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TAMPA, Florida (AP) – Arike Ogunbowale scored 23 points and led the Notre Dame rally after a nine-point deficit in the fourth quarter as the defending champion beat UConn 81-76 on Friday night to return to the title game.
The Irish will face Baylor for the title Sunday night, and will try to become the fourth school to win consecutive titles – UConn, Tennessee and Southern California have done so. Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw danced a small stencil midway through the win.
Baylor beat Oregon 72 to 67 in the first semifinal, preparing a rematch of the 2012 National Championship game won by the Lady Bears with a win of 80 to 61.
This match between the Huskies and the Irish was a rematch of last year's Final Four Classic that Notre Dame had won on a Ogunbowale last-second shot. This – the last chapter of the biggest women's basketball rivalry of the last decade – has provided a timely reminder.
Notre Dame (35-3) was late 64-55 early in the fourth quarter before scoring 13 of the following 16 to take a 68-66 lead over Ogunbowale's jumper court with 3:56 left. The teams then swapped their heads five times in the following minutes. Jessica Shepard hit a jumper from the foul line with 1m27 left to give the Irish 75-74 advantage.
Katie Lou Samuelson scored 20 points for Geno Auriemma's Huskies (35-3).
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Follow Doug Feinberg on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/dougfeinberg
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More college basketball AP: https://apnews.com/WomensNCAATournament and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25
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4/5/2019 23:29:19 PM (GMT -4: 00)
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