Notre Dame's Arike Ogunbowale's game-winning three wins National Championship

Posted: April 1, 2018 -- 9:31 pm CDT.

Updated, 4/2/2018, 6:50 a.m. Central Time<--

COLUMBUS, OHIO (Nationwide Arena) -- Arike Ogunbowale hit one game-winner Friday night to defeat UConn and send Notre Dame to the national championship game. Sunday, Ogunbowale hit another game-winner to give the Fighting Irish an amazing 61-58 victory over Mississippi State.

"I'm just so speechless at this point," Notre Dame Head Coach  Muffet McGraw said after the game.

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."

Ogunbowale was at a loss for words to describe the play.

"But that last play, there was just a lot going on. I can't even describe it," Ogunbowale said.

Notre Dame sophomore guard Jackie Young described the play.

"Initially, we were looking for Jess (Jessica Shepard); but -- I mean, whenever I was looking at it, I didn't like the way it looked," Young commented. "I knew, if I threw it, it would have possibly been a turnover. So I talked to Arike before, and I was like, if the matchup doesn't look right or if Jess isn't in the position that we're looking for, then come back to the ball. And I just made sure that Arike was literally coming to the ball before I passed it to her.

"We had confidence in her. As soon as she put the shot up, I knew it was going in."

Notre Dame was 0 for 7 from the three-point line until the final 96 seconds.

Mississippi State led 58-53 before Notre Dame's Marina Mabrey made a three-pointer to cut make the score 58-56.

After Mississippi State center Teaira McCowan missed a short shot and committed her fourth foul; Jackie Young's bank shot in the post tied the game at 58 with 46 seconds remaining.

In a wild sequence, McCowan missed a short shot with 30 seconds remaining. Notre Dame with the ball but committed a turnover. Then, Mississippi turned it over. Next, McCowan fouled with 3 seconds remaining. Timeout, Notre Dame. 5th foul on McCowan. She finished the game with 18 points (7/19 field goals, 4/8 free throws) and 17 rebounds.

Notre Dame called timeout; then, Ogunbowale made the game winner.

Byron L. Riley, CPA; Helping You Grow Your Business; Small Business Specialist.

Final stats: Notre Dame 61, Mississippi State 58 NCAA Championship Game

Notre Dame led Mississippi State 10-4. Then, Notre Dame's offense went into the deep freeze.

Mississippi State went on a 9-0 run the last 1:33. Notre Dame committed 3 turnovers the last 1:47.

Mississippi State led Notre Dame 17-14 at the end of the first quarter. State made 6 of their last 11 field goal attempts to finish the quarter. Notre Dame finished 2 for 4 from the floor but committed 3 turnovers in final 4:15.

The second quarter was a slugfest and offense was at a premium. Notre Dame missed its first 5 field goals before Jess Shepard made a layup. Shepard's layup and free throw were the only points Notre Dame scored in the second quarter.

Three points.

Mississippi State shot 5 for 17 in the second quarter and outscored the Fighting Irish 13-3 in the quarter. Mississippi State led 30-17 at halftime.

Notre Dame's offense awakened from its slumber in the third quarter. The Fighting Irish made 7 of 15 field goals in the period while State made only 4 of 13 field goal attempts.

Mississippi State led 40-25; however, Notre Dame finished the quarter with a 16-1 run in the final 5:59 of the quarter to tie the game at 41 after three quarters.

Jess Shepard scored the first 2 points of the fourth quarter for a 43-41 Notre Dame lead.

Teaira McCowan made two free throws and tied the game at 43.

The game was nip and tuck the next few minutes.

Ogunbowale tied the game at 51 before McCowan scored on a putback for a 53-51 State lead.

Minutes later, Roshunda Johnson sank a huge three-point shot for a 58-53 State lead with 1:54 remaining in the game.

Mississippi State did not score the rest of the game.

"Mississippi State was a tremendous defensive team," Muffet McGraw commented. "They really gave us a lot of problems in the first half. We lost our composure a little bit, but we got it back, and we just kept fighting."

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