UNC women's basketball falls to Louisville in ACC tournament quarterfinals

GREENSBORO — North Carolina freshman guard Jamie Cherry stood at midcourt, frozen yet confident. 

With her feet inside the second "C" in the ACC halfcourt logo and her arms extended, she gazed at the basket stationed nearly 40 feet in front of her and waited to see if her last-second heave would be the decisive blow to her team after clinking off the iron or a symbol of promise and momentum after falling through the nylon net.

As the buzzer sounded, it proved to be the latter — eliciting Cherry's teammates to swarm her in front of the UNC bench, sending the 5,848 fans in Greensboro Coliseum into a frenzy and tying Louisville at 66 to force overtime.

"It was definitely a boost, and it was like, 'OK, we’ve got another chance to pull this one off,'" said senior guard Danielle Butts.

But in a game full of overflowing emotions for both teams, the Tar Heels' celebration following Cherry's shot proved to be the extent of their jubilation, as the third-seeded Cardinals (25-5, 12-4 ACC) rattled off a 77-75 victory in overtime over sixth-seeded UNC (24-8, 10-6 ACC) in the quarterfinals of the ACC tournament.

"I just had an adrenaline rush the whole time," said Louisville forward Sara Hammond, who finished with 20 points.

The persistent state of excitement and intensity commenced with the opening tip. Both teams set the tone for the game on the defensive end of the floor, as neither team scored until Hammond made a jumper nearly two minutes in.

After trailing 24-16, the Tar Heels responded with a 10-0 run, capped by a steal and fast-break layup by junior guard N'Dea Bryant to put UNC up 26-24. But the Cardinals fought back in the waning minutes of the first half to take a 31-30 lead into the locker room behind 10 first-half points by freshman forward Myisha Hines-Allen.

The two teams traded baskets for the opening minutes of the second half before sophomore Jessica Washington made a 3-pointer at the 12:15 mark to hand UNC a 45-42 lead. 

The 3-pointer sparked a 12-2 run by the Tar Heels, culminating with sophomore guard Allisha Gray chasing down a loose ball at halfcourt and taking it the rest of the way for a layup that gave UNC a 54-44 lead — its largest of the game. 

"At that situation you’ve got two ways to go," said Louisville coach Jeff Walz, "and that’s get buried and beat by about 18 or 20 or fight back."

The Cardinals stormed back with a 13-2 run. After she gave her team a 57-56 on a layup and forced Coach Sylvia Hatchell to call a timeout with 5:55 remaining in regulation, Hines-Allen stomped around the ACC logo in the paint and screamed. 

Hammond scored seven points in the final 1:38 of the second half, including a pair of free throws with 7.4 seconds left to put Louisville up 66-63. Cherry received the ensuing inbounds pass, and her desperation shot sent the game into extra time.

In the overtime period, the Cardinals aggressively attacked the Tar Heels and forced themselves to the free throw line. With 2:16 left, Hammond drew Gray's fifth foul — sidelining her for the remainder of the game. 

UNC fell behind 74-73, and with 25 seconds remaining, Cherry rebounded a missed free throw and found Washington for a wide open 3-pointer. The ball bounced out of the rim, and sophomore forward Stephanie Mavunga fouled out as the Cardinals hauled in the rebound.

"I really thought that one in the corner was going in, because (Washington's) a really good 3-point shooter," Hatchell said. "That would have really probably gave us a boost, maybe could have helped us carry it on through.

"But, that’s just the way it went."

After Hines-Allen made a free throw with four seconds left to put Louisville up 77-75, Cherry sprinted down the floor and tossed up another deep 3-pointer at the final buzzer only to see it ricochet off the backboard.

Bryant stood with her hands above her head before slapping the floor out of frustration. Washington, who finished with a team-best 16 points, fell to her hands and knees.

Cherry, frozen and defeated, lay on the ground. Her hands covering her face. Her joyfulness turned to sorrow.

sports@dailytarheel.com