Notre Dame and Villanova Champs
April 3, 2018
On Sunday night, April 1, at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, the University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish women’s basketball team defeated the Mississippi State University Bulldogs 61-58 to win the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Tournament. Notre Dame junior guard Arike Ogunbowale hit a 3-point shot as time expired to win the game and complete a stirring comeback. It was Notre Dame’s second NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) women’s basketball title (the team’s first came in 2001). For Mississippi State, it was the team’s second-straight heartbreaking loss in the championship game. The Bulldogs lost to champion South Carolina in 2017.
Notre Dame’s Arike Ogunbowale drives to the basket against Roshunda Johnson of Mississippi State during the championship game of the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Tournament at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, on April 1, 2018. Credit: © Justin Tafoya, Getty Images
The Irish struggled early, trailing 30-17 at halftime. But Notre Dame stormed back in the third quarter, making up the deficit and battling to a tie to start the fourth. Led by Ogunbowale (18 points) and junior forward Jessica Shepard (19 points), the Irish overcame Mississippi State’s scoring tandem of junior guard Victoria Vivians (21 points) and sophomore center Teaira McCowan (18 points). Tied at 58 in the final seconds of the game, Notre Dame’s Ogunbowale dribbled into the corner and threw up a contested shot that swished through the net as time expired. For Ogunbowale, it was her second-straight gigantic game-winning shot. In the Final Four semifinal against perennial powerhouse Connecticut, Ogunbowale drained a jumper with 1 second left to give Notre Dame a thrilling 91-89 victory in overtime. Ogunbowale was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player (MOP). Mississippi State downed Louisville in its Final Four semifinal.
Villanova’s Mikal Bridges goes high to the basket against Michigan’s Zavier Simpson during the championship game of the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, on April 2, 2018. Credit: © Ronald Martinez, Getty Images
On Monday night, April 2, at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, the Villanova University Wildcats downed the University of Michigan Wolverines 79-62 to win the men’s NCAA title. Michigan, led by junior forward Moritz Wagner, started strong and carried a 21-14 lead beyond the 11-minute mark in the first half. From that moment on, however, it was all Villanova. Wildcat sophomore guard Donte DiVincenzo alone outscored Michigan in the waning minutes of the first half, which ended 37-28 solidly in Villanova’s favor. The second half was Villanova’s, too, and the team steadily pulled away, leading by as many as 20 points. The Wildcats’ national player of the year, junior guard Jalen Brunson, had a lackluster 9 points, but a third guard, junior Mikal Bridges, added 19 points, and redshirt freshman forward Omari Spellman was a force inside, pulling down 11 rebounds, adding 8 points, and repeatedly getting under the skin of the Wolverines’ Wagner. The red-headed and Italian-named DiVincenzo—affectionately known as “The Big Ragu”—began the game on the bench as the sixth man, but finished with 31 points and earned tournament MOP honors.
It was the second national title for Villanova head coach Jay Wright, and Villanova’s third title overall. The Philadelphia school previously cut down the final nets in 1985 and 2016. It was Michigan’s seventh championship game. The lone title for the Wolverines of Ann Arbor, Michigan, came in 1989. Villanova dominated this year’s tournament, winning all games by 12 points or more, including the team’s 16-point pasting of Kansas in the Final Four semifinal. Michigan hoed a tough road to the title game, eclipsing tournament darling Loyola University Chicago in its Final Four semifinal.
