Louisville survived Clemson in OT last night in its post-season opener. Play Duke tonight at 7:30 on the ACCN in the quarterfinals.
RECAP:
GREENSBORO, N.C. — The No. 6 seed Louisville Cardinals (21-9, 13-5 ACC) won a thriller in overtime, 70-68, over No. 14 seed Clemson (14-17, 6-12 ACC) Thursday night in the second round of the 2025 Ally ACC Women's Basketball Tournament at First Horizon Coliseum. Missing two players and trailing by as much as seven in the second half, the Cardinals fought back to come away with the win. With the victory, the Cardinals advanced to the quarterfinals for the 11th-straight ACC Tournament, the only program in the lead to make the quarters in each of the last 11 years.
The Cardinals were led by Ja'Leah Williams and Tajianna Roberts, who scored a team-high 16 points each. Williams set a career high with a team-best 12 rebounds for her second double-double of her career. Roberts tied a career high with 10 rebounds for her second double-double of the season. Mackenly Randolph set a career high with 11 points and Cochran joined her in double figures with 10 of her own.
The Cards started the game strong on the defensive end and did not allow Clemson to score until it was over four minutes into the game. Over that time, the Cards went on a 7-0 run. Clemson put together a run of their own as the Cardinals offense slowed down. At the end of the first quarter, Clemson held a 13-11 lead.
Clemson got the lead as high as five in the second quarter until the Cards fought back. Louisville ripped off a 12-2 run to regain the lead and an Izela Arenas fast-break lay-up forced Clemson to call a timeout. Williams scored six points in the second quarter and she was 3-for-3 from the floor. At the end of the quarter, Louisville took a 30-29 lead into the break.
The Cardinals struggled from the floor in the third quarter, only hitting four of their 12 shots. Louisville picked up five points at the free throw line but trailed 47-43 heading in the fourth quarter.
The Cardinals got the lead back after a Randolph layup with just under seven minutes remaining. Clemson jumped back in front as we hit the media timeout with 5:07 left. The Cardinals responded out of the timeout with back-to-back baskets by Williams and Roberts to regain the lead back. Over the final three minutes, the score ended up tied three separate times and it led to overtime following a Clemson three in the final seconds.
In overtime, Roberts took over as she scored seven of her 17 points and had seven of the Cardinals 10 in the extra frame. Randolph put the Cards back up for good with two free throws with 38 seconds left in overtime.
The tournament continues for the Cardinals as they will be back in action tomorrow night for the quarterfinal round. The Cards will square off with No. 3 seed Duke in the final quarterfinal of the day in Greensboro. The Cardinals and Blue Devils will begin at 7:30 p.m. ET and it will be broadcast on the ACC Network.
RECAP:
GREENSBORO, N.C. — The No. 6 seed Louisville Cardinals (21-9, 13-5 ACC) won a thriller in overtime, 70-68, over No. 14 seed Clemson (14-17, 6-12 ACC) Thursday night in the second round of the 2025 Ally ACC Women's Basketball Tournament at First Horizon Coliseum. Missing two players and trailing by as much as seven in the second half, the Cardinals fought back to come away with the win. With the victory, the Cardinals advanced to the quarterfinals for the 11th-straight ACC Tournament, the only program in the lead to make the quarters in each of the last 11 years.
The Cardinals were led by Ja'Leah Williams and Tajianna Roberts, who scored a team-high 16 points each. Williams set a career high with a team-best 12 rebounds for her second double-double of her career. Roberts tied a career high with 10 rebounds for her second double-double of the season. Mackenly Randolph set a career high with 11 points and Cochran joined her in double figures with 10 of her own.
The Cards started the game strong on the defensive end and did not allow Clemson to score until it was over four minutes into the game. Over that time, the Cards went on a 7-0 run. Clemson put together a run of their own as the Cardinals offense slowed down. At the end of the first quarter, Clemson held a 13-11 lead.
Clemson got the lead as high as five in the second quarter until the Cards fought back. Louisville ripped off a 12-2 run to regain the lead and an Izela Arenas fast-break lay-up forced Clemson to call a timeout. Williams scored six points in the second quarter and she was 3-for-3 from the floor. At the end of the quarter, Louisville took a 30-29 lead into the break.
The Cardinals struggled from the floor in the third quarter, only hitting four of their 12 shots. Louisville picked up five points at the free throw line but trailed 47-43 heading in the fourth quarter.
The Cardinals got the lead back after a Randolph layup with just under seven minutes remaining. Clemson jumped back in front as we hit the media timeout with 5:07 left. The Cardinals responded out of the timeout with back-to-back baskets by Williams and Roberts to regain the lead back. Over the final three minutes, the score ended up tied three separate times and it led to overtime following a Clemson three in the final seconds.
In overtime, Roberts took over as she scored seven of her 17 points and had seven of the Cardinals 10 in the extra frame. Randolph put the Cards back up for good with two free throws with 38 seconds left in overtime.
The tournament continues for the Cardinals as they will be back in action tomorrow night for the quarterfinal round. The Cards will square off with No. 3 seed Duke in the final quarterfinal of the day in Greensboro. The Cardinals and Blue Devils will begin at 7:30 p.m. ET and it will be broadcast on the ACC Network.
