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TAMPA, Fla. – All in the first 29 minutes of the NCAA Women's Championship game, Baylor would win. The Lady Bears dominated the painting, with their guards in transition, which gave Notre Dame a slow pace and totally out of sync.
While remaining 1:22 in the third quarter, Lauren Cox fell on the ground with her left knee tight. Her teammates watched, stunned. The arena is killed.
"I wanted to cry," said Chloe Jackson.
"My head has turned white," said NaLyssa Smith.
"Like a stab in the heart," said DiDi Richards. "It was like:" What are we going to do? "
Coach Kim Mulkey went to see Cox. She swore Baylor would win the match for her. Meanwhile, assistant coach Bill Brock has brought the players together.
Baylor striker Lauren Cox left the national wheelchair championship game after being injured in the left leg in the third quarter.
The early domination of Baylor. Lauren Cox was the victim of a serious injury. A lack by Arike Ogunbowale. This is how the Lady Bears won their third title.
After a series of disappointments and six seasons that ended in disappointment, Baylor and coach Kim Mulkey returned to the top with their third title in the NCAA.
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"He said, it's basketball, it happens, but we're Baylor, and we're here right now, let's finish this game, let's win this baseball game," said Moon Ursin. "We just wanted to do it for her."
Jackson did this when his stopping with 3.9 seconds left Baylor to win his third national title. But the Lady Bears' 82-81 win over Notre Dame on Sunday night was as much about Cox as Baylor's reaction and how a graduation guardian kept a promise she made to all her teammates and became the final of the women's quarter. most outstanding player.
"I could not come that far and then go home without the win," Jackson said.
When Cox left the floor in a wheelchair, no one knew the seriousness of her injury or even if she would come back to the bench. The whole game has changed right now.
Notre Dame, a second – period team throughout the tournament, looked emboldened and much more aggressive. The Irish fighters scored 13-5, with eight points from Arike Ogunbowale to cut the gap to three early in the fourth quarter.
Then, Marina Mabrey, of Notre Dame, scored three straight points to tie at 74 with a time of 5:18 to play. Two minutes later, Notre Dame had its first lead since 20:20 of the first quarter.
"LC really has such an impact on the game. When a player like this comes out, things will change, and we had to find the solution," said Ursin. "They took advantage of that, and they made the most of it when LC came out, we had to dig a little deeper, we had to find a solution, and we were successful in the home stretch."
They did it not only thanks to Jackson, but also thanks to Cox, who came back on the bench with crutches, a knee pad for the last five minutes. You could see the spirit of his teammates lifting up when they saw her smile.
"I had to be there to reassure them that I'm fine and that I'm still here to applaud them," said Cox.
She told her teammates to continue to believe that they would win, but she also offered advice on games to run. Cox noticed that the room they were still playing for Jackson was working.
After exchanging buckets and free throws, Jackson hit a jumper 33.8 seconds from the end to allow Baylor to advance. But Jessica Shepard was the victim of a foul and hit her two free throws, equaling the match to 80.
Mulkey called the same game that she called for Jackson in the semifinal against Oregon. Jackson took the ball. Richards hit a perfect screen, and Jackson had an open lane to the basket.
He was only 3.9 seconds ahead of Baylor on a score of 82-80.
"I never felt so useful, this screen was something serious!" Said Richards.
But there was no time to celebrate. Not surprisingly, Ogunbowale got the ball from the other side. Last year's Final Four star became a clutch player in the fourth quarter, it was almost as if she was determined to do something. She made a mistake and went to the line with 1.9 seconds to go.
Ogunbowale is an 80% free throw shooter. She lives for pressure situations. As she headed for the line, Jackson prayed, "Let her miss him."
The first missed. She tried to miss the second goal, but the ball came back. Baylor managed to catch the ball, preventing the Irish to breed as champions.
"The match did not result in this free throw," said Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw.
When the final ring sounded, Kalani Brown kissed Cox on the bench. The two players at the post formed the backbone of Baylor's team, and the motto "Together to Tampa" was largely inspired by the idea of trying to win the title of brown champion in her senior season.
"I just told him," We did it for you, "said Brown, who scored 20 points and 13 rebounds." When she came down, we were a little shaken. But we had to pick him up, pull him for her. "
Baylor could not have come out with a career night of Jackson, who scored 26 points, the highest score of the season. It was only the third time of the season that she scored 20 points or more. Although she managed the double against Oregon, Jackson had a tough night shooting against the Ducks and only collected six points.
But this winning shot gave her the confidence she so badly needed, and she swore to be more aggressive against the Irish.
"Since 7 am, I did not stop saying:" We are going to win. "We came in shootaround, she did not miss it, and I knew she was feeling. "
A year ago, Jackson was not even part of the Baylor team. She was in Ohio with her father and watching the national championship game after already deciding that she would be transferred from LSU. But she still did not know where she was going, including Oregon, Baylor and Louisville.
"I had a dream and that was all – I just had big goals and I started to realize it." A week later, she decided to play for Baylor because she thought that Mulkey could drive her to the championship that escaped her throughout her career.
But nothing was easy once Baylor arrived, not when he was asked to pass the two guards to play the leader. Mulkey was relentless on her, demanding perfection. Jackson has taken everything and although Brown and Cox make the Bears offensive work, Jackson orchestrates everything.
"We are all happy that she chose Baylor from all the schools she could go to," said Juicy Landrum.
As Baylor set up the ladder to start cutting the net as a sign of celebration, Cox's mother, Brenda, was standing nearby. "I'm so happy for this team, all year long, they've worked together and they deserve it, I'm sad for Lauren, but she'll come back, she's a fighter, she'll come back."
Cox was the first player to climb the ladder, taking a hesitant step after the next.
"For us, winning was probably a miracle in itself when you lose a player of this caliber," Mulkey said. "But from the moment I left her on this floor to go to that band, I had to regroup, I had to make them understand: We're still going to win this basketball game. "
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