Blue and Gold Illustrated

May 2019

Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football

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48 MAY 2019 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED WOMEN'S BASKETBALL BY LOU SOMOGYI T wo champions departed the basketball court on the night of April 7 at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Fla. Notre Dame (35-4) had won the NCAA championship in 2018 with a fortitude that was virtually spiritual — and nearly did it again in 2019. Only this time it was Baylor's (37-1) turn to display its own brand of grit and guts that earned it the glory with an 82-81 triumph. One year after Fighting Irish guard Arike Ogunbowale ensconced herself as a basketball legend with two of the most iconic buzzer-beating field goals in Final Four victories versus Connecticut and Mississippi State, the All-American senior had the ball in her hands again at the foul line with two free throws, Notre Dame trailing 82-80 and 1.9 seconds left. Ogunbowale, who had converted 33 of her previous 36 (91.7 percent) free throws in this year's NCAA Tourna- ment, missed the first and accidentally converted the second when she was trying to miss. That inadvertent make thwarted a put-back opportunity by Notre Dame. Baylor was then able to run the clock out on two in-bounds passes to prevent head coach Muffet McGraw's Fighting Irish from repeat- ing as national champions. To McGraw and the entire team, the outcome was not about the finish but the start. Notre Dame converted only one of its first 16 field goal attempts while Baylor began 8 of 11 and built a cushion that reached 17 points (33-16). Notre Dame was in catch-up mode throughout the contest. "I felt [we] lost the game in the first quarter," McGraw said. "We just didn't come out ready. That was disappoint- ing. … The game didn't come down to that free throw." "It's tough," a disconsolate Ogun- bowale said. "You can't really do any- thing about that one." Meanwhile, Baylor's Chloe Jackson became the Ogunbowale of the 2019 final with 26 points, highlighted by an aggressive speed drive and banking in a lay-in just past the outstretched arm of all-time Notre Dame shot blocker Brianna Turner for an 82-80 advantage with 3.9 seconds left. "Jackson was the key to the game," McGraw said. "We really couldn't guard her." True to 2018 and 2019 NCAA Tour- nament form, Notre Dame made an- other scintillating rally in the second HEART OF TWO CHAMPIONS The Fighting Irish barely missed repeating as national champions, falling 82-81 to resilient Baylor Notre Dame all-time leading scorer Arike Ogunbowale led another dramatic rally in the NCAA Championship game against Baylor while tallying 31 points, but this time the Fighting Irish came up short in the 82-81 defeat. PHOTO COURTESY FIGHTING IRISH MEDIA

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