Louisville Lets One Slip in ACC Showdown With Duke
This wasn’t just a loss-it was an opportunity missed, a game Louisville will replay in their minds for a while. No.
6 Louisville had the chance to seize control of the ACC race on their home floor, riding a 14-game win streak and playing in front of a packed house at the KFC Yum! Center.
Instead, it was No. 17 Duke walking out with a gritty 59-58 win, snapping the Cardinals’ streak and snatching the inside track to the regular-season title.
Let’s be clear: this was a battle. Two undefeated teams in conference play, both 11-0 in the ACC, throwing punches in a game dripping with postseason implications. But where Duke delivered in the biggest moments, Louisville left too much on the table-missed layups, missed free throws, and missed chances that loomed large by the final buzzer.
Imari Berry had a shot to send this one to overtime with 1.1 seconds left. She stepped to the line needing two.
The first one dropped. The second?
It hung in the air like a question mark-and fell the wrong way.
But pinning this on one shot would be missing the bigger picture. Louisville went 10-of-20 on layups.
They left seven free throws on the line, going 11-for-18. From deep, it was 5-of-17.
Duke wasn’t lights out either, but they did just enough-and more importantly, they made the bigger plays when it counted.
The Blue Devils blocked nine shots. Nine.
They out-rebounded Louisville and owned the offensive glass, grabbing 10 offensive boards, including five from their point guard alone. That’s the kind of hustle that wins tight games in February.
“They were physical, and we shied away from it a little,” Louisville forward Laura Ziegler admitted postgame. And early on, that was painfully clear.
Duke came out like they’d been shot out of a cannon, hitting their first seven shots and racing to a 16-1 lead. Louisville, meanwhile, missed its first eight. It was a start that had head coach Jeff Walz taking the blame.
“I didn’t have them ready to play like I should have,” Walz said. “We dug ourselves a huge hole. It’s inexcusable.”
And yet, the Cardinals didn’t fold. They clawed back, outscoring Duke in each of the final three quarters. They opened the fourth with a 6-0 run to take a three-point lead, only to watch Duke punch back with an 11-1 run of their own.
Louisville brought energy off the bench, came up with more steals, and made the hustle plays that usually swing close games. But the little things-the missed bunnies, the free throws, the blocked shots-kept piling up.
Down two with under a minute to play, Berry had a look from the top of the key. She rose for three, but Duke’s Toby Fournier, who was everywhere all night, swatted it away. It was one of several momentum-killing plays from the Blue Devils’ standout forward, who finished with 15 points and was a force on both ends.
Still, Louisville had one last gasp. A late steal gave them a chance.
Ziegler grabbed the ball and pushed it ahead to Berry, who was fouled on a drive to the basket. That set up her two free throws with the game on the line.
She hit one.
And that was the difference.
This was a team loss, and Walz knows it. The frustration wasn’t just about the final free throw-it was about the accumulation of mistakes that added up to a one-point defeat.
The layups that didn’t fall. The shots that were blocked.
The rebounds that slipped away.
Louisville had standout performances-Elif Istanbulluoglu led with 13 points, while Ziegler and Reyna Scott added 11 each. But Duke matched them punch for punch. Riley Nelson and Tania Mair each scored 13, and Fournier’s impact went well beyond the box score.
There will be more chances. The ACC race isn’t over, but Louisville now needs help. And Walz made it clear: expectations don’t go away just because of one loss.
“We had expectations at the beginning of the season to win this league,” he said. “That’s still in front of us.
We just need help. … But this is the era of getting paid.
There’s expectations every day. You’re now getting paid.
That’s what I tell them. It’s awesome, but now here come expectations.”
In a game like this-two top-tier teams, a sold-out arena, a conference title in play-you don’t get many chances. Louisville had the pen and the paper. But Duke wrote the ending.