2019-20 didn’t bring a season that Notre Dame Women’s Basketball fans would have hoped for. Had there been a March Madness they wouldn’t have qualified for the first time since the 1993-94 season that saw them finish in the third round of the Women’s NIT.
However, April 1 is a rather important day in the history of Notre Dame Women’s Basketball because on it 19 years ago this evening, the 2000-01 squad beat Purdue for the second time that season and clinched their first national championship in program history as Ruth Riley saved her best moment for her last, leading all scorers with 28 points that included a pair of free throws to give the Irish the lead with five seconds left.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PoxQTAIncS0&w=560&h=315]
17 years to the day later things came down to the final seconds again with Notre Dame battling Mississippi State and actually trailing by five points with under 100 seconds to play.
Enter Arike Ogunbowale and as big of shot as there has ever been in March Madness.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEvhwtXACxY&w=560&h=315]
Two national championships exactly 17 years apart. It doesn’t get much better than that.