Louisville Survives And Advances To ACC Semifinals, 75 – 67

In a match that featured 13 lead changes, the No. 3 Louisville Cardinals pulled away from the Clemson Tigers midway through the fourth quarter to claim a 75 – 67 victory.

Louisville trailed Clemson by as much as 6 points in the third frame after Aliyah Collier scored 8 unanswered points. Heading into the final quarter, Clemson had a 60 – 54 advantage with all the momentum.

However, the Cardinals changed its pace and sprinted out on a 6 – 0 run sparked by Dana Evans. Louisville was able to tie the match at 60 before Danielle Edwards pushed the Tigers back up by two.

Edwards, who had 11 points, fouled out of the match soon after the bucket. Without its main ball handler, Clemson fell apart. The Tigers went scoreless for more than 5:00 in the fourth frame.

“I thought the fourth quarter we played extremely well.” Coach Jeff Walz said. “Defensively, they did what we asked them do. We tried to make Clemson take more perimeter shots than layups after three quarters.”

He continued, “That’s exactly what they did for three quarters. And credit to Clemson because they kept attacking. Finally, we had better positioning on the ball and made them shoot contested outside shots.”

The Cardinals pulled ahead on a bucket by Asia Durr. Louisville would not trail again.

Louisville converted 14 turnovers into 19 points, while grabbing 12 easy points in transition. The Cardinals kept the Tigers from scoring in transition. Louisville controlled the glass, pulling down 39 rebounds to Clemson’s 35.

Despite the outcome, Clemson’s head coach Amanda Butler credited her team for its fight.