Notre Dame’s Arike Ogunbowale shoots her shot for dramatic NCAA win

With a measly .1 seconds left in the game, junior Arike Ogunbowale landed a three-point shot, carrying Notre Dame women's basketball to a second basketball title and a comeback win over Mississippi State.

Melanie Eversley

Apr 2, 2018

Arike Ogunbowale thegrio.com — Arike Ogunbowale #24 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish hoist the NCAA championship trophy after scoring the game winning basket to defeat the Mississippi State Lady Bulldogs in the championship game of the 2018 NCAA Women's Final Four at Nationwide Arena on April 1, 2018 in Columbus, Ohio. The Notre Dame Fighting Irish defeated the Mississippi State Lady Bulldogs 61-58. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

It took some “Black Girl Magic” to vault the Fighting Irish women’s basketball team on Sunday to a sizzling NCAA comeback.

With a measly .1 seconds left in the game, junior Arike Ogunbowale landed a three-point shot, carrying Notre Dame women’s basketball to a second basketball title and a comeback win over Mississippi State, according to the Associated Press. The final score was 61-58.

Adding to the drama is that this is not the first time Ogunbowale has left fans screaming with intensity.

On Friday, she landed a jumper with just one second remaining in overtime, to kick the previously unbeatable University of Connecticut out of the finals.

Sunday’s Easter miracle jumped off as the game was tied. Ogunbowale took the ball from superstar guard Jackie Young, twice dribbled toward the corner and then, in front of the Notre Dame bench no less, went for it, the Associated Press reported.

Like an elite marathoner, Ogunbowale warmed up to her performance, scoring 16 of her 18 points in the second half.

“It just felt right,” Ogunbowale told the Associated Press. “I practice late game all the time. I just ran to Jackie and said, ‘Throw it to me; throw it to me.’ ”

The performance is winning Ogunbowale more fans all over the country, including Kobe Bryant, who has been encouraging her via Twitter. In fact, she wears number 24, which was Bryant’s number in the second half of his career, SBNation points out.

Yesterday’s dramatic finish apparently left Bryant almost speechless. His tweet was a simple, “Wow,” followed by hashtags that included “#lifecomplete.”

Ogunbowale is a 5’8″ guard and comes to Notre Dame by way of Milwaukee.