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Louisville women fall to No. 3 Notre Dame

No. 13 Louisville Basketball led for the majority of the game, but couldn't hang on as No. 3 Notre Dame came from nine-points down to win 66-61.

The Cardinals were outscored 21-12 in the final quarter, relinquishing their lead to the Irish, one of the top teams in the nation all season.

Mariya Moore and the Cardinals battled Notre Dame on Super Bowl Sunday.
Mariya Moore and the Cardinals battled Notre Dame on Super Bowl Sunday.
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The Irish have been ranked No. 3 in the nation in every poll this season and have only lost to No. 1 UConn at Connecticut, 91-81, on Dec. 5. This season they have wins over then-No. 10 Ohio State, No. 17 DePaul, No. 10 Oregon Sate, No. 15 Tennessee and No. 24 Syracuse.

Notre Dame and Louisville both came into the game with a 10-0 ACC record, with Notre Dame sitting at 22-1 on the season and Louisville was 18-5, having recovered from an 1-4 start with a 17-1 run. The Irish are an incredible 49-1 in ACC games since joining the league.

Notre Dame came into the game with the league's best three-point shooter, Madison Cable (46.8 percent), and the league's best point guard, Lindsay Allen (5.6 assists per game, 2.46 assist-to-turnover ratio, both league bests). They were No. 1 in the league in three-point percentage (41.6), No. 1 in field goal percentage (49.1) and No. 1 in scoring (80.4 ppg).

The Cardinals did a nice job on Cable, holding her to just one three for the game, and a nice job limiting Allen. She finished with three assists and two turnovers, but Cable was effective even without the three-point shot, going 4 of 8 from inside the arc while scoring 13 points and grabbing 12 rebounds.


Myisha Hines-Allen was having a great game with 16 points and 7 rebounds before she fouled out with 3:07 left.
Myisha Hines-Allen was having a great game with 16 points and 7 rebounds before she fouled out with 3:07 left. (Gail Kamenish)

Louisville led 24-19 at the end of the first quarter on the strength of eight points from Mariya Moore and six points and three rebounds from Myisha Hines-Allen. The Cardinals shot 50 percent from the field with Moore and Hines-Allen, the super sophomore duo, going 6 of 9.

Louisville held a seven point lead at 31-24 and 33-26 in the second quarter, despite missing 6 straight shots during a stretch. The Cardinals pushed the lead to 35-26 with just over a minute remaining, but a late close by the Irish cut the margin to 35-30 by halftime.

Trailing at the half for just the second time this season (the other being the loss to UConn), Notre Dame cut Louisville's lead to three, 37-34. The Cardinals responded with a 6-0 run, aided by hot shooting from Briahanna Jackson.

Louisville's nine-point lead evaporated quickly as Notre Dame cut it to 45-43 by the 1:30 mark of the third quarter before a jumper by Asia Durr stopped the Irish run. A spinning fade-away jumper by Jackson gave Louisville a 49-45 lead going into the fourth quarter.

Notre Dame tied the score at 55-55 with 6:52 left and had the ball with a chance to take the lead, but a jumper by Hines-Allen gave Louisville the lead back with just under six minutes left. The Irish tied the game at 57, but Louisville got a 1-2 trip to the foul line by Durr and a defensive stop.

The next play may have decided the game. After a pair of empty possessions ended with Louisville offensive rebounds, Hines-Allen fouled out on a controversial rebounding call with 3:07 left. Notre Dame's Madison Cable hit a pair of free throws to give the Irish a 59-58 lead.

A three by Cable put Notre Dame ahead 62-58 with just under two minutes left. Notre Dame closed out the win at the foul line. Hitting 1-2 in four separate trips to the charity stripe.



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