GREENSBORO, N.C. (theACC.com) – No signs of rust from fourth-seeded Louisville as the Cardinals became the first “double-bye” team to take the floor at the 46th annual Ally Atlantic Coast Conference Women’s Tournament.
Hailey Van Lith scored 26 points and Chrislyn Carr added 16 as Louisville bolted from the gate quickly and never trailed while downing 12th-seeded Wake Forest 74-48 in Friday’s quarterfinal game.
Louisville (22-10) moves on to Saturday’s noon semifinal to face the winner of Friday afternoon’s matchup between top-seeded Notre Dame and eighth-seeded NC State. The Cardinals suffered a three-point loss to the Fighting Irish in last Sunday’s regular-season finale and a 78-76 overtime heartbreaker on Jan. 16 in South Bend. NC State won 63-51 when the teams met in Louisville on Jan. 22.
The tough losses to Notre Dame, however, are the only ones the Cardinals have suffered during the months of February or March. They will go into Saturday’s semifinal game having won seven of their last nine.
Van Lith took charge at the start on Friday, knocking down each of the four 3-point shots she attempted and scoring 17 points in the first quarter, which ended with the Cardinals in front 20-8.
Louisville went on to build an 18-point second-quarter lead before the Deacons – who rallied from a 20-point second-half deficit to win Wednesday’s second-round game versus fifth-seeded Florida State – scored the final eight points of the half to trail 34-24 at the break.
Any thoughts of another comeback quickly vanished, however, as the Cardinals kept their transition game in high gear. Louisville opened the second half with a 9-0 run and built its lead to as high as 30 points midway through the fourth quarter.
The Cardinals wound up scoring 21 points off 15 Wake Forest turnovers. Louisville also held a 40-29 advantage on the boards, led by Nyla Harris’ team-high nine rebounds.
Elise Williams led the Demon Deacons (17-17) with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Jewel Spear connected on four 3-point shots and finished with 15 points.