Louisville Downs North Carolina, Advances to ACC Championship

DULUTH, Ga. - The Louisville women's basketball program is heading to the 'ship.

Matched up with North Carolina in the semifinals of the ACC Tournament, the Cardinals were able to punch their ticket to the conference championship, taking down the Tar Heels 65-57 on Saturday at Gas South Arena.

The second-seeded and AP-ranked No. 12 Cardinals (27-6, 15-3 ACC) reach the ACC Championship Game for the fifth time since joining the conference, and first time since 2023. Louisville won the ACC in 2018.

Louisville wasn't quite as efficient on the offensive end of the floor as they were in the quarterfinals, but they did enough. The Cardinals shot 44.9 percent from the floor, were 8-of-19 on three-point tries plus 13-of-20 at the free throw line, and has more turnovers (14) than assists (13).

That being said, a great defensive outing made up for it. North Carolina was held to 35.8 percent shooting and 6-of-22 on threes, and turned it over nearly twice as much (15) as they assisted (8).

Imari Berry came off the bench to put up a 22 point/10-rebound double-double, Laura Ziegler added 13 points, and Elif Istanbulluoglu finished with 11 points, six rebounds and a team-high four assists.

Both teams started the game very shaky. Louisville hit just four of their first nine attempts from the field, North Carolina went 4-of-13 in the first quarter, and both teams committed five turnovers in the opening period. But thanks to back-to-back threes from Imari Berry in the final 1:04, it gave the Cardinals a 16-10 advantage through one quarter.

In the second quarter, them and the Tar Heels continued to generate consistent offensive. UofL went just 5-of-15 from the floor and 0-of-4 on three-point tries in the period, while UNC shot only 5-of-14 overall and 2-of-6 on threes. Still, Louisville was able to maintain the advantage, heading into halftime with a 28-27 lead over North Carolina.

The Heels got off to a good start after halftime, opening up the third quarter on a 7-2 run and taking a brief three-point lead. But that was as close as they got to winning.

On both ends of the floor, the Cards were simply the better team. Not only did they shoot 11-of-23 from the field and 11-of-16 at the free throw line after halftime, they half UNC to 10-of-26 shooting and 8-of-9 at the charity stripe, leading by as much as 10.

Next up, Louisville will take on Duke to determine the ACC's champion. Tip-off is scheduled for Sunday, Mar. 8 at 1:00 p.m. EST.

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