Notre Dame Beats Mississippi State 61-58 In NCAA Women’s Title Game With Buzzer-Beater [VIDEO]

Arike Ogunbowale’s buzzer-beater helped lift the Notre Dame Fighting Irish to an overtime victory over the Mississippi State Bulldogs in the NCAA women’s basketball championship game on Sunday in Columbus, Ohio.

NCAA Women’s National Title Game Score

Ogunbowale took an inbounds pass in a tie game with three seconds left, raced into the right corner and drained a high-arcing 3-pointer to make it 61-58 with 1 second remaining and give Notre Dame its first national title since 2001.

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Mississippi State was up by five with 2:01 remaining, but the Fighting Irish’s Marina Mabrey hit a 3-pointer and Jackie Young knocked down a jumper to tie the game — a matchup between two top-seeded teams — at 58 and set up Ogunbowale’s game-sealing shot.

Jessica Shepard finished with 19 points for Notre Dame (35-3). Ogunbowale had 18, and Mabrey added 10.

Victoria Vivians scored 21 points, and Teaira McCowan ended a record-setting women’s NCAA Tourney with 18 points and 17 rebounds for the Bulldogs (37-2). Mississippi State lost in the national title game for the second straight season.

McCowan recorded her 29th double-double of the season. The 6-foot-7 junior finished the tournament with a record 109 rebounds in Mississippi State’s six-game run to the final.

Notre Dame scored only three points in the second quarter and trailed 30-17 at halftime.

The Bulldogs defeated UConn in last year’s Final Four but lost to South Carolina in the national championship game. Notre Dame beat the Huskies in overtime on Friday. Ogunbowale also scored the game-winner in that semifinal game.

Article by Pablo Mena