Notre Dame women headed back to title game after late rally to knock off Connecticut

TAMPA, Fla. — Notre Dame wouldn’t be denied.

In a wild game featuring nine ties and 26 lead changes, the defending national champions wiped out a nine-point deficit in the final eight minutes to hand archrival Connecticut an 81-76 defeat in Friday’s Final Four semifinal.

Before a sellout crowd at Amalie Arena, Arike Ogunbowale scored 21 of her team-high 23 points in the second half. That included a 14-point fourth quarter and a key rebound in the final minute with the Irish (35-3) clinging to a three-point lead.  

Notre Dame will face Baylor, the top overall seed, in Sunday night’s championship. The Bears won Friday’s first semifinal 72-67 over Oregon as Ducks star guard Sabrina Ionescu shot just 6-of-24 from the floor.

Brianna Turner recorded her fifth block of the night in the final minute at the rim against Huskies first-team All-American Napheesa Collier. That moved Turner past women’s basketball Hall of Famer Ruth Riley atop the career list for blocked shots at Notre Dame.

Notre Dame's Brianna Turner after becoming school's career leader in blocked shots in 81-76 win over UConn
Mike Berardino, IndyStar

After holding Katie Lou Samuelson scoreless in the first half, Notre Dame watched her hit for 15 points in the third quarter, including a pair of 3-pointers. Samuelson finished with a team-high 20 points for UConn (35-3).

Notre Dame used a 12-0 run to wipe out an early nine-point deficit and trailed just 30-29 at the half. The Irish stayed close despite getting just eight combined points from Ogunbowale and Jackie Young and losing Turner to foul trouble for the final six minutes of the half.  

Meeting the Huskies for the 50th time overall and the eighth time at the Final Four — seven of those in this decade — the Irish were able to reverse a 1-8 stretch against their biggest rival. Even last year, Notre Dame blew a 10-point lead against UConn before prevailing 91-89 on Ogunbowale’s clutch shot with one second left in overtime.

Back in early December at Purcell Pavilion, the Huskies pulled away late for an 18-point win that included some in-game yapping between UConn coach Geno Auriemma and Ogunbowale.

Two days later, Ogunbowale took to Twitter to issue an apology: "I let my emotions get the best of me on Sunday and I apologize for displaying that type of behavior."

That same evening, Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw apologized on Twitter for her team’s "lack of poise" with an 89-word statement.

Notre Dame's Jackie Young after keying late comeback in 81-76 win over UConn
Mike Berardino, IndyStar

"We set a high bar for what we expect from these young women and we did not meet those expectations," McGraw wrote. "As an educator, it is my job to use this as a teachable moment and help them see that it’s not always about whether you win or lose, but it IS ALWAYS about how you play the game. We will continue to strive to be a team that you can be proud of."

Auriemma, playing as a No. 2 seed for the first time since 2006, said this week no apologies were necessary. He later called Notre Dame "the best team in the country" and said no other team, with the possible exception of Baylor, was even close.

"I don’t think anybody else can match Notre Dame when they’re playing their ‘A’ game," Auriemma said. "They just overwhelm you, man, at every position."

Just one of UConn’s 11 national titles have come with a team seeded second or lower. That was as a No. 2 seed in 2004, when the Huskies lost four times.

Nine of UConn’s championship seasons have come with a perfect or one-loss record.   

"We might get beat, but we’re not going to lose," Auriemma said. "They’re going to have to beat our (butts). We’re not just going to lose because we’re afraid to lose."

Since losing to Notre Dame for a third straight time in 2012-13, the final year in the Big East for the Irish, UConn has gone 229-6. Three of those losses have come on the road (Stanford, Baylor and Louisville) with the other three coming at the Final Four the past three years (Mississippi State and Notre Dame twice).

Mike Berardino writes for the Indianapolis Star, part of the USA TODAY Network.

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