FLYING IRISH
ND’s Final Four hero beats buzzer for title
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 championship game on Sunday night. 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 remaining in overtime knocked off previously unbeaten UConn in the semifinals Friday. With this game tied, Ogunbowale took the inbounds pass from Jackie Young, dribbled twice toward the corner and, 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 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.
All the Irish players could celebrate after pulling off the biggest comeback in titlegame 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 after Notre Dame (35-3) won its only other championship in 2001 on Easter. Meanwhile, Mississippi State lost the title game for a second consecutive year.
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 in a wild sequence. McCowan fouled out of the game stopping an Irish fast break after consecutive turnovers and that set up the final 3 seconds.
“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.” —
NOTRE DAME 61 MISS. ST. 58