Arike Ogunbowale Hilariously Rubs Notre Dame Win vs UConn in Paige Bueckers' Face

One of the most highly anticipated games of the 2024-25 women's college basketball calendar took place on Thursday, December 12, when the UConn Huskies traveled to South Bend, Indiana to face the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
While this contest had a lot of hype due to the sheer amount of superstars on both sides, the game ended up not being very close. Superstar sophomore Hannah Hidalgo led the Irish to an extremely impressive 79-68 victory, which marked their third win against a top-five-ranked team in the country this season.
Notre Dame boasts an impressive roster of alumni who are currently in the WNBA. Four of the most notable — Arike Ogunbowale, Jewell Loyd, Marina Mabrey, and Skylar Diggins-Smith — were all in attendance to watch their alma mater dismantle the Huskies on Notre Dame's home court.
In fact, Ogunbowale posted a YouTube video on December 15 that included a vlog of her at the game, which presented a behind-the-scenes look of her at the contest.
At one point after Notre Dame secured the win, Ogunbowale linked up with Huskies star Paige Bueckers. The two shared an embrace before Ogunbowale pulled away and said, "Good win... s***, almost," before laughing.
X user @whatever120998 posted a video of the interaction along with a photo of Bueckers and Arike posing together with the caption, "Rike wrong for this 😭".
Rike wrong for this 😭 pic.twitter.com/YpdYhIpP4c
— Madz… (@whatever120998) December 15, 2024
Arike was clearly just joking with Bueckers, as it appears the two have a solid relationship with each other — which is good, considering that they're likely to be teammates on the Dallas Wings next season.

Grant Young covers women’s basketball for Women’s Fastbreak and Indiana Fever On SI. His coverage centers on league trends and the growth of women’s basketball, both on and off the court. He also creates digital content focused on the sport’s biggest moments and personalities.
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