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NCAA Women’s Basketball: Ranking the leading candidates for Final Four MOP

By Daniel Benjamin

TAMPA, FL - APRIL 05: Head coach Muffet McGraw of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and her team react in the second half against the South Carolina Gamecocks during the NCAA Women's Final Four Semifinal at Amalie Arena on April 5, 2015 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Brian Blanco/Getty Images)
TAMPA, FL - APRIL 05: Head coach Muffet McGraw of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and her team react in the second half against the South Carolina Gamecocks during the NCAA Women's Final Four Semifinal at Amalie Arena on April 5, 2015 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Brian Blanco/Getty Images) /
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A new NCAA women’s college basketball champion will be crowned on Sunday.

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish and Mississippi State Bulldogs will face off in Columbus (Ohio) to become the next NCAA women’s basketball champion. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. (ET) and will be televised on ESPN.

This game should be an intriguing matchup. Both clubs have been among the top teams in the nation all season long. And each team is coming off exciting overtime victories in the national semifinals.

Notre Dame (34-3) is a high scoring team that has overcome multiple injuries to reach the title game. Star forward Brianna Turner has missed the entire season after tearing her ACL during last season NCAA Tournament. Senior guard Mychal Johnson also has missed the entire campaign with a torn ACL  while freshman forward Mikayla Vaughn injured her leg at the end of November. Point guard Lilli Thompson saw her season come to an end after 14 games due to a knee injury.

The Irish, who typically use a seven-player rotation, ranks third in the nation in scoring at 85.8 points a game. The Irish shoot 50.7% from the field, which ranks second in the nation, as they dole out 19.1 assists a contest.

Notre Dame was one of the four No. 1 seeds in the 2018 tournament despite falling to Louisville (74-72) in the ACC Final. The Irish easily dispatched No. 16 Cal State Northridge and No. 9 Louisville in the opening round. They defeated fourth-seeded Texas A&M in the Sweet 16 by six and No. 2 Oregon (84-74) in the Elite Eight. Arike Ogunbowale’s basket with one second left in overtime pushed the Irish past unbeaten Connecticut (91-89) in Friday’s semifinal.

Miss State (37-1) is a much deeper team than Notre Dame, although the Bulldogs rely heavily on guard Victoria Vivians as well as 6-foot-7 center Teaira McCowan.  That doesn’t mean that the Bulldogs are not a complete or well-rounded team. Because they are.

Miss State ranks in the top-20 nationally in both scoring and scoring defense. The Bulldogs, who own the third highest scoring margin at +25.5 points a game, averages 81.7 points a contest and gives up 56.3. The Bulldogs are also one of the best shooting teams in the country, knocking down 47.1% of their shots overall and 39.3% from beyond the arc.

Miss State was one of the four teams to earn a No. 1 seed. The Bulldogs were the SEC regular season champs for the first time in school history this year. Their only loss came at the hands of South Carolina in the conference tournament finals.

Miss State has won each of its NCAA Tournament games by double digits. However, the Bulldogs needed a three-pointer by Roshunda Johnson with seven seconds left along with a key defensive play by McCowan just to force overtime against Louisville in the semifinals. The Bulldogs ultimately outscored the Cardinals 14-4 in the extra period to secure their spot in the title game.

The Irish, who are in the championship game for the fifth time since 2011, are seeking their second title ever. Notre Dame claimed its national crown in 2001 with a 68-66 victory over Purdue.

In the meanwhile, the Bulldogs is in the finals for the second consecutive season. Miss State fell to South Carolina 67-55 last season.

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