SOUTH BEND – No matter what she does every spring at the game’s highest level, and she’s done a ton, former Notre Dame women’s basketball guard Arike Ogunbowale will be remembered for one shot that one night.
Forever.
You know the night. You know the shot. Easter Sunday 2018 in Columbus, Ohio. The women’s college basketball national championship game between Notre Dame and Mississippi State seemed destined for overtime. Tied at 58. Three seconds left. The Irish inbound the ball in front of their bench, Ogunbowale works free for a clean/quick look and lets it fly.
You know what happens next. If you’ve been to an Irish women’s game at Purcell Pavilion since that night in central Ohio, you know. The video clip is part of every Notre Dame home game. It still gives you chills.
Same goes for Adam Amin’s television call – “Ogunbowale … for the win … goooooooood!”
Her shot dropped as the horn sounded. Pandemonium ensued. Notre Dame won its second national championship under Hall of Fame coach Muffet McGraw and the legend of Arike Ogunbowale was forever cemented long before she became the all-time leading scorer in program history (2,626 points).
The 28-year-old self-proclaimed walking bucket returns often to South Bend to watch games during the WNBA offseason. For the first time in her professional career, the Milwaukee native was back Friday as a member of the Dallas Wings, who faced the Las Vegas Aces in a WNBA exhibition game.
As Ogunbowale met the media earlier in the afternoon after the Wings’ shootaround, which fittingly couldn’t end until a certain former Irish guard sank a halfcourt shot, she could look to her left and see that 2018 national championship banner.
After six professional seasons, after 4,014 career points and counting, after four all-star games and two all-star most valuable player honors, Ogunbowale is best known for that magical night in Columbus. Her magic.
She’s good with it.
“Every March Madness, it comes across my timeline; I get tagged with it,” Ogunbowale said Friday. “It’s always good to see and know that I was a part of history with that team.”
Notre Dame returned to the national championship game in 2019 where it lost to Baylor. The Irish haven’t been back since. Notre Dame had a team that many figured was a Final Four lock this past season. The Irish lost four of their final eight after being ranked No. 1 and saw the season again cease in the Sweet 16.
If Ogunbowale watches any college basketball these days, she’s watching Notre Dame. One of the first calls she made after TCU tripped up Notre Dame in the Sweet 16 was to head coach Niele Ivey.
“She was totally fine,” Ogunbowale said. “She’s a very God-driven faithful woman so she knows everything happens for a reason. She’s always going to be good.”
Friday’s exhibition opener also featured a new set — Power Two — installed by first-year head coach Chris Koclanes. It called for former Connecticut guard Paige Bueckers, the first pick in last month’s WNBA draft, to dribble out front and wait for Ogunbowale to work her way down the baseline and through a double screen.
Ogunbowale got the ball on the left side and had the choice of looking down low or rising and firing. It was the first one the Wings ran in a halfcourt set Friday. Ogunbowale missed the shot.
She’ll always have 2018.
Follow South Bend Tribune and NDInsider columnist Tom Noie on X (formerly Twitter): @tnoieNDI. Contact Noie at tnoie@sbtinfo.com
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