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GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) -- Asia Durr scored 22 points, and No. 3 Louisville advanced to the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament championship game by beating No. 9 North Carolina State 78-68 on Saturday in a semifinal.
Sam Fuehring had 14 points and 12 rebounds, and Arica Carter had 16 points to help the second-seeded Cardinals (29-2, 14-2) win a back-and-forth game in which both teams led by double figures and earn a rematch with No. 4 Notre Dame (29-3, 14-2) in the title game.
Louisville beat the Fighting Irish 74-72 in last year's final, giving Notre Dame its only loss in six years at the ACC Tournament while claiming its first league title since the Cardinals won the Metro in 1993. The Irish won the only regular-season meeting 82-68 on Jan. 10.
Elissa Cunane scored 20 points, Kai Crutchfield had 17 points and DD Rogers finished with 13 for the third-seeded Wolfpack (26-5, 12-4). They shot 51 percent but had 17 turnovers that the Cardinals turned into 28 points.
Durr scored eight points during a 15-4 run that gave them the lead for good, capping it with a jumper that made it 72-61 with 5 1/2 minutes left. NC State chipped away, closing to 74-68 on Rogers' free throw with 56.2 seconds remaining, before Fuehring and Durr each hit two free throws to stretch the margin back to double figures.
GAME INFORMATION
Semifinals
Score: #2 Louisville 78, #3 NC State 68
Records: Louisville 29-2; NC State 26-5
Location: Greensboro Coliseum; Greensboro, N.C.
Attendance: 6,943
Louisville Starters: Carter, Durr, Dunham, Fuehring, Jones
NC State Starters: Konig, Crutchfield, Cunane, Leslie, Rogers
NOTES AND HIGHLIGHTS
- Louisville defeated NC State 78-68 to reach the ACC Tournament championship game for the second consecutive year. The Cardinals won their first ACC Tournament title last year with a 74-72 victory over Notre Dame.
- The Wolfpack held a 10-9 lead midway through the first quarter before scoring eight straight points on four layups over a 2:29 span to pull ahead 18-9. The Cardinals responded with an 8-3 run over the quarter’s final 2:15 to cut the NC State advantage to 21-17.
- NC State’s Elissa Cunane scored five points in a 13-8 run as the Wolfpack pulled ahead 34-25 midway through the second quarter.
- Louisville then scored the game’s next 19 points, started by back-to-back threes from Arica Carter. Asia Durr scored nine of Louisville’s 19 points during that span, knocking down a pair of three-pointers during the run that put the Cardinals ahead 44-34 at the break.
- Trailing 46-34 with just under 8 minutes to go, NC State went on a 19-6 run to regain the lead at 53-52 with 2:35 remaining in the third quarter. DD Rogers scored eight of the team’s 19 points during that span, while Kiara Leslie added six points.
- Louisville was able to respond with a 7-4 run to take a 59-57 lead into the game’s final quarter.
- The Cardinals started the fourth quarter with a 7-0 run to pull ahead 66-57 with 8:20 left in the game. The Wolfpack answered with an 11-8 run to make it a six-point game at 74-68 with just under a minute remaining. Louisville sealed the win by sinking four straight foul shots to end the game.
- Durr led Louisville with a game-high 22 points. It was the 18th 20-point game of the season for Durr and the 55th of her career.
- Carter knocked down 4-of-7 threes on her way to a 16-point performance. It was the 10th double-figure scoring game of the season for Carter.
- Sam Fuehring registered a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds. It marked the sixth double-double game of the season for Fuehring.
- Dana Evans came off the bench to record nine points and six assists for the Cardinals.
- Cunane led the Wolfpack with 20 points after making 8-of-12 shots from the floor. It was the seventh 20-point game of the season for the freshman center.
- Kai Crutchfield hit 6-of-9 shots from the floor, including 3-of-4 from behind the three-point line, on her way to 17 points. It was the seventh double-figure scoring game of the season for Crutchfield and eighth of her career.
- Rogers finished with 13 points and seven rebounds for the Wolfpack.
- Louisville improved to 9-3 all-time in the ACC Tournament.
- NC State slipped to 48-38 all-time in the ACC Tournament.
TEAM LEADERS
Louisville
Points: Durr 22
Rebounds: Fuehring 12
Assists: Evans 6
NC State
Points: Cunane 20
Rebounds: Rogers 7
Assists: Konig, Leslie 2
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Halftime: Louisville, 44-34
Ties: 1
Lead Changes: 4
Largest Leads: Louisville 12 (3rd - 8:30); NC State 10 (2nd - 6:22)
Louisville led for: 22:03
NC State led for: 16:40
Game was tied for: 0:43
UP NEXT
No. 2 Louisville advances to face top-seeded Notre Dame (29-3) in Sunday’s 12 p.m. championship game.