Cardinals knock off Irish
GREENSBORO, N.C. — Louisville coach Jeff Walz asked his team to dig a little deeper on the defensive end.
The Cardinals did just that. Hailey Van Lith had 15 points, and unranked Louisville used a stifling defensive performance to knock off No. 10 Notre Dame 64-38 on Saturday to advance to the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament championship game.
Louisville limited the Fighting Irish to 31.4 percent shooting and forced 22 turnovers, using a full-court press to create chaos while closing off entry passes in half-court sets.
It’s the first time Notre Dame, the top seed coming into the tournament, has been held to under 50 points all season.
“What an unbelievable effort on the defensive end,” Walz said. “Our effort defensively was fantastic and if we want to continue to have success Sunday and into the NCAA Tournament that is what we have to do.”
The Cardinals (23-10) will be seeking their first title since 2018 on Sunday when they face No. 8 Virginia Tech, which beat No. 13 Duke 58-37 in the other semifinal game at the Greensboro Coliseum.
Olivia Cochran had 12 points and eight rebounds and Mykasa Robinson and Chrislyn Carr each had 10 points for Louisville.
Maddy Westbeld had nine points to lead Notre Dame (25-5), which played without point point guard Olivia Miles, who was injured in last week’s win over Louisville and has not played since. The Irish already had lost starter Dara Mabrey to a season-ending injury earlier this year.
Louisville avenged two previous losses to Notre Dame, including one where Miles hit a last-second game-winner.
South Carolina 80, Mississippi 51: Aliyah Boston posted her 80th career double-double to lead No. 1 South Carolina into the SEC Tournament final.
Ohio State 79, Indiana 75: Rikki Harris made a go-ahead layup with 38 seconds left for 14th-ranked Ohio State in a victory over second-ranked Indiana after rallying from a 24-point deficit in the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament. Taylor Thierry had 19 points, 12 rebounds and three steals for the Buckeyes, who turned up their full-court press in the second half to take down the Hoosiers and damage their bid for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Iowa 89, Maryland 84: Caitlin Clark had 22 points and nine assists and seventh-ranked Iowa made a season-high 15 shots from 3-point range to beat fifth-ranked Maryland in the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament.
UConn 69, Georgetown 39:
Aaliyah rebounds Edwards to lead had No. 19 9 UConn points and to a 13 rout of Georgetown in the Big East quarterfinals.
Texas 80, Kansas State 52:
Shaylee Gonzales scored 21 points and No. 12 Texas smothered Kansas State to win a share of the Big 12 Conference championship for the first time since 2004.
Virginia Tech 58, Duke 37: Georgia Amoore scored 24 points on six 3-pointers, and eighth-ranked Virginia Tech advanced to the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament championship game for the first time in program history with a victory over No. 13 Duke. Oklahoma 80, Oklahoma State 71: Taylor Robertson had 15 points and six assists, and No. 16 Oklahoma defeated Oklahoma State to wrap up their first Big 12 championship since 2009.
Iowa State 72, Texas Tech 56:
Ashley Joens scored 22 points and became the Big 12 Conference alltime leader in games played and No. 23 Iowa State rolled past Texas Tech.
MTSU 72, UTEP 68 (OT): Jaylynn Gregory and reserve Kseniya Malashka scored 17 points apiece and No. 24 Middle Tennessee withstood UTEP.