FINAL SCORE: No. 25 Louisville 78, Clemson 52
RECORDS: Clemson (13-15, 6-11 ACC), Louisville (20-8, 13-4 ACC)
CLEMSON LEADERS: Loyal McQueen (16 points, 4-11 FG, 8-8 FT), Maddi Cluse & Mia Moore (5 rebounds), Loyal McQueen (4 assists)
NOTABLES:
CLEMSON, S.C. – The Clemson Women’s Basketball team (13-15, 6-11 ACC) dropped a Thursday-night contest, 78-52, at No. 25 Louisville (20-8, 13-4 ACC) at the KFC Yum! Center. Loyal McQueen scored in double-figures for the 20th time this season, leading Clemson with 16 points. Mia Moore scored 10 points and pulled down five rebounds in the contest.
Clemson returns home to close out its regular season on Sunday at 2 p.m. against Virginia Tech. The Tigers will honor seven seniors and welcome more than 60 program alumnae to celebrate the 50th year of varsity women’s basketball at Clemson.
The Tigers led for 13:44 of game time, its highest total in 11 meetings since Louisville joined the ACC in 2014. Louisville used a 14-3 third-quarter run to turn a 35-35 tie into a 49-38 lead with 3:54 to play in the third quarter and another 11-0 run to start the fourth quarter to pull away from the Tigers. The Cardinals outscored the Tigers 47-22 in the second half, holding Clemson to a 6-of-27 mark from the floor while hitting 16-of-30 attempts from the floor.
Louisville took away the three-point shot and forced the Tigers inside for much of the night. Clemson entered the contest having made 203 three-pointers and averaging 7.5 three-pointers made per game, but finished with three makes on 15 attempts. Clemson needs eight three-pointers over the duration of the season to set a new program record. Clemson has one regular season game remaining before the ACC Tournament, which gets underway in Greensboro on Mar. 5.
Clemson led 16-15 after the first quarter, which saw eight lead changes. Five different Tigers scored the Tigers’ first five field goals and neither team led by more than three points throughout. Clemson led by as many as five in the second quarter and the teams again traded three leads in the final two minutes of the half. Louisville led 31-30 at the half.
The Cardinals outscored the Tigers 24-16 in the third quarter in opening up a 55-46 lead after three quarters, and pulled away with an 11-0 run in the first four minutes of the fourth quarter.
UP NEXT: Clemson vs. Virginia Tech (Senior Day and 50th Year Celebration) at 2 p.m. in Littlejohn Coliseum; Tickets $5
SOCIAL MEDIA: To stay up to date with all things Clemson Women’s Basketball, follow @ClemsonWBB on Instagram, X and Facebook.
