Notre Dame captures NCAA Women's Tourney Championship with win over Mississippi St- Gallery4/2/2018
Written by Adrian Beecher
COLUMBUS, OH-- Seventeen years ago to the day, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish Women's basketball team earned their first ever National Title. Sunday night, after falling behind by 15 points, the Irish roared back, and guard Arike Ogunbowale hit a game-winner at the buzzer to get back on top of the Women's College Basketball world, with a 61-58 win over the Mississippi State Bulldogs to win the 2018 National Title.
Here's how it all went down in Columbus. The Irish got off to a hot start, taking an early 6-0 lead over the Bulldogs, with shots falling in for forward Jessica Shepard, Ogunbowale and guard Jackie Young. Mississippi State's first points of the night came from guard Victoria Vivians three minutes and 11 seconds into the game, off of a jumper. However, this did not seem to jumpstart the Bulldogs offense as they trailed 10-4 as we reached the under-five-minute media timeout in the 1st quarter. The timeout seemed to help out though as Vivians put in a bucket for the Bulldogs to start a 13-2 run to take the lead. As we reached the end of the 1st quarter, Mississippi State had a 17-14 lead over the Fighting Irish. The 2nd quarter started off with both teams struggling shooting, going scoreless for the first three minutes of the quarter. A triple from guard Blair Schaefer would end the scoring drought for the Bulldogs as they took a 20-14 lead. Notre Dame's struggles continued and the Bulldogs took advantage, pulling out to a 24-14 lead over the Irish midway through the quarter. The first points of the quarter for Notre Dame would come with 3:08 remaining in the quarter, as Shepard put in a jumper and earned a trip to the line, where she trimmed the deficit to seven. Excitement, however, was limited for the Irish the rest of the 1st half. Mississippi State ended the 2nd quarter on a 6-0 run, to take a 30-17 lead into the locker room at the half. Vivians was the leading scorer for Mississippi State with 14 points. Center Teaira McCowan led the team in rebounds with eight. The Irish, on the other hand, relied heavily on Shepard who led the team with seven points, hitting 75% from the field. The rest of Notre Dame was shooting just 21% from the field, hitting only 4 of 19 shots. Shepard continued to play the lead role for the Irish as the second half got underway, putting in the 1st basket. This put a little spark in their squad as a steal an score on the ensuing possession by Irish guard Marina Mabrey quickly cut the deficit to just eight, 50 seconds into the second half. This didn't slow down the Bulldogs attack though. They would push the lead to 15 with 6:41 left in the 3rd after going on a an 8-1 run, highlighted by a triple from Schaefer. The Irish would follow suit with a 6-0 run of their own to trim the lead back to 9 with 4:58 left in the quarter. A free throw from McCowan at the other end would extend the Bulldogs lead back to 10. However, Notre Dame continued to chip away at the deficit little by little. With 1:05 left in the 3rd quarter, Ogunbowale drained a free throw to cap a 16-1 run that made it 41-39, with the Bulldogs clinging to the lead. Two missed free throws by Mississippi State would turn into points at the other end for the Irish after two offensive rebounds but Schaefer would tie the game with 17 seconds left in the quarter. As the fourth and final quarter got underway, it was anyone's game with things knotted at 41. Shepard would again get things going for the Irish to start the quarter as she put in a quick layup to put the Irish on top. This, however, was answered with two made free throws from the Bulldogs as the two teams traded punches, vying for the title. After tying the game up three times following Irish basket's, the Bulldogs went back on top with 7:41 left to play on a jumper from the left side for McCowan. She followed that with another basket to give Mississippi State a four point lead. Then, just as quickly as the lead grew for Mississippi State, the score was tied back at 51 with just 5:35 left to play. The Bulldogs would then go on a 7-2 run to take a 58-53 lead over the Irish with just 1:58 left to play as guard Roshunda Johnson hit a triple. Mississippi State head coach Vic Schaefer called timeout, which worked against them, as it slowed their momentum. Out of the timeout, Mabrey hit a triple to cut the deficit to just two. Then with just 45 seconds left to play, Young hit a jumper to tie things up at 58. That is when things got a bit frantic for each team as they both turned the ball over. Then McCowan fouled out with only three seconds left to play. On the inbound pass to Ogunbowale, she took two steps and then threw it up from the right side beyond the arc. The entire arena went silent as the ball sailed on its way to the rim. As it sank threw, the buzzer sounded at the Irish faithful erupted in jubilation. Upon further review, they would put 0.1 second back on the clock, but it wasn't enough for the Bulldogs to put up a shot. The win cements the Irish in history and gives head coach Muffet McGraw her 2nd National Title. Ogunbowale and Shepard combined for 37 points to lead the Irish. Ogunbowale was named the MVP of the game after hitting the game-winning shot. |
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