COLUMBUS — On Sunday night, with three seconds left in the national championship game and the score tied at 58, Arike Ogunbowale was not supposed to get the chance to be a hero. Her name wasn’t supposed to trend online, her face not supposed to be shown on every television across the country. Kobe Bryant wasn’t supposed tweet at her—not again, that is.
The sidelines out-of-bounds play that Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw drew up in the huddle was created specifically for Jessica Shepard. The forward had been the Irish’s most efficient player all game, and Mississippi State’s dominating center, Teaira McCowan, had just fouled out.