No. 20 Louisville women’s basketball was without a top-25 win. No. 11 North Carolina was without a home loss.
Both of those things changed Sunday afternoon as the Cardinals downed the Tar Heels in overtime, 76-66, at Carmichael Arena in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
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Louisville (10-3, 2-0 ACC) had previously gone 0-3 against ranked opponents (No. 1 UConn, No. 18 Kentucky and No. 3 South Carolina), while UNC (9-3, 0-1) is still looking for a ranked win after falling to the Cardinals, No. 4 UCLA and No. 2 Texas. The Cardinals earned the win by holding UNC to shooting 38% from the field, its worst shooting performance since its 78-60 loss to the Bruins on Nov. 13. The Heels went 0 for 7 in overtime Sunday.
Louisville will have six days to prepare for its next top-20 team in No. 17 Tennessee during the Women’s Champions Classic. UofL will return home to play Eastern Kentucky at 6 p.m. Wednesday in preparation for the matchup.
The Cardinals only trailed twice: once in the third quarter and again in the final minute of regulation. Louisville trailed, 66-65, in the final 10 seconds of the fourth quarter before turnovers and missed free throws from both teams forced the extra period. The Cards’ final possession ended with Imari Berry, who finished with 13 points, going 1 for 2 from the free-throw line for the 66-all tie.
“We had a bad 2 ½ minutes there to end regulation. We weren’t as clean or crisp with execution as I thought we could’ve been,” UofL coach Jeff Walz said. “… But what I was proud of was we fought. We didn’t quit.”
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Berry was an integral part of the Cardinals’ bench presence during a game in which Anaya Hardy picked up two fouls in the first four minutes. The reserves finished with 26 points.
“She’s a kid that, if she can figure it out, she can be one of the best players in this league, if not one of the best players in college basketball,” Walz said. “She can do things, athletically, that others can’t, and she’s so smooth. I’m trying to get her to think the game. … Understanding the game, it’s so important. It can separate the good players from elite players.”
In addition to the bench, three of Louisville’s starters had double-digit performances, led by Laura Ziegler’s 17 points followed by Elif Istanbulluoglu (16) and Taj Roberts (11).
Louisville had nine-point leads that UNC cut away at in the first three quarters. During the first, the 23-14 lead narrowed to two points by the end of the quarter. In the second quarter, Louisville’s 36-27 lead went down to three before Berry’s buzzer-beater for the Cards’ 38-33 halftime advantage. And the third quarter ended with Louisville’s five-point lead after being up, 51-42, at the 3:46 mark of the frame.
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UNC controlled the fourth quarter, outscoring the Cardinals, 15-10, but had no answer in overtime.
“Overall, if we continue to make strides, if we continue to just buy into the team aspect of things and not worry about individual stuff, we have a chance to be a pretty good basketball team,” Walz said.
Reach Louisville football, women’s basketball and baseball beat writer Alexis Cubit at acubit@gannett.com and follow her on X at @Alexis_Cubit.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville basketball defeats North Carolina in top-20 matchup
