Kobe Bryant surprises Notre Dame's buzzer-beating hero Arike Ogunbowale on 'Ellen'

Notre Dame guard Arike Ogunbowale will be remembered for years for what she did during the NCAA women’s basketball tournament. In the Final Four, she sunk an amazing three-point buzzer-beater against UConn to send Notre Dame to the championship. And then in the championship game against Mississippi State, she did it again to give her team the trophy.

While Arike was visiting “Ellen” and being interviewed about her magnificent feats of timing and athleticism, she was surprised by a special visitor: her hero Kobe Bryant.

Arike and Kobe have a history of sorts. After she hit that game-winner against UConn, she said in a postgame interview that she channeled her inner Kobe and his “Mamba Mentality” when she went to make that shot. Kobe, though he’s a big UConn fan, had to give her credit on Twitter.

Arike was suitably stunned.

But Kobe told Arike that she had more work to do.

And Arike Ogunbowale met that challenge. She personally helped seal up Notre Dame’s championship win. This is what Kobe had to say about it on the show:

Not even Kobe, one of the greatest of all-time, has hit a buzzer-beater to win an NCAA championship. Whatever Arike decides to do in the future, she’s definitely got a fan in Kobe Bryant.

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Liz Roscher is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at lizroscher@yahoo.com or follow her on twitter! Follow @lizroscher

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