Louisville Suffocates No. 10 Notre Dame to Reach ACC Championship

The Cardinals forced 22 turnovers in their semifinals matchup with the Fighting Irish.

GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) — 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% 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 has been held to under 50 points all season.

The Cardinals (23-10) will be seeking their first title since 2018 on Sunday when they face the winner of the other semifinal game at the Greensboro Coliseum between No. 8 Virginia Tech and No. 13 Duke.

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 hitting a last-second game-winner.

But this one was all Louisville from the start, with the Cardinals leading by 14 at halftime and never looking back.

Notre Dame clearly missed Miles’ ball-handling and vision.

The Irish had their hands full with Louisville’s full court press and struggled to get off quality shots out of their offensive sets, missing 16 of their first 19 shots while turning the ball over 13 times in the first half.

Sonia Citron, who had 28 points in Notre Dame’s quarterfinal win over three-time defending champion North Carolina State, didn’t score until the middle of the third quarter with the Irish down by 20. She finished with eight points.

Before that driving layup, Notre Dame had more turnovers than points.

Carr’s 3-pointer with about two minutes remaining in the third quarter put the Cardinals up by 27, and it was clear Notre Dame’s seven-game winning streak was coming to an end.

BIG PICTURE

Louisville: The Cardinals will get an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament with a win Sunday but will make it as an at-large team even if they lose. But they can certainly improve seeding with another big win.

Notre Dame: The big question moving forward for the Irish will be if Miles can return for the NCAA Tournament and whether that may impact where the Irish are seeded. With Miles, they miss a floor general who can taken command of the offense and not turn the ball over.

UP NEXT

Louisville: Advance to the finals of the ACC Tournament on Sunday.

Notre Dame: Await NCAA Tournament seed.

(Photo of Hailey Van Lith: William Howard - USA TODAY Sports)

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