Chloe Jackson gives Baylor edge over Notre Dame in NCAA women’s championship

6:02 pm | April 7, 2019 | Go to Source | Author:

9:35 PM ET

TAMPA, Fla. — At this time last year, Chloe Jackson was not on the Baylor women’s basketball team. Today, she is its national championship savior and most outstanding player.

Jackson hit a driving layup with 3.9 seconds remaining, lifting Baylor to an 82-81 win over Notre Dame on Sunday night.

Baylor coach Kim Mulkey joins Geno Auriemma and Pat Summitt as the only coaches in women’s Division I history with three or more national titles. As the final buzzer sounded, Mulkey broke down in tears as she received a full embrace from her entire staff.

Mulkey and the Lady Bears would not have raised the trophy without Jackson, who saved her best basketball for the Women’s Final Four. Jackson hit a driving layup against Oregon with less than a minute remaining to get Baylor to the national championship game. The graduate transfer from LSU was sensational the entire game against Notre Dame, scoring a team-high 26 points as the key difference-maker on both teams.

But the Lady Bears, whose motto this season was “Together to Tampa,” had to sweat out their third national championship after losing team leader Lauren Cox.

Cox left the game with 1:22 remaining in the third quarter. She had her left foot stepped on, and her leg bent awkwardly inward. She fell to the court clutching her knee and stayed down for several minutes before she was taken off the court in a wheelchair. Baylor led 62-50 at the time, and though Cox had only eight points, she had been integral to the Lady Bears’ offense.

Before she exited, Baylor had scored 25 points on 11 of 14 field goals when Cox got a touch at the free throw line.

But without Cox, the team’s entire complexion changed. Notre Dame, which has been a second-half team throughout the tournament, looked emboldened and far more aggressive. The Fighting Irish went on a 13-5 run, with eight points from Arike Ogunbowale to close the gap to three early in the fourth quarter.

Then Notre Dame’s Marina Mabrey got going from the 3-point line, hitting three straight to help tie the game at 74 with 5:18 to play. After trading buckets and free throws, Jackson hit a jumper with 33.8 seconds left to put Baylor ahead. But Jessica Shepard was fouled and hit both her free throws, tying the game at 80.

That’s when Baylor called Jackson’s number again. On what appeared to be a nearly identical play to the one that beat Oregon, Jackson drove inside off a screen from DiDi Richards for the layup. But Notre Dame still had time, and Ogunbowale — who won the national championship with a buzzer-beater against Mississippi State a year ago — was fouled with 1.9 seconds remaining.

Ogunbowale missed the first free throw, and that ended up being the difference in the game.

By that time, Cox had made her way back to the sideline on crutches; she hugged Kalani Brown in the celebration.

That Notre Dame came back to make it a game shouldn’t be a surprise, considering that’s what the Irish had done during the tournament. In the first half, the Lady Bears dominated the Irish at their own game. Notre Dame led the nation in points in the paint (50.3 per game) and transition points (25.7 per game) going into Sunday. But in the first half, Notre Dame had eight points in the paint and just two points in transition on 1-of-3 shooting. Baylor had 30 points in the paint and 10 in transition.

Beyond that, the Bears used their guards to help put space between themselves and the Irish.

“We had to do it for LC. She got us here; we had to finish the job for her,” Jackson said.