2016 ACC WBB Tournament: Fighting Irish and Orange advance to final

ACC Semifinal: #3 Syracuse 80, #2 Louisville 75

Orin Day – TSN Correspondent

GREENSBORO, N.C. – The top-seeded Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the third-seeded Syracuse Orange earned berths into the ACC Tournament final with wins at Greensboro Coliseum on Saturday.

Notre Dame turned back a second half charge from fifth-seeded Miami and pulled away with a 78-67 victory while Syracuse overcame a Louisville third quarter offensive outburst to upset the second-seeded Cardinals 80-75 to advance to the championship final.

Miami came out on fire, scoring its first 15 points from behind the arc, while Notre Dame worked inside to score its first 18 exclusively from the paint and the free throw line.

The Irish finally gained some separation after Miami star Adrienne Motley went to the bench with her second foul, continuing to work largely inside for a 29-21 advantage with 7:23 left in the second period.

Motley returned and the Canes regained their offensive flow to cut the deficit to 39-38 at the break.

After trading baskets to open up the second half, Miami took the lead at 47-44, scoring on three consecutive layups capped with an Erykah Davenport and-one.

That was a wake-up call for the Irish whose shooters began to find their range, quickly building a double-digit advantage that they’d hold for the remainder of the game.

Miami’s shots were visibly falling short, not just from behind the arc but also on drives and pull ups.

Meanwhile, Notre Dame became ever quicker to claim rebounds and loose balls, simply wearing down the Canes who were playing their third game in as many days.

The Orange came into the semifinal game as one of the hottest teams in the ACC, having rattled off ten straight wins after suffering back-to-back defeats in late January at the hands of Notre Dame (90-62) and Louisville (71-53).

A key to Syracuse’s success was being able to break down the Louisville defense with drives or pulling up, as only six of their 31 baskets were assisted.

Meanwhile, three Louisville players – Myisha Hines-Allen, Briahanna Jackson, and Asia Durr – scored 68 of the Cards 75 points, with the rest of the roster dropping just 3-of-16 from the floor.

Cornelia Fondren came off the Syracuse bench to counter reserve Durr, and ripped off an impressive 18 point, 13 board double-double performance.

Syracuse threw the first punch in the opening quarter with 21 points – posting 12 in the paint and eight off of Louisville turnovers.

Back-to-back buckets from Durr drew both teams even at 12 apiece until Syracuse rattled off a 14-2 run well into the second period to lead 26-14 with 7:28 left in the half.

When head coach Jeff Walz adjusted the Louisville defense to close off a porous middle, the Orange countered with reserves Taylor Ford and Maggie Morrison who hit a trio of three pointers.

The Cards’ comeback effort fizzled as the Orange led 39-33 at halftime.

The effort was there, but Louisville couldn’t get back-to-back stops to cut into the Syracuse margin.

Asia Durr then found the corner open and converted on back-to-back three’s to tie the game at 51 apiece midway through the third.

Five straight points from ACC Player of the Year Hines-Allen finally put the Cards ahead by one.

While Louisville shot a blistering 61% from the floor in the quarter, it was a success rate that proved unsustainable going forward as both teams headed into the final period knotted at 62 points each.

The final quarter was a see-saw affair with five lead changes and four ties.

The Cards needed three’s in the closing minutes to tie it again, but they just couldn’t stick any.

Meanwhile, Syracuse played with confidence despite experiencing some adversity in winning time, hitting jumpers and free throws to survive and advance.

#1 Notre Dame 78, #5 Miami 67

Scoring leaders

Notre Dame: Brianna Turner 17 pts. (5-10 FG, 7-12 FT); Lindsay Allen 14 pts. (5-10 FG, 4-4 FT), 8 assists; Madison Cable 14 pts. (4-10 FG, 2-4 3 pts., 4-4 FT).

Miami: Jessica Thomas 17 pts. (6-16 FG, 5-9 3 pts.), 5 assists; Michelle Woods 13 pts. (4-13), 4 assists, Adrienne Motley 10 pts. (3-13 FG, 2-6 3 pts.).

Rebounding leaders: Notre Dame – Brianna Turner (9); Hannah Huffman, Lindsey Allen (6)

Turning point

Notre Dame kicked in the afterburners after Miami took the lead with 6:23 left in the 3rd quarter and never really looked back, building a working margin and more.

The only speed bump in their nine-minute 21-6 run was a three by Jessica Davenport, the lone Miami trey scored in the second half.

Notre Dame was burned for nine treys in the first, but the Irish’s halftime adjustment of abandoning their zone closed that door.

With the Irish shooting a blazing 6-of-9 from the field in the fourth and 6-of-8 at the free throw line, Miami couldn’t catch up by just trading baskets.

What they said

Notre Dame head coach Muffett McGraw: “I thought Miami played a great first half. They shot the ball extremely well. We tried to zone them – they shot us out of it. We tried a couple different things – they shot us out of all of them. In the third quarter, I think we went man-to-man and I think that was probably our best defense of the day. They’re a great team – their guards are terrific. They were really fired up at the beginning of the game, played extremely well after having played three days in a row. I think maybe fatigue may have been a factor in the fourth quarter.”

Notre Dame guard Madison Cable: “We’ve been in situations before where the other team makes a run and we kind of just gather ourselves and we know we have to make a stop. Make a couple stops, execute a few plays. Coach probably runs an easy hitter or a play and like a lay-up into Bree or something easy that we know we can execute, and then we just try to go on a run from there.”

Miami head coach Katie Meier: “I loved our effort, I loved taking the lead in the second half, too. I loved all that. And there’s no way that I will ever say, well, we just lost our legs on those shots. You will never hear me say that. So, if I was going to lose to anybody today and my team was going to battle against anybody, we have so much respect for Notre Dame. It makes us feel good. And obviously we were really thrilled with our improvement from the last time we faced them. And as a coach, your whole job is where were you in January, where were you in February, where are you in March, and this March Miami team is pretty damned good.”

Miami guard Jessica Thomas: “I can’t see anything else but us being on top. I think that’s what it is. When I’m out there, I just know how hard Erykah has put work in, I know how hard Mot has put work in. I can go down the list, and I just know – I can’t see it any other way than us being on top.”

Up next

ACC Championship – #1 Notre Dame vs. #3 Syracuse, 12:30 p.m., Sun.

#3 Syracuse 80, #2 Louisville 75

Scoring leaders

Syracuse: Alexis Peterson 19 pts. (8-20); Cornelia Fondren 18 pts (6-10, 6-10 FT), 4 assists.

Louisville: Myisha Hines-Allen 27 pts. (9-13 FG, 9-9 FT); Asia Durr 23 pts (8-17 FG, 4-10 3 pts.); Briahanna Jackson 18 pts. (7-17 FG, 3-3 FT).

Rebounding leaders: Syracuse – Cornelia Fondren (13); Louisville – Hines-Allen (12), Briahanna Jackson (9)

Turning point

It looked like curtains for Syracuse when Briana Day fouled out trying to stop Asia Durr with 3:23 left in the game – the ensuing free throw put Louisville up 73-69.

Bria Day entered the game and the Orange answered with a Brianna Butler trey and a pair of Cornelia Fondren free throws to lead 74-73.

Bria blocked a Mariya Moore layup on the ensuing possession, injuring her shoulder in the process, but did not exit the game.

Unable to do anything but screen on the offensive end, Bria toughed it out to get a key rebound as four Cuse free throws sealed the victory.

What they said

Syracuse head coach Quentin Hillsman: “Well, it was a tough game. I think everyone knew what was at stake in the paint, and Hines-Allen, she’s a tremendous player. I watched her growing up in our area and just playing AAU and high school basketball, and she’s just a tremendous talent down there, and she fights hard. But we knew that we had to get in there and do the same thing and make the game grimy and just get tough. And that’s what we talked about the last three minutes of the game was getting every rebound, contesting every shot, getting a body on a body and just toughen the game out. But you’ve got to give Louisville a lot of credit. Everything was contested and they really fought hard and we just came out and made a couple plays late.”

Syracuse guard Alexis Peterson: “I just wanted to execute our game plan. Coach talked about attacking them off the bounce, getting to the basket, playing above our head, and trying to get easy baskets, so I mean, I just took advantage of what the defense was giving me. I wanted to stay in attack mode the entire game.”

Louisville head coach Jeff Walz: “First, again, want to congratulate Syracuse. I thought they played extremely hard. They attacked us from the get-go. Unfortunately we did not come out and play like I thought we would. We did not follow a scouting report, and unfortunately, we’re not good enough to just come out and play without following a scout. We got out-hustled and out-toughed at crunch time.”

Up next: ACC Championship – #3 Syracuse vs. #1 Notre Dame, 12:30 p.m., Sun.