Louisville Cardinals at Florida State Seminoles

No. 7 FSU beats No. 10 Louisville in ACC semifinals

The 10th-ranked Cardinals almost erased an early 24-point deficit against No. 7 Florida State, then went on to lose 66-51 on Saturday in an Atlantic Coast Conference semifinal.

"If you show up at all to start it off," Walz said, "it's probably a different outcome."

Mariya Moore had 17 points and Shawnta' Dyer added 10 with 13 rebounds for third-seeded Louisville (25-6).

After pulling to 45-43, the Cardinals were held to one basket during the next 6 1/2 minutes while Florida State pulled back away.

"You climb all the way back and get it to a two-point game," Welz said. "You expend so much energy to get back to that point that you have a breakdown."

Maegan Conwright scored 12 points and hit two big 3-pointers for Florida State.

"She said, `Put it in my hands," coach Sue Semrau said. "We put it in her hands, and you see the result."

Ivey Slaughter scored 17 points and Shakayla Thomas added 12 points for the second-seeded Seminoles (29-3).

They earned their first ACC championship game berth and matched the program record for wins after building that huge lead, then holding off the Cardinals' relentless rally.

Florida State will play No. 2 Notre Dame (30-2) on Sunday in the final.

That sent the Seminoles to their first semifinal victory in four tries and brought them even with the 2009-10 team that set the school record with 29 wins before reaching the NCAA regional semifinals.

They earned a rematch with the Fighting Irish, who won the only meeting this season 74-68 on Jan. 2 in South Bend.

For a while it looked like they might get there without a test.

Florida State used an early 20-2 run to take what seemed like a comfortable lead, taking its largest lead at 33-9 on a free throw from Slaughter with 5:34 left.

But the Cardinals chipped away at that huge deficit, pulling within two points on Moore's 3 with just over 9 minutes left before going cold.

STAT SHEET:

TIP-INS:

Louisville: The Cardinals were denied their sixth win over a Top 25 opponent this season. The highest-ranked team they've beaten is No. 15 North Carolina, and that came in a quarterfinal Friday night that ended about 16 hours before this game tipped off.

Florida State: Both of the Seminoles' wins over Louisville contained overwhelming early runs. They started the last meeting with a 21-1 spurt and went on to claim a 68-63 victory on Jan. 22.

UP NEXT

:

Louisville: Awaits at-large berth into NCAA Tournament.

Florida State: Plays No. 2 Notre Dame on Sunday in ACC championship game.

How can I watch Cardinals vs. Seminoles?

• TV Channel: Cardinals vs Seminoles 2021 College Basketball, week 17, is broadcasted on ESPNU.
• Online streaming: Sign up for Fubo.

Venue: First Horizon Coliseum

Location: Greensboro, NC
Attendance: 7,108 | Capacity: