CRAWFORD | Slow start, missed opportunities cost Louisville in 59-58 loss to Duke | Sports

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – This was not just a loss. This was missed layups, missed free throws, and a missed appointment with the inside track to the ACC regular-season championship.

It was a game No. 6 Louisville didn’t lose so much as leave on the floor like car keys in a parking lot. But give No. 17 Duke credit for making the bigger plays late, and the big shots throughout, in a 59-58 win before a crowd of 10,553 in the KFC Yum! Center.

They played for the top of the ACC. And for the streaks. Louisville had won 14 in a row, Duke 13. Both came in 11-0 in the ACC.

Louisville sophomore Imari Berry had a chance to perhaps send the game to overtime with two free throws with 1.1 seconds left. The crowd held its breath. She hit the first. The second hung in the air and said no.

But there were plenty of other misses to remember. Louisville went 10-for-20 on layups. It went 11 of 18 from the free-throw line. It made just 5 of 17 from three-point range.

Duke, meanwhile shot it just a bit better, rebounded a bit better, and blocked nine Louisville shots to deny the Cardinals a clear path to the ACC title.

A masterpiece of frustration, painted in rimmed-out shots and rebound fumbles.

“They were physical, and we shied away from it a little,” Louisville forward Laura Ziegler said.

At the start, it looked like it could be much worse. Duke jumped out to a 16-1 lead, making its first seven shots while Louisville missed its first eight.

“I’ll take the blame,” Jeff Walz said. “I didn’t have them ready to play like I should have. … We dug ourselves a huge hole. It’s inexcusable.”

He wasn’t wrong. And yet, he wasn’t completely right. This team is plenty good. It’s tough. It battled back when it could’ve folded. But tough doesn’t fix missed free throws. Grit doesn’t patch layups that lip out like the rim is allergic to victory.

But Louisville clawed back. It outscored Duke in each of the remaining three quarters and took a three-point lead with a 6-0 run to open the fourth. But Duke responded with an 11-1 run.

Louisville had more points off the bench. More hustle plays. More steals.

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Trailing by two with just a minute left, Louisville got a steal and Imari Berry rose up for a three from the top of the key. Duke’s Toby Fournier, who was outstanding all ngiht, swatted it like a mosquito.

Louisville kept battling. It got a steal with time running down. Ziegler came down with the ball and passed ahead to Berry, who drove for a layup but was fouled, setting up her fateful free throws.

But this was a team loss, not a sophomore’s. Walz was more frustrated by the little mistakes that had a big impact.

The numbers will haunt them like footsteps in the hallway: The layups. The free throws. The blocks. The start. Duke’s 10 offensive rebounds, its point guard had five of them.

Fournier led Duke with 15. Riley Nelson and Tania Mair had 13 each. Louisville got 13 from Elif Istanbulluoglu and 11 each from Ziegler and Reyna Scott.

There will be more big games. More chances to write the ending in ink. But this one was etched in eraser shavings.

Asked if his team had altered the expectations given its recent winning streak. Walz said it better have expectations.

“I don’t think this win streak changed our expectations,” Walz said. “We had expectation at the beginning of the season to win this league. And that’s still in front of us. We just need help. … But this is the era of getting paid. There’s expectations every day. You’re now getting paid. That’s what I tell them. It’s awesome, but now here come expectations.”

Still, you don’t get many chances like this. Two top-15 teams. A title on the line, at least for one night. Louisville had the script, the pen, the stage.

And then the credits rolled — Duke, dancing off with the win.