Irish win women’s title with lastsecond shot
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 basketball title with a thrilling 61-58 comeback victory over Mississippi State in the NCAA tournament final Sunday night.
It was the second straight game in which the junior guard made a shot in the final second to carry the Irish. Her jumper with one second remaining in overtime knocked off previously unbeaten Connecticut in the Final Four on Friday.
With Sunday’s game tied, Ogunbowale took the inbounds pass from Jackie Young, dribbled twice toward the corner and, while closely guarded,
lofted home an off-balance 3 from in front of the Notre Dame bench, nearly the same angle as her shot that beat the Huskies.
“It just felt right,” said Ogunbowale, who scored 16 of her 18 points in the second half. “I practice late-game (shots) 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 and also received a congratulatory tweet from Kobe Bryant, who took in the semifinal win over UConn.
But all of the Fighting Irish (35-3) 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-pointer from the wing, and Young had a shot in the lane to tie it.
The title came 17 years to the day Notre Dame won its first championship, also 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 in the title game four times in seven years, losing in 2011, 2012, 2014 and 2015. Many of the Notre Dame alums who were on teams that had fallen just short of winning a title were there to enjoy it.
This version of McGraw’s squad refused to lose, and the run was even more improbable because the Irish lost four players to ACL injuries during the season.
“This team is relentlessly driven,” said Jessica Shepard, who scored 19 points to lead the Irish. “We’ve been down multiple times this year, but nobody stops us.”
Tied as the clock ran down, Mississippi State (37-2) star Teaira McCowan missed a layup with 27.8 seconds left, and both teams turned the ball over in a wild sequence. McCowan fouled out of the game while stopping an Irish fast break after consecutive turnovers, and that set up the final three seconds.
After Ogunbowale’s clutch shot, officials huddled and put one-tenth of a second on the clock. A couple of Mississippi State players had already headed for the locker room as Notre Dame celebrated.
The court was cleared, and Mississippi State tossed a futile inbounds pass into the lane as the buzzer sounded.
“It hurts right now,” Bulldogs coach Vic Schaefer said. “They played their hearts out.”
It was the second year in a row the Bulldogs fell short in the title game. They lost to South Carolina last year after ending UConn’s record 111game winning streak.
Mississippi State’s Victoria Vivians finished with 21 points, and McCowan scored 18 to go along with 17 rebounds.