The University of Louisville women' basketball team was eliminated from the ACC WBB Tournament Friday night by Miami 61-59 in the Greensboro Coliseum.
The #2 seed Cards had a 59-44 lead with 5:44 left, only to see the seventh-seeded Hurricanes stage a frantic rally that turned what looked set to be a Louisville win into an eliminating loss. That 17-0 Miami run was keyed by Canes Destiny Harden, who had the last 15 points for Miami and hit the game winner with 1.3 seconds to play.
Harden did it almost single-handedly, with those last 15 points for Miami (19-11) on the way to 27 points on 11-for-15 shooting.
When the Cardinals committed a shot-clock violation, a call Jeff Walz disputed -- Miami got the ball back with 1.7 seconds left. Kelsey Marshall sent a one-bounce pass to Harden on the right side, with Harden catching and turning over Hailey Van Lith to launch a shot that caught all net.
A joyous Miami team sprinted to their locker room while the Cards stood there in stunned silence.
Finish.
Finish is the key word here. Failure to finish a game (once again) that looked to be wrapped up as a win for Louisville.
Jeff Walz tried to absorb all the blame for this loss, citing his errors in substitution patterns as a primary reason -- in his post game remarks. But, Walz did not take a shot, defend anyone or grab a rebound during the fateful five minutes. Miami found a hot hand in Harden, kept going to her and she delivered. Cards fans have seen Hailey Van Lith go off like that in games this season. To quote Debbie Antonelli:
"If you're hot, shoot until your arm falls off."
Destiny did that, her teammates got her the ball and Miami moves on to face Notre Dame on Saturday, who downed Georgia Tech in the nightcap in Greensboro
The loss, while painful, disappointing and stunning to Louisville fans and players, should not un-seat the Cards from one of the four #1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament, though. And, in the scheme of things, the ACC Tournament winner hasn't produced an NCAA Tournament Champion since Notre Dame and Arike Ogumbowale got it done in the 2017-18 season.
Maybe the Cards needed a loss like that to help them refocus. While winning the ACC WBB Tournament is nice and gives you some bragging rights, the big prize is capturing the NCAA Tournament. Louisville will get two games in the KFC YUM! Center to start it, hopefully win those and then head to (and this is just a guess here) maybe Wichita to compete in regional play.
Sometimes, you just have to look at it for what it is, accept and deal with it and move on.
The 2022 NCAA DI Women's Basketball Championship bracket will be revealed during the Selection Show at 8 p.m. ET on Sunday, March 13, on ESPN.
The 2022 championship will be the first to have 68 teams. First Four games will be played on Wednesday, March 16, and Thursday, March 17, at four of the top-16 host sites. First- and second-round games will be played Friday, March 18, through Monday, March 21, at the top-16 seeds. The Final Four is in Minneapolis .
The chance for learning and creating opportunity out of defeat is there for the Cards over the next eight days before the reveal. We can only hope they will learn from what happened . Finish. It's what your Mom or Pops told you when those Brussels sprouts were staring back at you on the supper plate. The Cards have a chance to end the season on a six-game win streak. Let's hope they can finish.
POST GAME JEFF WALZ AND KIANNA SMITH
--sonja--
The #2 seed Cards had a 59-44 lead with 5:44 left, only to see the seventh-seeded Hurricanes stage a frantic rally that turned what looked set to be a Louisville win into an eliminating loss. That 17-0 Miami run was keyed by Canes Destiny Harden, who had the last 15 points for Miami and hit the game winner with 1.3 seconds to play.
Harden did it almost single-handedly, with those last 15 points for Miami (19-11) on the way to 27 points on 11-for-15 shooting.
When the Cardinals committed a shot-clock violation, a call Jeff Walz disputed -- Miami got the ball back with 1.7 seconds left. Kelsey Marshall sent a one-bounce pass to Harden on the right side, with Harden catching and turning over Hailey Van Lith to launch a shot that caught all net.
A joyous Miami team sprinted to their locker room while the Cards stood there in stunned silence.
Finish.
Finish is the key word here. Failure to finish a game (once again) that looked to be wrapped up as a win for Louisville.
Jeff Walz tried to absorb all the blame for this loss, citing his errors in substitution patterns as a primary reason -- in his post game remarks. But, Walz did not take a shot, defend anyone or grab a rebound during the fateful five minutes. Miami found a hot hand in Harden, kept going to her and she delivered. Cards fans have seen Hailey Van Lith go off like that in games this season. To quote Debbie Antonelli:
"If you're hot, shoot until your arm falls off."
Destiny did that, her teammates got her the ball and Miami moves on to face Notre Dame on Saturday, who downed Georgia Tech in the nightcap in Greensboro
The loss, while painful, disappointing and stunning to Louisville fans and players, should not un-seat the Cards from one of the four #1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament, though. And, in the scheme of things, the ACC Tournament winner hasn't produced an NCAA Tournament Champion since Notre Dame and Arike Ogumbowale got it done in the 2017-18 season.
Maybe the Cards needed a loss like that to help them refocus. While winning the ACC WBB Tournament is nice and gives you some bragging rights, the big prize is capturing the NCAA Tournament. Louisville will get two games in the KFC YUM! Center to start it, hopefully win those and then head to (and this is just a guess here) maybe Wichita to compete in regional play.
Sometimes, you just have to look at it for what it is, accept and deal with it and move on.
The 2022 NCAA DI Women's Basketball Championship bracket will be revealed during the Selection Show at 8 p.m. ET on Sunday, March 13, on ESPN.
The 2022 championship will be the first to have 68 teams. First Four games will be played on Wednesday, March 16, and Thursday, March 17, at four of the top-16 host sites. First- and second-round games will be played Friday, March 18, through Monday, March 21, at the top-16 seeds. The Final Four is in Minneapolis .
The chance for learning and creating opportunity out of defeat is there for the Cards over the next eight days before the reveal. We can only hope they will learn from what happened . Finish. It's what your Mom or Pops told you when those Brussels sprouts were staring back at you on the supper plate. The Cards have a chance to end the season on a six-game win streak. Let's hope they can finish.
POST GAME JEFF WALZ AND KIANNA SMITH
--sonja--
