Ogunbowale, Irish Complete Season With National Title
Now, Arike Ogunbowale can say her life is complete.
After the Notre Dame guard hit a shot to upset Connecticut in the Final Four on Friday night, Ogunbowale received a shout-out from Kobe Bryant on Twitter and quoted it saying her life was complete. Bryant responded by saying, “Nah…it’s complete by finishing the job on Sunday.”
Ogunbowale drained a three-pointer with 0.1 seconds left on Sunday to beat Mississippi State in the national championship 61-58 and finish the job.
"I'm just so speechless at this point," said Notre Dame head coach Muffet McGraw. "To see this team come back from yet another huge deficit, to see Arike make an incredible shot, to see the resilience of a team that never gave up.
"Thank you, Jesus, on Easter Sunday."
Ogunbowale finished with 18 points while Jessica Shepard led the Irish with 19.
"When I saw it travel a little bit, I thought so," Ogunbowale said of her shot. "But that last play, there was just a lot going on. I can't even describe it."
It marks the Irish’s second national championship under McGraw and their first since 2001.
Victoria Vivians led the Bulldogs with 21 points while Teaira McCowan added 18 points and 17 rebounds.
"I just want to say McCowan is an unbelievable player," stated McGraw. "She had a fantastic game. She's so difficult to guard. She is definitely an All-American."
Mississippi State led 30-17 at the half, and things looked especially bleak for the Irish three minutes later when the Vivians drained a three-pointer to make the score 40-25. But the Irish closed the quarter by scoring 16 of the next 17 points to knot the game at 41-41 going into the final quarter.
Ogunbowale scored six points during that run while Kathryn Westbeld and Shepard scored four apiece during the spurt.
Notre Dame took its first lead since the first quarter, when Shepard opened the fourth with an inside bucket. Mississippi State came back to score 10 of the next 14 points as they made an effort to get the ball inside to McCowan, who scored six of the 10 while Vivians added the other four during the stretch.
The Irish continued to battle back with Ogunbowale and Shepard to tie the game at 51-51 and trailed by only two before Roshunda Johnson’s triple gave the Bulldogs a 58-53 lead with two minutes to play. That shot looked like it could have been the dagger, but Notre Dame’s Marina Mabrey drained a three on the next trip. McCowan was called for a loose ball foul on the next possession, which led to Jackie Young’s inside hoop with 46 seconds left to tie the game 58-58.
"It was rebounding," McGraw said of the comeback. "I think we were able to get some rebounds and get going a little bit more in transition. Just really couldn't get anything going in the second quarter. So I think the third quarter we definitely came out and were a little more focused on trying to use the high ball screen."
After McCowan missed an easy layup, the Irish had a chance to hold until the last shot, but turned it over with less than 10 seconds to play. Notre Dame came out of a midcourt scramble with the ball. McCowan saved the game with a foul with three seconds that prevented an easy layup from the Irish, but Ogunbowale took the inbounds pass, two dribbles and buried a rainbow leaner to stun the Bulldogs and win the game.
Notre Dame finished the season 35-3 while the Bulldogs ended the year 37-2.
Notre Dame got off to a quick start on both ends of the floor in the first six minutes of the game. Shepard got the Irish started on a 6-0 run to open the game, which was quickly followed by each starter scoring before the first stoppage.
On the defensive end, Notre Dame recorded four steals and forced five Mississippi State turnovers in the first five minutes to take a 10-4 lead with 4:15 left in the first quarter.
McCowan, who scored nine points and pulled down nine rebounds in the first half, quickly jumpstarted the Bulldogs. The 6-foot-7 center got a layup and then completed a three-point play on the next possession. The Bulldogs added two layups and another bucket from McCowan to complete an 11-0 run to take a 17-13 lead.
During the run, Notre Dame got careless and turned the ball over three times.
Notre Dame continued its turnover spree with had four in the first four minutes of the second quarter. However, neither team scored until 6:51 mark when Mississippi State’s Blair Schaefer nailed a three to push the lead to 20-14.
The Irish offense struggled substantially in the second quarter, scoring just three points. Mabrey scored with 1:15 left in the first quarter and the Irish wouldn’t score again until 3:08 was left in the second quarter on a Shepard three-point play.
Shepard led the Irish with seven points on 3-for-4 shooting in the first 20 minutes.
Mississippi State forced seven turnovers in the second quarter alone and ended the opening half a 6-0 run to take a 30-17 lead into the half.
Vivians scored 14 points in the opening half to lead Mississippi State.
Notre Dame came out of the half on a 5-0 run highlighted by a three-point play by Mabrey to cut the lead to eight points.
The Bulldogs once again answered with three-pointers by Vivians and Schaefer to push the lead back to 15 points with 6:41 left in the third quarter before the Irish made their run.