Baylor lost a star player, then a 17-point lead, but the Lady Bears, led by the ever-poised Chloe Jackson, kept their composure. Jackson drove for a tiebreaking layup with 3.9 seconds left, and that put the game into the hands of another tournament hero.
Notre Dame’s Arike Ogunbowale missed the first of two free throws with 1.9 seconds remaining, and Baylor held on for an 82-81 victory on Sunday in the NCAA women’s basketball championship game.
“They just kept doing what we’ve been taught to do, and that’s guard people,” Baylor coach Kim Mulkey said. “We just beat the defending national champions. That team is so good, so talented. You’re going to see those guys play at the next level. Wow.”
Baylor were able to pull off the win without star forward Lauren Cox, who injured her knee in a frightening scene late in the third quarter. The Irish were able to rally from a 14-point deficit in the third quarter to tie it at 78 in the fourth. Jackson then scored a jumper from the foul line, and Jessica Shepard countered with two free throws to tie it, setting up the exciting finish. “We had to do it for LC,” said Jackson, who was named the Final Four’s Most Outstanding Player. “She got us here. We had to finish the job for her.”
The Lady Bears won their first championship in seven years. Mulkey and Baylor have won titles in 2005, 2012 and 2019. The 2012 championship game also pitted Baylor against Muffet McGraw’s Irish in the last meeting of two female coaches for the title.
Ogunbowale led the charge again for Notre Dame on Sunday, scoring 17 of her 31 points in the second half. That included a buzzer-beating three at the end of the third quarter, sparking an 11-0 Notre Dame run. “It just wasn’t meant to be. It’s going to be a hard pill to swallow,” Ogunbowale said. “But things happen. I had a fun, great career here at Notre Dame.”
Sunday’s game marked the eighth time in the past 20 years that there have been two women head coaches in the title game but only the second time since 2008. The last time was in 2012 with these same coaches. As of 2018, only 59.5% of head coaches in Division I women’s basketball are female.
The victory broke a tie for third all-time between Mulkey and McGraw for career NCAA titles. Mulkey has three, placing her behind Geno Auriemma (11) and Pat Summitt (8).
