Advertisement

Notre Dame’s Ogunbowale sinks winner, again, for women’s national title

 
Published April 2, 2018

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Arike Ogunbowale hit the shot of her life — again.
Ogunbowale floated in a 3-pointer from the corner with 0.1 seconds left, lifting Notre Dame to its second women's title with a thrilling 61-58 comeback victory over Mississippi State in the NCAA championship game on Sunday.

It was the second straight game that the junior guard hit a shot in the final second to carry the Irish. Her jumper with one second left in overtime knocked off previously unbeaten UConn in Friday's semifinals.

With the score tied Sunday, Ogunbowale took the inbounds pass from Jackie Young, dribbled twice toward the corner and, closely guarded, lofted home an off-balance 3 in front of the Notre Dame bench, near the same spot on the court where she took down the Huskies, too.

"It just felt right," said Ogunbowale, who scored 16 of her 18 in the second half. "I practice late-game all the time. I just ran to Jackie and said, 'Throw it to me, throw it to me.' "

Ogunbowale earned most outstanding player honors for the tournament.

All the Irish players could celebrate after pulling off the biggest comeback in title game history. They rallied from a 15-point deficit in the third quarter and were down five in the final 1:58. Marina Mabrey hit a 3 from the wing and Young had a shot in the lane to tie it.

"We didn't get two stops when we needed to get stops," Bulldogs guard Blair Schaefer said.

The title came 17 years to the day after Notre Dame's only other championship in 2001 on Easter.

"It's Easter Sunday, and all the Catholics were praying for us," said coach Muffet McGraw, who was wearing floral shoes in honor of the holiday.

When the final buzzer sounded, a wild celebration started with the Irish faithful who were part of the sellout crowd. McGraw's team had fallen short four times in seven years in the title game, losing in 2011, 2012, 2014 and 2015.

This version of McGraw's squad refused to lose, and the run was even more improbable because the Irish lost four players over the season to ACL injuries.

Tied as the clock ran down, Mississippi State star Teaira McCowan missed a layup with 27.8 seconds left, and both teams turned the ball over. McCowan then fouled out stopping an Irish fastbreak, setting up the final seconds.

For the fourth straight NCAA game, the Irish found themselves trailing at halftime. They were down 40-25 early in the third quarter before finally getting on track offensively. They closed the quarter with a 16-1 run to tie the score at 41 heading to the final quarter.

The Irish (35-3) were buoyed by severe foul trouble for Mississippi State that saw all five of its starters with three fouls in the third quarter.

It didn't look good for the Irish in the first half. After getting out to a 12-6 lead with 3:41 left in the opening quarter, the Bulldogs (37-2) outscored Notre Dame 24-5 the rest of the half. The Irish went more than eight minutes without a point, missing seven shots and committing five turnovers during the run.

Victoria Vivians finished with 21 points and McCowan 18 to go along with 17 rebounds to lead the Bulldogs (37-2).

"We were right there," guard Jazzmun Holmes said, "and we couldn't finish it up."

Schaefer's father, Mississippi State coach Vic Schaefer, took the blame.

"You're up five with 1:40 (left), it's my job to get them home, and I didn't get them home," he said. "I'll wear that maybe for the rest of my career."