GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) - Asia Durr scored 17 points and Sam Fuehring converted a key three-point play in the final minute, helping No. 4 Louisville beat No. 5 Notre Dame 74-72 on Sunday to win its first Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament title.
Arica Carter finished with 16 points and hit four 3-pointers, Fuehring and Myisha Hines-Allen each finished with 15 and Durr, the ACC's player of the year, hit four free throws in the final seconds to help the top-seeded Cardinals (32-2) win their first conference tournament since 1993 - when they won the Metro Tournament.
Jessica Shepard had 23 points and 10 rebounds, and Arike Ogunbowale added 20 points for the second-seeded Fighting Irish (29-3), who failed to win the ACC Tournament for the first time since joining the league. They had won the previous four years.
Notre Dame trailed 65-64 with the ball in the final minute before turning it over on a shot-clock violation with 45.5 seconds left. Fuerhing then hit a layup through contact from Marina Mabrey with 24.9 seconds left, and then hit the free throw to make it 68-64.
After Shepard countered with a quick jumper, Louisville went 6 of 6 from the free-throw line in the final 18.2 seconds to seal it.
BIG PICTURE
Notre Dame: The Fighting Irish had to lose an ACC Tournament game sometime, and all those injuries might finally have caught up to them. They essentially played just six players in this one. With those depth issues, winning three games in three days on a neutral court wound up being a pretty tough request.
Louisville: The Cardinals certainly know how to make shots against Notre Dame. They shot 65 percent in a 33-point victory in January that wound up being the tiebreaker for the top seed in this tournament. Louisville shot 45 percent in this one while placing all five starters in double figures, and became the first team since Connecticut in 2015 to beat the Fighting Irish twice in a season.
UP NEXT
Notre Dame: Headed to the NCAA Tournament - possibly as a No. 1 seed.
Louisville: Headed to the NCAA Tournament - likely as a No. 1 seed.
