Notre Dame wins NCAA women’s championship

Notre Dame’s Arike Ogunbowale made her second straight, last-second game-winning 3-point shot to lift the Fighting Irish to the women’s NCAA basketball championship over Mississippi State Sunday in Columbus, Ohio. The Irish were down 30-17 to the Bulldogs at halftime but rallied to win 61-58, overcoming the largest deficit in title game history. The thrilling comeback came just two days after Notre Dame in the semifinals knocked out previously unbeaten powerhouse Connecticut in overtime with another buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Ogunbowale, who was named the tournament’s most outstanding player. Notre Dame under coach Muffet McGraw had lost in the title game four times in the past seven years, and won its only other women’s championship in 2001, also on Easter Sunday. “It’s Easter Sunday, and all the Catholics were praying for us,” McGraw said after the game. In the men’s tournament, Michigan plays Villanova for the national title in San Antonio Monday night. In Saturday’s semifinals, Michigan defeated scrappy tournament underdog Loyola Chicago 69-57, while Villanova surprised many by blowing by Kansas 95-79.