GREENSBORO, NC (AP) — Miami lost a lot of ground to fourth-placed Louisville, looking wobbly, tired and on its way out of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament.
Then Destiny Harden took over.
Triggering one of the most unlikely and stunning comebacks in tournament history, Harden scored the game’s final 15 points and hit a horned turnover jumper to stun No. 4 Louisville 61–59 during the quarterfinals of Friday night’s ACC tournament.
The second-seeded Cardinals led 59-44 with 5:44 remaining, only to see the seventh-seeded Hurricanes stage a frantic rally that abruptly turned what appeared to be a Louisville win into a savage upset .
Harden did it almost single-handedly, tying her career high with 27 points on 11-of-15 shooting with 10 rebounds for Miami.
“Destiny Harden’s performance is one for the ages,” coach Katie Meier said, herself still trying to figure out what just happened. “It’s one for the ages.”
There were few signs that the Hurricanes (19-11) even had a chance to rally, to the point that even Meier thought his team looked ‘dead in the water’ against a team that ranked among the national elite all season.
Then everything changed, mainly thanks to a senior in a red shirt who stayed on the attack and wasn’t afraid to take the big hits – let alone miss.
“I just think it’s March basketball,” Harden said, “and you have to do whatever you have to do to win.”
Harden had only taken one shot in the second half before going 6 for 6 in the final 4:02. The first huge shot was a 3-point draw 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-rebound pass to Harden down the right side, Harden catching and raising Hailey Van Lith for a corner kick from a step or two in front of the arc.
“All 3 felt really good,” Harden said. “The last shot… felt good, but I prayed he would come back.”
The ball caught the entire net as the horn sounded, Van Lith immediately raising both hands to his cheeks in disbelief. It was then that the orange-clad Hurricanes players began sprinting onto the field and right next to Van Lith to run in convoy with Harden across the half-court and to the baseline before moving on. head towards the locker room tunnel.
The scene also included the team mobbing Meier as they did a post-match TV interview as they returned to the pitch, with players waving to the crowd and giving ‘The U’ hand signs to revel in the unlikely moment.
Chelsie Hall scored 13 points to lead the Cardinals (25–4), who missed their last five shots to see the lead vanish amid Harden’s onslaught. But ACC performers Van Lith (2-for-10) and Emily Engstler (4-for-13) had tough games, while the Cardinals tied their season with 21 turnovers — five in the 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, it was awful. There’s no doubt about that.
BIG PICTURE
Miami: The Hurricanes had won five of six to close out the regular season and were likely getting on the right side of the NCAA Tournament bubble. They beat 10th-seeded Duke in the second round on Thursday, then followed that up with an even bigger victory.
“Safe to say we’re out of the bubble?” Meier said to start his postgame press conference.
Louisville: The Cardinals entered the tournament with a top-2 seed for the fifth straight season and with three straight wins, including last weekend’s blowout win at Notre Dame that saw the Cardinals lead 41–3 . Yet for the second time this year – the other being the wild second-half comeback of No. 3 North Carolina State to win the lone regular-season encounter – Louisville proved unable to protect a big advance.
“We took really bad shots, we didn’t defend, we didn’t keep,” coach Jeff Walz said. “Everything we had to do to get them back in the game, we did.”
NOTABLE SEMI-FINALS
Miami is in the ACC Semifinals for the fourth time since joining the league for the 2004-05 season, most recently with back-to-back trips in 2016 and 2017.
As for Louisville, it’s the first time the Cardinals haven’t reached the semifinals since joining the league for the 2014-15 season.
BLOWN LEADS
Miami trailed 52–38 early in the fourth quarter before beating Louisville 23–7 the rest of the way. According to ESPN Stats & Info, this corresponds to the largest deficit entering the fourth overcome by a team in the league this season.
The other was NC State’s win over Louisville on Jan. 20 after trailing by an almost identical score (51-37).
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