After a stellar regular season, which was then followed up by a remarkable post-season run, the Mississippi State University women’s basketball team’s triumphant season has come to an end.
The Lady Bulldogs suffered a last-second defeat to the University of South Florida Bulls 60-58 Sunday in the Elite Eight of the Women’s NIT.  The Lady Dogs lost on a game-winning three pointer as time expired.  The shot shocked both the team and the fans as everyone in the Humphrey Coliseum stood in awe of the final play.
Lady Bulldog Head Coach Vic Schaefer said he hates his team had to lose in that fashion.
“It hurts, and it needs to hurt. We need to remember it,” Schaefer said.  “I hate to see them go through something like this knowing they’ve paid the price and deserve to win.”
This loss will be a tough pill to swallow. With 28 seconds left and the ball, MSU’s first team All-SEC center Martha Alwal made a basket to give the Lady Dogs a one point lead with 4.2 seconds left on the clock.
A tough season-ending loss is never an easy thing to overcome, but MSU has no reason to hang its head.  
Despite the loss, the team finished with an overall record of 22-14, the fourth-most wins in school history.  
In the game, junior Kendra Grant came up big for the team yet again as she paced the Lady Dogs with 22 points, one shy of her career high.  Freshman Breanna Richardson also chipped in with 14 points and 14 rebounds. Alwal snagged down eight rebounds, setting the MSU single season record with 317 rebounds.  But even with setting the new record, Alwal said she was still torn over the loss.
 “I’m really disappointed in myself,” Alwal said.  “I feel like if I would’ve had a game like I know I could’ve had, it would be a completely different game right now.”
The Lady Bulldogs ran through everyone who stood in their way this postseason.  MSU defeated Tulane, Southern Miss and finally took down SEC foe Auburn. They also set record-breaking numbers in attendance this season.  
Grant said she knows the team has changed the culture of MSU basketball.
“It feels good to see how far we’ve come starting from last year,” Grant said.  “We made it to the Elite Eight of the WNIT, and that says a lot about us and our coaching staff.”
This season, the Lady Bulldogs have put a brand of basketball on the floor of which everyone can be proud. All season long they have gained the attention and respect from teams throughout the SEC and the nation.  
Whether it has been upsetting top-ranked teams or making deep runs in the post-season, they have exceeded expectations and proven everyone wrong. 
Alwal said she could not be more proud of her teammates.
“We’re a completely different team than last year, and we’re so resilient to fight and never give up, so I’m really proud of my team, and we’re only going to use this as motivation for next year to go farther and not let this happen again,” she said. 
The Lady Bulldogs’ season may not have ended the way they wanted it to, but the team still had a successful season.  They’ve turned the program around, and Schaefer said he knows everyone is proud of what is in store for his team.
“It’s been a special year for these young ladies,” he said.  “The best is yet to come.  It’s fixing to start getting fun around here — it already is.  Those crowds and those games — they will be the norm, and it needs to be that way because these ladies are paying the price to represent the university.”