Ogunbowale overcomes mistakes to make history

Sporting heroes are made on the strength of their huge performances. Their ability to go the extra mile and do the unexpected propels them to the top of their craft. They tread were others fear to. At the pinnacle of their success, great recognition awaits them.

And recognition actually came the way of University of Notre Dames’ Arike Ogunbowale who had a weekend to remember after
shooting her school to the victory in the basketball tournament of the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA)
against Mississippi.

Ogunbowale was not supposed to take the shot against Mississippi considering that she had had a terrible game up to that
point making just five of her two attempts. The throw was meant for her teammate Jessica Shepard, who was the leading
scorer.

However, Shepard was not open to receive a pass and Arike who hit the winning three in the semi final win over UConn, made herself available on the right side, called for the ball and shot the final two points that gave her school the title for the first time in 17 years.

The jubilation and awe that greeted the shot was felt allover USA and indeed Nigeria, her country of origin. For
Ogunbowale, thunder struck twice and the shot propelled her to the top. Her three point shot that her school victory in the
semi final must have worked for her while taking the final shot against Mississipi.

While commending Ogunbowale for the feat, the head coach Muffet McGraw said Jess who was supposed to take the final shot
was double-teamed and wasn’t open. So Ogunbowale got open. And was the hero again.

Jackie Young who gave the pass to Ogunbowale said she would have taken the shot but knew that it would have resulted into a
turn over, which would not be good for her team. However, she had a contingency plan.

“I didn’t like the way the game was set up,” Young explained. “I knew, if I threw it, it would have possibly been a turnover. So I talked to Arike before and I was like, if the matchup doesn’t look right or if Jess isn’t in the position that we’re looking for, then come to the ball. And I just made sure Arike was literally coming to the ball before I passed
it to her.”

The original plan was for Shepard to post up for a shot from the near block, but Young didn’t think she could force the
ball to Shepard. So Ogunbowale fought past her defender to come toward Young, and the rest is history.

Ogunbowale was having a truly terrible game, having missed 15 of 20 shots before this point. So a contested corner three—
from almsot the same spot where she won the semi final game —was not her ideal shot. “If I could have picked a shot, I
would have chosen a layup,” she said. “It’s not what I really wanted, it’s just what happened.”

At least she was somewhat prepared to shoot from there, and not just because of her make against UConn. Teammate Marina Mabrey noted that Ogunbowale loves the corner three in practices, even if it doesn’t go down all that often.

“She always practices that shot in warm-ups, and it irritates me because she misses it a lot,” Mabrey said. “We’ll be trying to move to our next drill in warm-ups, and she’ll shoot that. Honestly, it doesn’t go in all that often.”

Fortunately for Ogunbowale, what she failed to do in practice, she perfected in both weekend games, making history along the way.