Notre Dame stuns UConn, will play for women’s title
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
Sunday: Notre Dame vs. Mississippi St., 3 p.m., ESPN
Arike Ogunbowale’s jumper from the corner with a second left lifted Notre Dame to a 91-89 overtime victory over UConn on Friday night in the national semifinals.
She finished with 27 points and Jackie Young had a career-high 32 to lead the Irish back to the championship game for the first time since 2015.
It’s the second consecutive year an undefeated UConn team lost in the Final Four on a last-second shot in overtime. Last time it was Mississippi State and Morgan William, ending the Huskies’ 111-game win streak.
The Irish will face the Bulldogs who won again in OT earlier Friday on Sunday night in the title game. Muffet McGraw’s squad will be looking for its second national championship to go with the one the Irish won in 2001.
Ogunbowale had a chance to seal the game in the final minute of overtime, but she missed two free throws. Crystal Dangerfield then hit a 3-pointer to tie it at 89, setting up the fantastic finish. The Huskies threw the ball down the court after the 3, but didn’t get a chance to tie it.
This was the latest chapter in the greatest current rivalry in women’s basketball. The sellout crowd that included Lakers great Kobe Bryant, who was sitting behind the Huskies bench with his wife and daughters, saw quite the show with epic comebacks from both teams.
UConn was down five with under a minute to go in regulation before Napheesa Collier hit a 3-pointer with 15
seconds left and Kia Nurse had a steal for a layup a few seconds later to tie it. After Notre Dame turned it over with 3.6 seconds left in regulation, Gabby Williams’ runner was short, sending the game to overtime. This might be one of the most improbable NCAA runs by McGraw’s team, despite being a No. 1 seed. The Irish lost four players over the course of the season to ACL injuries. With only seven healthy scholarship players left, the Irish rallied from second-half deficits in the last three
NCAA games.
Collier finished with 24 points for the Huskies. Stevens added 19. MISSISSIPPI STATE 73, LOUISVILLE 63, OT >> Teaira McCowan had 21 points and 25 rebounds to help Mississippi State reach the national championship game for the second straight year.
Down three points, Roshunda Johnson hit a 3-pointer from the wing to tie the game at 59 with seven seconds left in regulation. Louisville’s Myisha Hines-Allen then drove the length of the floor but missed a layup as time ran out with McCowan dogging her.
In overtime, the Bulldogs asserted themselves and Morgan William, who hit the game-winning shot in OT last year in the Final Four to end UConn’s 111-game winning streak, made two free throws in the last minute to help Mississippi State (37-1) pull away.
Louisville (36-3) managed just one basket on 10 shots in the extra period.
McCowan broke the rebounding mark set by Charlotte Smith of North Carolina in 1994 when Mississippi State’s 6-foot-7 center grabbed her 24th board.
Asia Durr scored 18 for Louisville (36-3), which was making its third appearance in the Final Four. Jazmine Jones added 15.