Flashback Friday: Notre Dame Women’s Basketball wins the 2018 National Championship

On Flashback Friday, we’re reliving the Notre Dame women’s basketball team’s victory over Mississippi State in the 2018 National Championship Game.

Notre Dame’s most recent national championship is arguably one of its most memorable. At a school with such a rich history of success in athletics, that is saying something. Of course, I’m referring to the Notre Dame women’s basketball team defeating Mississippi State in the 2018 NCAA Championship Game. For this Flashback Friday, we’re taking a quick trip down memory lane to relive this legendary game.

To fully appreciate the achievement of the 2017-2018 Notre Dame women’s basketball team, we must go all the way back to the previous season.

In the 2017 NCAA Tournament All-American forward Brianna Turner tore her ACL. The staff held out hope that she might be able to return to play at some point the following season, but that was not the case.

Turner’s injury would be the first of four ACL tears that forced four different Notre Dame players to miss all or most of the 2017-2018 season.

By now, every Irish fan knows coach Muffet McGraw’s famous quote during the 2018 NCAA Tournament, “I didn’t think we’d have more ACL tears than losses.”

After a hard-fought loss in the final of the ACC Tournament, this Notre Dame team did not falter. They regrouped and prepared themselves for a run at the ultimate prize, a national championship.

The Irish cruised through the first two rounds of the tournament, and then faced some tougher opponents in Texas A&M (Sweet Sixteen) and Oregon (Elite Eight).

Muffet McGraw’s squad was clearly one of the four best teams in the country that season. Rightfully so, they earned a spot in the Final Four. There, they faced UConn in a heavyweight bout.

That semifinal game against UConn essentially solidified Jackie Young’s status as a future first-round pick. She finished the game with 32 points, 19 of which came in the second half and overtime. She also had 11 rebounds, a steal, and a block.

In the final seconds of overtime, Arike Ogunbowale hit what was, at the time, the biggest shot of her college career. Little did we know, she would top that shot a mere 48 hours later.

Next up for the Irish was Mississippi State in the championship game.

Both teams shot poorly in this game. I attribute that to great defending and the general nerves that come with playing in a national championship game.

The first quarter was back-and-forth. Notre Dame made the first three baskets in the game to take a 6-0 lead. Then Mississippi State went on a 11-0 run to take a 17-12 lead late in the quarter.

The Irish probably went into the first intermission feeling alright and were hoping to regain the lead before halftime. Then the second quarter happened. Oof.

In the second quarter, Notre Dame looked like the NBA players in Space Jam after the Monstars stole their talent. They committed seven turnovers and shot 2/10 from the field.

Muffet McGraw’s team went to the locker room down 30-17 and searching for answers.

The answer they came up were Jess Shepard and Arike Ogunbowale. The duo combined to score 15 points in the third quarter as the Irish stormed back to tie the game at 41-41.

As the saying goes, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” In the fourth quarter, the Notre Dame offense continued to run through Shepard and Ogunbowale. They combined to scored 13 points in the fourth quarter. None bigger than the final three points of the game.

With just three seconds left on the game clock. Mississippi State committed a foul – giving Notre Dame an inbounds pass from the designated sideline spot.

Jackie Young was inbounding the ball on that play. A Mississippi State player was originally in her face guarding the inbound, but she backed off to prevent a pass to Jess Shepard in the low post. That left an opening for Arike Ogunbowale.

Katherine Westbeld set a screen to help free Ogunbowale, who then shook a second defender to give Jackie young an easy pass to make.

With three seconds on the clock, Ogunbowale knew she did not have to rush her shot. She caught the ball and immediately turned to her left (towards the baseline). She took two dribbles and elevated to shoot while fading towards the baseline.

When I was watching this game, I thought the shot had no chance when it left her hand. The level of difficulty of shooting a three-pointer while your momentum is carrying you one way is insane. Add that to the pressure of a national championship game. Stuff like that is only supposed to happen in movies.

Sure enough, swish. She did it again. Ice twice.

Notre Dame won the 2018 national championship game by a final score of 61-58. It was the program’s second title in 18 years.