WBB: Cards Fall to Duke in Overtime of ACC Final, 70-65

Mark BlankenbakerMarch 8, 2026

The No. 2 seed Louisville women’s basketball team (27-7, 15-3 ACC) dropped a heart breaker, 70-65, in overtime to No. 1 Duke (24-8, 16-2 ACC) in the Ally ACC Championship Game Sunday afternoon at Gas South Arena. Louisville had a lead in the final minute but was unable to close it out and the game headed to overtime. An early three in overtime gave the Cards the lead but a dry spell from the field ended the Cards championship hopes.

Mackenly Randolph had another strong game in the tournament with 17 points and a team-best 11 rebounds and six assists. The six assists were a career high to go with four steals and zero turnovers in a career-best 45 minutes played. Imari Berry scored in double figures for all three games of the tournament and she had a team-best 18 points this afternoon against Duke. Berry averaged 17.0 points over the course of the tournament. Tajianna Roberts was in double figures with 12 points and three steals. Laura Ziegler rounded the group out in double figures with 10 points and four rebounds. Berry and Randolph were named to the ACC All-Tournament First Team while Ziegler was named to the All-Tournament Second Team.

The Cardinals had some early jitters and had four turnovers in the first few minutes before the shots started to fall. Louisville hit three-straight shots, one each from Istanbulluoglu, Roberts and Ziegler to get in front at the first media timeout. Louisville ripped off an 13-0 run in the middle of the quarter thanks to hot shooting and forcing turnovers. Louisville shot 9-for-15 from the floor and forced the Blue Devils into six turnovers in the frame. After the opening quarter, Louisville held a 21-14 lead.

Duke pushed back to start the second quarter with a 7-0 run to tie the game at 21. The Cards found their footing in a back and forth quarter where the score was tied three times and the lead changed hands four times. Randolph and Berry accounted for nine of Louisville’s 11 points in the frame. Berry beat the buzzer with a jumper to give the Cardinals a 32-30 lead heading into halftime.

The three-pointers started to fall for the Cards in the third quarter. Ziegler opened up the frame with a big three to stretch the lead out. Roberts and Berry both added triples to extend the Louisville lead. Duke trimmed the deficit down to one in the final minutes of the quarter but another big three from Berry gave the Cards some breathing room. At the end of the third, Louisville held a 49-46 advantage.

Duke scored the first five points in the fourth to regain the lead, their first since halfway through the second quarter. A jumper from Berry tied the game back up and the Cards got back in front after a steal from Istanbulluoglu and a layup from Roberts.

The Cardinals did not make a field goal for over four minutes and Duke regained the lead with under 30 seconds remaining after a three from Nelson. The Cardinals responded with a layup from Randolph and a free throw from Berry to take a two-point lead. The Blue Devils got a bucket in the final seconds to push the game into overtime.

A Ziegler three early in overtime gave the Cards a slight edge but Louisville did not get another field goal until there was less than a minute left. Duke then hit a three-pointer as the shot clock was expiring to put the game out of reach.

The Cardinals now await their fate for Selection Sunday, which is one week from today on Sunday, March 15. New this year, the NCAA will announce on Saturday, March 14 the Top 16 host sites in alphabetical order. The full bracket reveal will still come on Sunday at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN.