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College basketball: March Madness 2005
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Mich. St. women join men in Final 4
Spartans use big plays to hold on for a 76-69 win over Stanford and now face Tennessee.
Associated Press
Published March 30, 2005
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Make some room, Michigan State men. You've got company.
Liz Shimek and the Michigan State women also are going to the Final Four - a first for the program.
Shimek made a series of huge plays down the stretch, Lindsay Bowen made her only basket of the game at a critical time and the top-seeded Spartans beat No. 2 seed Stanford 76-69 in the Kansas City Region final Tuesday night.
Michigan State (32-3) had never made it past the second round in five previous NCAA Tournament appearances, but the Spartans looked completely comfortable when they donned their championship caps, delighting a small but vocal band of supporters that included Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm and her two teenage daughters.
"Well, I tell you, Michigan State is the best," coach Joanne P. McCallie said. "The people are amazing, the homegrown talent is very special. And we're so proud of our men's team - we're going too, baby! We're going too! I can't wait!"
The Spartans will play in the national semifinals in Indianapolis on Sunday night, meeting Tennessee, a 59-49 winner over Rutgers in Tuesday night's other game. The men will play North Carolina in St. Louis on Saturday.
Michigan State becomes the sixth school to send both teams to the Final Four. Connecticut did it last year and each team won the national title, the only time that has happened.
Now, Michigan State has a chance for the double. But booking that trip wasn't easy, even after the Spartans took a 13-point lead against the team that was ranked No. 1 in the final Associated Press poll. Stanford (32-3) came back to tie the score three times but never got the lead, and its 23-game winning streak ended, denying the Cardinal a seventh Final Four trip.
With the score tied at 61, Michigan State's Rene Haynes made four free throws and sank a 3-pointer to put the Spartans up 68-61, which proved to be just enough of a cushion.
Stanford drew to 70-69 on a three-point play by its brilliant freshman, Candice Wiggins, with 43.6 seconds left. But Bowen, who had been 0-for-7, answered with her only basket of the game, a 15-footer with 27.1 seconds to go.
When Stanford's Kelley Suminski missed a 3-point shot, Bowen was there for the rebound, producing a fastbreak layup by Kelli Roehrig. And Bowen stole the ball at the end to make two final free throws.
Shimek scored 17 of her 24 in the second half and grabbed 10 rebounds for MSU. Wiggins led Stanford with 19.
The Final Four trip continues the Spartans' steady progress under McCallie, who arrived from Maine in 2000 with a goal of putting Michigan State on the national map.
The Spartans have set a school record for victories - nine more than the old mark - and they'll take a school-record 16-game winning streak to Indianapolis.
[Last modified March 30, 2005, 01:04:14]
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