Notre Dame Wins Women’s National Basketball Championship on Last-Second Shot

Two days earlier, Ogunbowale’s jumper with one second remaining in overtime knocked off previously unbeaten CT in the semifinals. He felt his players were exhausted after practicing the day after the monumental upset of UConn that ended the Huskies’ record 111-game winning streak.

Ogunbowale, who scored 27 points in Friday’s epic semi-final win over the Huskies, earned most outstanding player honours for the tournament.

Mississippi State Basketball is in the final game of the season.

“I knew I just had to shoot it at the last minute”. McCowan fouled Young with three seconds remaining.

The game came down to the wire as MS stole the ball and Notre Dame stole it back in transition.

Arike Ogunbowale hit the shot of her life – again. But over the next few minutes the Irish had trouble finishing inside as Mississippi State extended the lead to 40-25, its largest margin of the game.

The Nigerian community in the USA has celebrated Arike Ogunwale’s winning shot, which crowned Notre Dame as winners of the 2018 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) basketball title. North Carolina great Charlotte Smith made a 3-pointer at the buzzer in 1994 that lifted the Tar Heels to an improbable one-point win over Louisiana Tech. Her two game winners came over the outstretched arms of 6-foot-1 Napeheesa Collier and the 6-1 Vivians.

Jessica Shepard led the Irish with 19 points and led the team with two assists too. Then Mabrey’s attempt to find contact for a three-point play on the following possession led to a traveling call. Roshunda Johnson hit a clutch three for the second game in a row, putting the Bulldogs ahead 58-53 with 2:01 to play.

As Ogunbowale (she finished with 18 points) pointed out to Kobe Bryant, her new Twitter buddy, “It’s over”.

In its answer, Notre Dame decided not to mess with perfection.

Not that you can blame McCowan for anything in this NCAA Tournament.

The win gave Notre Dame its second national title in program history. The Irish average 86 points per contest and were held to 61. They shot 30 percent in the first half and had 12 turnovers. They won their lone championship in 2001.

With the game tied at 58, Notre Dame’s, Ogunbowale, received the ball off the inbound pass, with 0.1 seconds left.

Mississippi State’s season ends with a loss in the national championship for a second straight season.

Teaira McCowan guided Mississippi State with 18 points and 17 rebounds.

This victory, however, signals the second consecutive defeat for Mississippi State in the national championship game, losing to SC past year.

“They just put their head down and drove it to the rim”, Mississippi State Coach Vic Schaefer said.

Notre Dame’s bench was shocked by the victory and couldn’t contain its excitement, rushing the court to mob the junior guard from Milwaukee, Wis.

Victoria Vivians led MSU with 21 points. Schaefer’s six teams in Starkville have improved each season until losing this one.

McGraw says she is proud of her team’s ability to bounce back and step up when it matters most.