The Notre Dame Fighting Irish women’s basketball program has seen a tremendous amount of talent come through South Bend, and right now they have an incredible player in Hannah Hidalgo. The junior guard is up for ACC player of the year and national player of the year honors, as she continues to stack the stats on the court. For as good as Hidalgo is, there is a cavernous gap between her and Irish legend, Arike Ogunbowale.
It might be unfair in some respects, but it’s foolish to compare the two players.
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Notre Dame’s 2018 run to the national championship was remarkable on several different levels. The Irish were a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament and went on to beat 4-seed Texas A&M (Sweet 16), 2-seed Oregon (Elite 8), 1-seed UConn (Final 4), and 1-seed Mississippi State (National Championship. It was one heck of a gauntlet, and through it all, Arike Ogunbowale averaged over 24 points a game.
But the scoring totals weren’t the story — it was how she scored her last points of a couple of games, and what it meant for her and Notre Dame.
There was, perhaps, no bigger Final Four matchup than Notre Dame vs UConn in 2018. The two schools had long been rivals, and even though the Irish left the Big East for the ACC and UConn landed in the American Conference, they continued to play an annual game. In December of 2017 in Hartford, Connecticut, UConn was down 11 points to the Irish in the beginning of the 4th quarter. The Huskies went on to outscore the Irish 26-9 in the final 10 minutes to secure an 80-71 victory. By the time the Irish faced UConn in the Final Four, the Huskies were undefeated and seemingly the best team in the country.
And oh by the way, there was a heated personal rivalry between the two head coaches; Notre Dame’s Muffet McGraw and UConn’s Geno Auriemma.
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The Final Four showdown was everything college basketball fans hoped it would be, and after 40 minutes, the two teams went into overtime. With the overtime period coming close to the end and both teams tied at 89, Arike Ogunbowale dribbled away from half court to the right, crossed over, took a step back, and drained a jump shot just over the three point line to put Notre Dame up 91-89 with one second left in the game. A desperation attempt by UConn was no good, and the Irish moved on to the National Championship game to take on Mississippi State.
The Irish really didn’t play very well in the National Championship game. The Irish were down 13 at the half after scoring just 3 points in the entire second quarter. The second half, however, was a much different story, but Notre Dame was till down 5 points with less than two minutes to go. Thanks to some MSU foul trouble and a missed layup by Teaira McCowan with the game tied and less than 30 seconds to go, the Irish found themselves inbounding the ball at half court with 3 seconds left in the game. Ogunbowale took a quick pass right by the sideline, dribbled right, and put up a fade away three that swished through with .1 seconds left in the game.
Hello NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP Notre Dame.
Knocking down one game winner in the Final Four is how legends are made, but making two in a row to win it all makes you royalty. Arike Ogunbowale had ice running through her veins, and made herself the Ice Queen of the Final Four. It’s a feat that will likely never be matched, and it’s what makes that 2018 Notre Dame national championship team one of the greatest of all-time.
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Yes… Arike had a stellar team and a head coach that now has a statue on Notre Dame’s campus, but neither of those things helped put the ball in the basket with time winding down to win the two biggest games of the season. However, Arike’s March Madness moments are truly unforgettable in Notre Dame history.
