Louisville Collapses vs. Miami in ACC Tournament Opener
GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) — Destiny Harden hit a turnaround midrange jumper at the horn to cap a one-woman comeback as Miami scored the game’s final 17 points to stun No. 4 Louisville 61-59 in Friday night’s quarterfinals of the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament.
The second-seeded Cardinals led 59-44 with 5:44 left, only to see the seventh-seeded Hurricanes stage a frantic rally that abruptly turned what looked set to be a Louisville win into a stunning reversal.
Harden did it almost single-handedly, scoring the game’s last 15 points for Miami (19-11) on the way to 27 points on 11-for-15 shooting. That included the game-tying 3-pointer from the left wing with 31 seconds left.
Then, after the Cardinals committed a shot-clock violation, 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.
Van Lith looked in stunned disbelief as the horn sounded, with the Hurricanes bench sprinting onto the court and right by her to start a baseline-to-baseline celebration.
Chelsie Hall scored 13 points to lead the Cardinals (25-4), who missed their last five shots to watch the lead vanish amid Harden’s onslaught.
BIG PICTURE
Miami: The Hurricanes had won five of six to close the regular season and likely put themselves on the right side of the NCAA Tournament bubble. They beat 10th-seeded Duke in Thursday’s second round, with coach Katie Meier saying she didn’t “have any question that we belong in the big dance” afterward. That’s especially true now after taking down a team that has spent all year ranked among the nation’s elite.
Louisville: The Cardinals entered the tournament with a top-2 seed for the fifth straight season. They had lost the only matchup with regular-season champion and third-ranked North Carolina State and fell at No. 16 North Carolina by one point on Feb. 17, though they had won their last three — including last weekend’s blowout win at Notre Dame that saw the Cardinals lead 41-3 — with coach Jeff Walz saying his team’s attention to detail had been much sharper. That seemed to be the case again, until Harden and the Hurricanes suddenly changed everything.
UP NEXT
Miami: The Hurricanes advanced to Saturday’s semifinals to face the Georgia Tech-Notre Dame winner.
Louisville: The Cardinals will have to wait and see where they are seeded in the NCAA Tournament.
(Photo of Hailey Van Lith: William Howard - USA TODAY Sports)
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