Louisville's Jeff Walz ejected amid late comeback, Notre Dame holds on to advance

Louisville women’s basketball coach Jeff Walz was ejected in the final minute of his team’s matchup against Notre Dame in the ACC Tournament on Friday.

The Cardinals trailed by as many as 22 points in the third quarter, but Louisville battled back to get within 3 with 31 seconds left. However, they would get no closer.

With Notre Dame leading 73-68 and about 25 seconds left, Louisville guard Jayda Curry drove into the lane and lost the ball. Jeff Walz felt a foul should have been called on the play, but instead officials ruled that it was a clean steal.

Walz ran out onto the court and threw his hands in the air, before yelling some choices words at the officials. He quickly received a technical foul, which was his second of the game.

Jeff Walz also received a technical foul during the third quarter after voicing his displeasure with the officiating.

Notre Dame went on to earn a 77-68 win over the Cardinals. The Irish will play the winner of Miami and Virginia Tech on Saturday.

There were times throughout Friday’s quarterfinal matchup when both sides were unhappy with the officiating.

There were 45 fouls called in the game, with 23 going against Louisville and 22 against Notre Dame. The two teams also combined to shoot 57 free throws.

Notre Dame was 24 of 30 from the free throw line, while Louisville was 19 of 27.

Sonia Citron led the way for the Irish with 26 points, including going 10 for 11 from the free throw line. Freshman Hannah Hidalgo added 21 points in the win. After the game, Hidalgo spoke with the ACC Network about the Irish hanging on for the victory.

“We know that basketball’s a game of runs, and Louisville’s an aggressive team. They’re a phenomenal team. They played hard until the end. So we knew that they were going to go on their run, so we just had to maintain our poise,” Hidalgo said.

Jayda Curry led the way for Louisville with 26 points off the bench. Curry was 8 of 16 from the field and 3 of 6 from 3-point range.

It was definitely a battle of the guards, but Jayda Curry is a phenomenal player,” Hidalgo said. “It was fun out there. We played aggressive and we kind of traded baskets.”

With the win, Notre Dame improves to 24-6 on the season. Louisville falls to 24-9 with the loss.