 rebounds) and Davis added 10 points.

https://twitter.com/GamecockWBB/status/848725376952086532

Victoria Vivians led the way for Miss State with 12 points and Dominique Dillingham contributed 11.

South Carolina ended up sweeping its three meetings with Miss State this year. The Gamecocks defeated the Bulldogs by three points during the regular season. They then took down the Bulldogs by 10 to win the SEC tournament title.

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