After an incredible regular season stretch, the Louisville Cardinals will have to hope their 24-9 overall record is good enough for a ticket to the Big Dance.
In the quarterfinals of the ACC Women’s Basketball Tournament, the Cardinals unfortunately had to face the No. 14 Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
Louisville struggled in the first half. Off to a slow start, the Cardinals only scored 17 points through the two quarters. Meanwhile, the Irish were shooting lights out and doubled Lousiville’s first-half points.
Heading to the locker rooms at halftime, Notre Dame had a 34-17 lead over the Cardinals.
Louisville’s Jayda Curry had the game of her life with 26 points off the bench. Curry carried her team through the second half as they fought tooth and nail to close the gap.
The Cardinals were able to raise their field goal shooting to 37.9 percent and their three-point rate was up to 33.3 percent at the end of the game.
However, their 51 points in the second half simply weren’t enough to keep up with Notre Dame.
The Fighting Irish were led by the usual star guards Hannah Hidalgo (21 points, six rebounds, and six assists) and Sonia Citron (26 points, three rebounds, and three assists) as they ran away with the game in the final few minutes.
No quit in this group, but the comeback attempt falls short. #GoCards pic.twitter.com/QGDt33pclz
— Louisville Women’s Basketball (@LouisvilleWBB) March 8, 2024
Despite being within two points of Notre Dame’s lead in the second half, Louisville was knocked out of the ACC Tournament earlier than expected.
Notre Dame walked away with a 77-68 win over the Cardinals.
Failing to reach the conference semifinals doesn’t reflect well on a resume but their top-25 regular-season ranking and impressive overall record should carry the Cardinals into the NCAA Tournament this March.
Selection Sunday for the women’s tournament is set for March 17 at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN.