DULUTH, GA — The No. 2 Louisville Cardinals will play the No. 1 Duke Blue Devils in the 2026 ACC Tournament championship game on Sunday. The stakes are high, and for different reasons, each team needs to win.
After outlasting North Carolina in the semifinal, it’s a chance for Louisville to redeem itself after losing to Duke in the 2025 tournament quarterfinals. The Blue Devils won their ninth ACC tournament title and first under head coach Kara Lawson.
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“I’m excited,” ACC Sixth Player of the Year Imari Berry said about playing Duke again. “Last year, we fell short. So, this year, I’m ready to get my revenge.”
“I’m excited, too. That’s the plan. That’s what we fight for, nothing less,” Cardinals forward Elif Istanbulluoglu said. “To be honest, we were expecting this. So we just have to show up [for] forty minutes and play our best basketball at this point.”
Despite making it back to the championship after holding off Notre Dame, Duke lost two of its last three regular-season games entering the ACC Tournament. Lawson told the media on March 2 her team was focused on just winning the first game of the tournament. Then, she revealed Duke didn’t feel any pressure to win back-to-back ACC Tournament championships.
“Pressure? No. Everybody in this league knows they can beat us,” Lawson said. ” You look at our games this year, they were all tough. I don’t think we’re going in here thinking we’re the favorite or it’s a cake walk … It’s a very competitive, deep league. You have to play well to win.”
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Here’s what to know about the ACC Tournament Final on Sunday:
What time is Louisville vs. Duke?
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Location: Gas South Arena (Duluth, Georgia)
The Louisville Cardinals play the Duke Blue Devils in the ACC Tournament championship game at 1:00 p.m. ET Sunday, March 8, at Gas South Arena in Duluth, Georgia.
Louisville vs. Duke: TV, streaming
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: How to watch Louisville vs. Duke in ACC women’s championship: TV, live stream
