COLUMBUS, Ohio — Arike Ogunbowale’s off-balance 3-pointer with 0.1 seconds remaining lifted the Notre Dame women’s basketball team to a 61-58 victory against Mississippi State in the national championship game at Nationwide Arena.
Ogunbowale (18 points) hit the game-winning shot Friday night in a 91-89 overtime victory against Connecticut in the national semifinals.
Jessica Shepard led Notre Dame, which won its second national championship, with 19 points.
MSU (37-2) had a chance to take the lead with the game tied at 58, but Teaira McCowan left a post move on the left block short with less than a minute to go. The Bulldogs appeared to re-gain possession following a turnover by the Fighting Irish, but they turned it over trying to push the basketball ahead to Victoria Vivians (game-high 21 points).
McCowan was called for her fifth foul on the play with 3.0 seconds left. The foul prevented North Dame (35-3) from finding one of its two open players by the rim.
Notre Dame inbounded the ball on the right side of the court, just in front of its bench. Jackie Young inbounded the ball to Ogunbowale, who moved right into the corner. She jumped into the air and moved to her right to give her just enough space to launch the shot over the outstretched fingers of Vivians.
The officials reviewed the play and put 0.1 seconds back on the clock, but that wasn’t enough time for MSU to get a shot off. The Bulldogs lobbed a pass to Vivians, whose shot was waved off at the final buzzer.
Roshunda Johnson hit a big 3-pointer from the right win with the shot clock winding down to give MSU a 58-53 lead with 1 minute, 54 seconds to play. The redshirt senior used an up fake to gain a little space to launch the shot just in time.
Notre Dame battled back thanks to a 24-11 third quarter in which it was 7-for-15 from the field and MSU as 4-for-13 from the field.
MSU used a 13-3 run in the second quarter to build a 30-17 halftime lead. The Bulldogs used strong pressure on the ball to limit the Fighting Irish’s ability to make clean passes. As a result, MSU forced 12 turnovers and held Notre Dame to 7-for-23 shooting (30.4 percent) from the field.
Notre Dame came into the game averaging 85.8 points per game. Its lowest scoring game of the season came in a 66-54 victory against Penn on Dec. 9, 2017.
Notre Dame’s previous low for points in a first half this season was 27 in an 84-70 victory against Tennessee on Jan. 18 in Notre Dame, Indiana.
MSU played far from its crispest offensive first half of the season. The Bulldogs were only 13-for-34 from the field (38.2 percent) and committed eight turnovers.
Five of those turnovers came in a first quarter that saw MSU fall behind 6-0. The Bulldogs’ mistakes were self-inflicted as they lost the basketball on moves to the basket and tried to thread passes between defenders with their hands up.
But MSU worked to get McCowan involved in the post. The 6-foot-7 junior center was 4-for-11 from the field in the first half. She had nine points and eight rebounds.
Victoria Vivians played an active role on both ends for MSU. The 6-1 senior from Carthage led all scorers with 14 points on 6-for-12 shooting. She also had five rebounds and four steals, which was one off her career high.
MSU was making its second-straight appearance in the national title game. South Carolina defeated MSU 67-55 in the 2017 championship game.
Notre Dame was making its sixth appearance in the national championship game. It beat Purdue 68-66 to win the 2001 national title. Notre Dame lost to Texas A&M in 2001, Baylor in 2002, and Connecticut in 2014 and 2015.
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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