COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Morgan William, Mississippi State's dynamic senior point guard, had left the news conference room at Nationwide Arena on Thursday when her coach, Vic Schaefer, spent several minutes enthusiastically defending her, and himself.
Last year, William watched the final quarter of the NCAA championship game from the bench as Schaefer went with then-sophomore Jazzmun Holmes at the point, a move widely questioned in the aftermath of Mississippi State's 67-55 loss to South Carolina.
Two days earlier, William hit one of the biggest shots in women's NCAA tournament history: a buzzer-beating, pull-up jumper from the right elbow in overtime that eliminated 11-time champion UConn and ended the Huskies' NCAA-record 111-game winning streak.