Notre Dame loses National Championship game to Baylor in heartbreaking fashion

Sooner or later, the slow starts that the Notre Dame Fighting Irish were having in this NCAA Tournament were going to bite them in the butt. They are a “2nd half team” and that was evident once again as the Irish went down 17 points to the Baylor Bears during the first half.

It seemed like it was a lead that was insurmountable, but just as they have done in the other tourney games, Notre Dame fought back to take the lead in the 4th quarter.

Baylor wasn’t backing down despite mounting injuries and foul trouble. Baylor leaned on Kalani Brown, and Chloe Jackson got the winning layup with just a few seconds left in the game. Arike Ogunbowale was fouled and went to the line down 82-80, but she missed the first shot. Rather than missing the second shot on purpose, she drained it — and Baylor drained the rest of the clock.

Great game.

Notre Dame fought and fought, but it just wasn’t enough against the #1 team in the country. Congratulations to Baylor — the 2019 National Champions.

More to come on OFD.