ACC Women’s ACC Tourney: Day 4 (3-7-2026)
By: Joe Dillard Jr.
Headline Photo Credit: ACC
(Day 4) ACC action-packed semi-final action was worth the price of admission!! Duke and Louisville to headline the ACC Championship game
(12) #5 Notre Dame 63 vs #1 Duke 65
In a complete thriller, the ending was scripted for Duke as they made three consecutive stops to prevent Notre Dame from forcing overtime or even winning the game. In a battle of halves, Duke started 17-11 in the first and held off on Notre Dame’s fight to comeback leading 38-31 at the half. In a clash of styles, Notre Dame came out in the third quarter getting extra possessions to win the quarter 18-8. However, Duke is used to having that one quarter and it appears that they responded as they were trailing 49-46 at the end of the third. With a back-and-forth fourth quarter, Notre Dame had multiple chances to force overtime or win but fell short with Hannah Hidalgo scoring 24 points and the team including Hannah shot 38% from the floor while Duke shot 40 which is one of many close categories in this game.
Senior Taina Mair was everywhere as she knew who she was matching up against and delivered 16 points 8 rebounds and 8 assists with only 2 turnovers. Duke outrebounded the Fighting Irish 47-32 as every starter for Duke had 5 rebounds, 10 plus shot attempts, 30 plus minutes, a steal and again Delaney Thomas was the only one without an assist. Duke (23-8) looks to be rolling as they are trending to a 2 seed possibly and will await the winner of the North Carolina/Louisville game for a chance to hoist up the ACC tournament title.
(13) #3 North Carolina 57 vs #2 Louisville 65
Sophomore Imari Berry was outstanding coming off the bench pouring in 22 points while grabbing 10 rebounds, which was the game high in both categories. Louisville seemed to find the hot hand while Carolina struggled to get sharp-shooter Lanie Grant shots up. 11 points on 4 of 8 shooting while 3 of 6 from behind the arc says she should have been in a battle with Imari instead Louisville clamped down on everything North Carolina wanted to do.
The Tarheels had 8 assists total and turned the ball over 15 times which is a recipe for disaster. Elina Aarnisalo led the Tarheels with 17 points This is what a championship team looks like when you have multiple players that can take over a game. Louisville also executed a defensive game plan exactly how head coach Jeff Walz wanted. Louisville (27-6) will advance to the ACC Championship game against Duke in which the winner should have a chance at the 2 seed in the NCAA tourney while the loser will most likely be a 3 seed.
