Madison Scott hit a pair of free throws with 23 seconds left that gave Mississippi the lead for good, Angel Baker scored 13 points and the Rebels made a statement to get on the defensive and stun Stanford 54- 49 on Sunday night to arrive. Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 16 years.
Trailing all game, Stanford called a timeout with 28 seconds left, then Hannah Jump turned the ball over and Scott converted. Haley Jones fumbled the ball out of bounds on the Cardinal’s final possession with a chance to tie it again in the waning moments.
Marquesha Davis hit a pair of free throws with 15.4 seconds left as Ole Miss went 0-for-8 without making a field goal over the final 5:47.
The upstart Rebels (25-8) advance to the semifinals of the Seattle Regional next weekend, while Tara VanDerveer’s Stanford team (29-6) is eliminated much earlier than this group imagined: the season ending on the Cardinal’s home floor.
Only four No. 1 seeds had lost before the Sweet 16 since 1994, with Duke the last in 2009. Stanford did it once before, falling to 16th-seeded Harvard in the first round of the 1998 tournament .
The Cardinal had reached 14 straight Sweet 16s and hadn’t lost in the first or second round since No. 10 seed Florida State stunned the fifth-seeded Cardinal 68-61 at Maples Pavilion in the second round exactly 16 years ago to the day before. on March 19, 2007.
Cameron Brink returned from a one-game absence due to a stomach problem to finish with 20 points, 13 rebounds and seven blocks, but Stanford never led and tried to come from behind all night. The program’s career blocks leader, he finished with 118 on the season and has 297 total.
Report from The Associated Press.
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