Harden helps Miami women stun No. 4 Louisville in ACCs
GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) — Destiny Harden hit a turnaround jumper at the horn to cap a one-woman comeback as Miami scored the game’s final 17 points to stun No. 4 Louisville 61-59 in Friday night’s quarterfinals of the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament.
The second-seeded Cardinals led 59-44 with 5:44 left, only to see the seventh-seeded Hurricanes stage a frantic rally that abruptly turned what looked set to be a Louisville win into a stunning reversal.
Harden did it almost single-handedly, scoring the game’s last 15 points for Miami (19-11) on the way to 27 points on 11-for-15 shooting.
“The performance by Destiny Harden is one for the ages,” coach Katie Meier said, herself still trying to process exactly what had just happened. “It’s one for the ages.”
Harden’s run included the game-tying 3-pointer from the left wing with 31 seconds left.
Then, after the Cardinals committed a shot-clock violation, Miami got the ball back with 1.7 seconds left. Kelsey Marshall sent a one-bounce pass to Harden on the right side, with Harden catching and turning to elevate over Hailey Van Lith for a corner shot from a step or two in front of the 3-point arc.
“The 3 definitely felt good,” Harden said. “The last shot… it felt good, but I prayed for it to go in.”
The ball caught all net as the horn sounded, with Van Lith immediately raising both hands to her cheeks in disbelief. That’s when orange-clad Hurricanes players began sprinting onto the court and right by Van Lith to run in convoy with Harden across halfcourt and to the far baseline before heading toward the locker-room tunnel.
The scene also included the team mobbing Meier as she did a postgame TV interview as they returned to the court, with players motioning to the crowd and throwing up “The U” hand signs to revel in the improbable moment.
Chelsie Hall scored 13 points to lead the Cardinals (25-4), who missed their last five shots to watch the lead vanish amid Harden’s onslaught. But all-ACC performers Van Lith (2 for 10) and Emily Engstler (4 for 13) had rough games, while the Cardinals tied their season high with 21 turnovers — five coming in that last 5:44.
“I wouldn’t say being down on ourselves is a bad thing because we have to be down,” said Louisville’s Kianna Smith, who had 10 points. “Like, that was awful. There’s no question about it.”
BIG PICTURE
Miami: The Hurricanes had won five of six to close the regular season and likely put themselves on the right side of the NCAA Tournament bubble. They beat 10th-seeded Duke in Thursday’s second round, with Meier saying she didn’t “have any question that we belong in the big dance” afterward. That’s especially true now after taking down a team that has spent all year ranked among the nation’s elite.
Louisville: The Cardinals entered the tournament with a top-2 seed for the fifth straight season. They had lost the only matchup with regular-season champion and third-ranked North Carolina State and fell at No. 16 North Carolina by one point on Feb. 17, though they had won their last three — including last weekend’s blowout win at Notre Dame that saw the Cardinals lead 41-3 — with coach Jeff Walz saying his team’s attention to detail had been much sharper. That seemed to be the case again, until Harden and the Hurricanes suddenly changed everything.
UP NEXT
Miami: The Hurricanes advanced to Saturday’s semifinals to face the Georgia Tech-Notre Dame winner.
Louisville: The Cardinals will have to wait and see where they are seeded in the NCAA Tournament.
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Follow Aaron Beard on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/aaronbeardap
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More AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25
