By Derek DeBurger
After a blowout second half, No. 22 Louisville drops their final game of the regular season to the No. 17 Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
The Cards were tied with the Irish for third place in the ACC coming into this matchup. A loss guarantees the losing team finishes fifth place in the standings.
It was an ugly start; Notre Dame won the tipoff and then scored within the first three seconds of the game. Louisville didn’t let the quick shot get to them, keeping the quarter close and competitive, trading leads and ties throughout the first quarter. They trailed 15-17 at the end of the first.
The Cards had a strong second quarter, coming out hot early to claim a five-point lead. Notre Dame fought back to tie the game at 27-27, but the Cards ended the quarter on a 7-0 run capped off by a step-back three-pointer from Merissah Russell.
Louisville led 36-29 at the half.
Even though they looked like they had what it takes to run away with Sunday’s game, Louisville allowed Notre Dame to score quickly on three straight possessions, struggling with the change in defensive sets from the Irish. Once the Irish evened up the score, Louisville played close for about two more minutes until the game got out of hand. Notre Dame put together a 19-1 run that saw the Cards going scoreless for five minutes and without a field goal for a total of eight minutes. During this run, the Irish turned up their pressure, and guard Hannah Hidalgo was finally able to effect the game on the defensive end, getting almost all of her six steals in the second half. The Irish outscored the Cards by 20 in the third quarter, and Louisville trailed by 13.
The game was not out of reach at the start of the fourth, but Louisville failed to take advantage of the opportunities they were given. A prime example: after getting down by as much as 17 points, forward Olivia Cochran tried to cut into the lead going coast-to-coast for an uncontested layup. Cochran missed, and the Cards never got the chance to bring the game within 10 points again.
Louisville would lose 58-74.
While this is a bad loss in a bad run to end the regular season, there are still some positives from Sunday’s performance.
Louisville did an excellent job limiting Hidalgo’s effectiveness on both ends of the court in the first half. Hidalgo ultimately had a great game, but her production came primarily in the second half. Louisville was outrebounded–but by only five–by one of the best rebounding teams in the country.
The problem is that the Cards gave up far too many shots. Notre Dame shot 50% from the field and they allowed the Irish to shoot 25 free throws in the game. Louisville also committed 17 turnovers, giving up 14 points in the process. They’ve had the same problems all season long. When they clean up they’re very hard to stop, but they haven’t played too many clean games this season.
Louisville finishes the regular season at 23-8 with a 12-6 ACC record.
