Louisville Falls in the ACC Championship 75-67

The final of this game boils down to a couple of Virginia Tech runs. They went on a 9-0 run in the second quarter and the Cards spent the rest of the game chipping away at 10 point lead. It grew. It shrank. CC Carr’s hot shooting kept Louisville in striking distance, but it was the Hokies’ day.

Coach Walz said, “We had some good looks especially early in the game around the basket that just did not go in and that’s just part of the game. Did we come into this game anticipating to win an ACC Championship? Of course we did. But I’m not walking out of this building pissed off at these kids because we fought.” He added, “That 7-0 run to start the third quarter was really a dagger. It really hurt. But I was proud of our kids they kept fighting and there was no quit in them.”

CC Carr had 27 points. Hailey finished with 12 points [7 of those in the 1st quarter] and 2 rebounds. Mykasa Robinson had 9 rebounds and 8 points. Olivia Cochran had 11 points and 4 rebounds. Coach Walz said, “I thought Olivia Cochran battled. I thought she battled all game today. I was really proud of how well she competed.”

The Hokies were 25-27 from the free throw line as opposed to 10-12 for the Cards. Coach Walz also said, “The free throw line is what killed us. You look at the other stats: points off turnovers 14 to 4 us, points in the paint 20 to 16 us, second chance points 13 to 9 us, fast break five to 2, bench 9 to 4... we won that entire column but we did not win the free throw line and that’s unfortunate for us but you’ve got to give Tech credit for stepping up and making free throws.”

Mykasa talked about the team going into the tournament, “From a team standpoint those last few minutes really showed how hard we wanted to play and think that’s something we have to start the game with,” and as an individual, “just stepping up in those leadership moments and encouraging the team and telling them we’re still in it.” CC said she needs to “bring energy and talk more.” Coach Walz said, “If we can keep our turnovers low I think we’re gonna be a hard out for someone.”

The Cards will find out who and where they play in the tournament next week. The bracket will be revealed during the Selection Show at 8 p.m. ET on Sunday, March 12 on ESPN.