DOWN GOES UCONN! Louisville wins three of four quarters, upsets women's basketball powerhouse1/31/2019  --By Mike Gilpatrick --Photo by Seth Spalding Three words: Louisville beats UConn. In a tournament preview, and behind a terrific all-around performance; the Cardinals were able to scrape by the juggernaut 78-69. Louisville won three quarters, and their second game against the Huskies in program history. “This win felt great.” Louisville guard Asia Durr said after the game, “This is something that we’ve never done before, so it was a big win for us. I’m super-proud of our teammates out there.” Connecticut is the powerhouse team in women’s basketball, and has been since Geno Auriemma took over. They’ve won 11 national championships, and have been to the Final Four 19 times since he took over.
Last year, Louisville trailed UConn 24-6 at the end of the first period. This year, the Cardinals were tied with the Huskies 21 each. Both teams went back and forth for the most part. Connecticut had a six-point run, but Louisville scored a pair of two-point baskets after. Then, the Cardinals began to grab a lead in the second. Jaz Jones led off the period with a jumper 11-seconds into the period. UConn made a three, and Asia Durr hit three consecutive three-point baskets. It gave Louisville an 8-point lead with 7:24 until halftime. Then, the Huskies began to come back, and grabbed the 35-34 lead with 2:17 left. Dana Evans countered with a three, and Louisville led 40-38 at halftime. The back and forth play continued in the third. Durr led off the period with a jumper. Then, Louisville gained a five-point lead when Bionca Dunham made a layup. The KFC Yum! Center erupted when Durr and Evans hit back-to-back three-point baskets. With five seconds left, Durr hit a jump-shot for her 21st point of the game, which gave Louisville a 58-51 lead entering the final quarter.
Connecticut scored the first basket of the fourth. It was a two from Napheesa Collier. Evans hit a three-pointer 1:47 later. It was the last score for either team for three minutes; when Asia Durr hit two free-throws for the largest Louisville lead of the game up to that point. Connecticut was forced to take bad shots and foul. The Cardinals maintained the lead, and came away with the win. They won the quarter 20-18. 11 points were scored off free-throws.
Durr led all scorers with 24 points. She was trailed by Evans' 20-point performance. The Cardinals shot 39.7 percent for the game, and out-rebounded Connecticut 46-40. With the win, the 20-1 Cardinals should jump up to No. 2 in the AP Top 25 next week. They will also get multiple votes for first, and may even receive the honor. Auriemma mentioned about how this team may be a final four team in the tournament. “We have a chance. There’s no doubt.” Walz said, “We’re 20-1, we just beat a very good UConn team. Saturday I think is going to be a big tell for us. Kylee Shook only played five minutes tonight, Mykasa played 10. In a game like this, there are basically five guards. Saturday, Clemson has more traditional post players. I’ve got to have her come ready to play, and you can’t be upset that you might not have played as much as you wanted to in this game.” Louisville hits the road, and will take on Clemson on the road on Saturday, February 2nd. The Cardinals return home on Thursday, February 7th, at 7pm against Syracuse.  --By Mike Gilpatrick --Photo by Jared Anderson In case you have not heard; the Louisville Cardinals have a small basketball game on Thursday. Jeff Walz and Company host women’s basketball juggernaut Connecticut at 7pm; at the KFC Yum! Center Thursday’s matchup marks the 19th meeting between the two squads. Louisville is looking to change the record against UConn; they’re 1-17 all-time against the Huskies. And 0-14 with Walz at the helm. Louisville made it close against the Huskies last season in Storrs, Connecticut. The Huskies jumped out to a 24-6 lead in the first period, and outscored Louisville 42-22 at the half; but Louisville won the third and fourth. The Cardinals lost the game 69-58. If Louisville had played in the first like they did the rest of the game; the Cardinals could have scraped away with a victory.
About the Huskies Connecticut is a juggernaut. If non-basketball or non-sports fans in general were asked to name one women’s basketball team; Connecticut would be named. Head coach Geno Auriemma has led the Huskies to 11 NCAA titles, including four consecutive from 2013-2016, 19 Final Fours, 23 conference tournament championships and 24 regular-season tournaments. Even Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots can’t come close to that level of greatness. And again this year, Auriemma and the Huskies are near the top of numerous categories. They’re 2nd in scoring margin (+28.5 pts), 4th in turnovers (221), 3rd in assist to turnover ratio (1.66), 6th in field goal percentage (49%), and so on. All five of their starters are averaging in the double-digits. Katie Lou Samuelson leads the team with 18.8 points per game. Napheesa Collier is close, with 18.6. Collier is also strong off the glass, and grabs 10 rebounds per game. Connecticut did have a loss this season, though. They lost to Baylor 68-57. In that game, the Huskies were held to under 30 percent from the field, and were out-rebounded and out-assisted. Louisville will need to dominate the boards and pass the ball around. The Cardinals are 28th in assists. UConn is 7th.
Impacts
If Louisville can get away with a win, Louisville will most likely jump up to No. 2 in the rankings. Baylor is No. 1 in the nation, and only has one loss this season, to No. 8 Stanford. The Bears have a large matchup with No. 12 Texas on Monday, and a loss there will most likely propel Louisville to 1st. If Louisville isn’t able to defeat the Huskies, their national ranking will depend on the margin of victory. If the game is close, they will most likely stay within the top five. But the one race that matters this time of year is not affected. UConn is not an ACC Team. The loss has no effect on the ACC regular-season race. NC State is still undefeated. Nevertheless, Thursday’s game is a look into what may occur in the tournament. Tickets are still available, for as low as $7.00 on Ticketmaster. The Yum! Center end zones have been opened for the game.  --By Mike Gilpatrick --Photo by Jared Anderson Louisville went without star guard Asia Durr on Sunday. The Cardinals still obliterated Pittsburgh. The final score was 70-42. Louisville’s defense held the Panther offense to single digits through the first two periods; while the offense maintained the level of performance as usual- the Cardinals had one stellar offensive period, and maintained for the other three. Durr missed because of the huge Thursday matchup with women’s basketball juggernaut Connecticut. She slightly tweaked her knee during the last game, and head coach Jeff Walz did not wish to risk an injury with Durr.
Louisville’s first half put Pittsburgh away- the Cardinals especially set the tone in the first period. Pittsburgh’s Danielle Garvin made a fastbreak layup within the first minute to give the Panthers the short-lived lead, but Louisville responded with a massive 17-2 run. The Panthers only scored on free-throws. They also committed eight first-period fouls, leading to nine Louisville points from the line. In total, the Cardinals led 23-6 at the end of the first. The Cardinals shut out the Panthers for nearly the entire second period; opening on an 16-0 run before the Panthers made a three-point basket with 3:36 before the half. Pitt hit another three with 1:20 left, the last score of the game. Louisville led 41-12 at halftime. By this point, the game was settled. Any random five fans could have entered the game and Louisville still would have won.
Pittsburgh outscored Louisville in the third, by one point. The Panthers went nearly back and forth with Louisville, but still trailed Louisville 55-27 with one period left.
Both teams scored 15 in the fourth. Pitt led off the period with an 11-2 run, before the Cardinals went on an 11-2 run of their own. Kylee Shook scored the last basket of the game, which was a layup with 20 seconds left. The Cardinals are now 19-1, and 7-1 in the ACC. They look to win No. 20 against No. 3 Connecticut on Thursday at 7pm. The game will be on National TV, either from ESPN or ESPN 2. Gamecap: Louisville hands Virginia worst loss of season, dominates on Walz bobblehead night1/17/2019  --By Mike Gilpatrick --Photo by Seth Spalding Virginia women’s basketball typically plays decent defense. The Cardinals still scored above 90. Jeff Walz’s team won big on Jeff Walz bobblehead night, obliterating the Cavaliers 91-43. It was the highest scoring total, and worst margin Virginia had allowed this season. Entering the game, Virginia allowed less than 65 points per contest, while scoring 59. Asia Durr had a big night, scoring 20 points and hitting four threes. Sam Fuehring was strong off the glass, nabbing eight rebounds. The game was close for just one period. Virginia was within two with 4:34 left. Each team shot within one percentage point of each other- 38.9 percent for the Cardinals, and 38.5 for the Cavaliers. Virginia kept responding, after nearly every Louisville bucket. In fact, Louisville had just two unanswered buckets. At the end of the period, Louisville led 15-11.
 “I thought Virginia in the first quarter did a really good job of controlling the tempo of the game.” Walz said, “We just couldn’t really get things going. Part of that was our fault, because we missed some shots. The Cardinals began to rip into the Cavaliers in the second. “I think it was really rebounding.” Sophomore guard Dana Evans said after the game, “We didn’t get out on the brakes, and couldn’t get any easy layups. Once we started to rebound we got a couple easy buckets, and it opened the game up for us.” Virginia guard Erica Martinsen hit a three within the first 15 seconds, but then Louisville went on a 24-3 run. Louisville’s lead kept on widening. The Cardinals were up to a 13-point lead before the midway point of the period. They led by double after Bionca Dunham made a jump shot with 3:55 left. Louisville led 46-20 at halftime. The Cardinals hit 52-8 percent for the first half, and were 5 of 12 from beyond the arc. Virginia, meanwhile, hit 27.6 percent. Louisville outscored Virginia 31-9 in the period.
 The Cardinals continued their dominance in the third period. Virginia had a pair of buckets before Louisville went on a 17-0 run. Asia Durr kicked it off with a three-pointer. Kylee Shook hit a pair of layups. Jaz Jones made a basket. Dana Evans made two consecutive three-pointers. And on and on. Louisville’s lead extended to above 40 with over three minutes left to play in the period.
Louisville shot 60 percent in the fourth quarter, and outscored Virginia 20-13. The Cardinals shot 57.1 percent for the game, and hit 50 percent of three-pointers. “Overall I was really pleased with how we shot, and the area of the floor we got shots in.” Walz said. Louisville moves 16-1, and are 4-1 in the ACC. They travel to Wake Forest on Sunday, to face the Demon Deacons at 1pm. The Cardinals return to the KFC Yum! Center on Sunday, January 27th at 2pm for a bout with the Pittsburgh Panthers.  --By Mike Gilpatrick --Photo by Jared Anderson The Cardinals rebounded after a tough loss on the road to Notre Dame with a solid, defensive home victory. Louisville defeated Georgia Tech 66-41. Both teams shot poorly for much of the game. The Cardinals hit less than 30 percent for the third quarter. Their 58.3-percent performance in the fourth helped salvage a 43.4 percent day shooting. Louisville was also out-rebounded 46-32. They did, however, hold Georgia Tech to just 26.2 percent. The Jackets also missed three of nine free-throws. Louisville passed the ball around, gaining 19 assists, and won the game easily.
Louisville set the tone early in the first period. Asia Durr hit eight of Louisville’s first 10 points. Louisville also forced Georgia Tech to miss their first three field goals. It wasn’t until Lorela Cubaj hit a jumper with 6:04 in the period that the Jackets scored their first point. The Cardinals ended the period with a 24-14 lead, despite a 12-5 Tech rebounding advantage. The second was more defensive. Both teams shot under 40 percent from the field, though Louisville had a higher percentage (38.5 v. 16.7 percent). The Cardinals managed to outscore Georgia Tech by a 12-9 advantage. Louisville scored the first six of the period, off threes by Dana Evans and Durr. Four of Tech’s nine points were from the free-throw line. Louisville carried a 36-23-point lead heading into the second half. The Cardinals out-shot GT 44.4 percent to 28.6. Louisville also connected on six of 14 threes. Georgia Tech did have the 21-14 rebounding advantage.
Georgia Tech began cutting into Louisville’s lead in the third period. Both teams exchanged baskets for the first four minutes. The Yellow Jackets were on a 6-0 run over two minutes long. Then, with 28 seconds left, Durr hit a layup to snap a cold streak- the Cardinals missed their previous five attempts. As the period expired, Louisville had an 11-point lead.
The fourth was a very defensive period. Louisville went on an 7-2 run through the first six minutes of the period. With 4:48 left, Sam Fuehring made a layup, and her 11 point, giving herself a double-double (she had 12 rebounds at the time). Then, both teams stopped impersonating Virginia Men’s basketball, and started scoring. Louisville finished the game on an 6-0 run, and hit their last four field goals. The Cardinals move to 15-1 (3-1 ACC). Their next game is against the 7-9 Virginia Cavaliers. Louisville will host UVA Thursday at 7pm.  --By Mike Gilpatrick --photo by River City Cards staff The Louisville Cardinals have lost five straight in South Bend. Notre Dame defeated the Cardinals 82-68, despite the game being close for most of the first three periods. Notre Dame’s key to the game was officiating. The Irish had 29 points come from the line. Not all of the fouls called were accurate- for example, Arica Carter was kicked in the face by Arike Ogunbowale with 1:56 left in the third; and was called for a foul. In most games of basketball, kicking is against the rules. Apparently not in South Bend. It was a three-point game at the time. Ogunbowale was also credited with seven free-throws within the last 27 seconds of the game. In total, the Irish were allowed 39 free throw attempts. Louisville had 16. Louisville would have won if there were not even half as many Irish free-throws. The Cardinals had more chances from the field, and made more field goals and three-pointers. Louisville wasn’t perfect, and hit just 38 percent from the field and 20 percent from three. Notre Dame led by one at the end of the first quarter. The Cardinals had a three-point lead with 39 seconds left in the period, but Ogunbowale hit four consecutive free-throws. Asia Durr kicked off the second period with a pair of free throws, and a layup. It helped Louisville to a 7-1 run in the first three minutes. It gave Louisville a six-point lead. Later on in the period, the Cardinals had a seven-point lead, before Notre Dame began hitting free-throws in the final three minutes. The Irish ended the half with a 7-2 run, all points coming from the line. Louisville led 35-33 entering the second half. The Cardinals had seven free-throw points in the third period. Then, after the Carter “foul,” Notre Dame ended the period on a 7-0 run, and a 10-point lead.
The Cardinals made it a game with less than two minutes to play. Durr kicked off the fourth with a three-point basket. The Cardinals began chipping away at Notre Dame’s lead- going on an 14-4 run that brought the Cardinals within two. Then, Muffet McGraw and Co. ended the game on a 14-2 run, with the last five points coming from the line. Ogunbowale ended the game with 30 points, assisted by 12 free-throws. Durr came close to the star Irish player, scoring 29 points herself. The Cardinals return to the KFC Yum! Center on Sunday, January 13th, at 2:00 pm to face the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets.  --By Mike Gilpatrick --Photo by Jared Anderson For the second time of the week, No. 1 takes on No. 2. Forget Clemson and Alabama, this is a far better game. The No. 2 Louisville Cardinals take on No. 1 Notre Dame Thursday, searching for a huge ACC victory. Louisville enters the game tied for the highest ranking in program history. A win against the Irish would most likely secure the first No. 1 ranking in program history. Series History Historically, Louisville has not performed well in South Bend. The Cardinals are 6-14 all-time against Notre Dame, and have lost four consecutive games against the Irish on the road- their last win came on January 11th, 2009. Louisville defeated Muffet McGraw and Co. twice last year- 100-67 at the Yum! Center last season, and 74-72 in the ACC Championship final. If a foul was called on Mississippi State late in the Final Four, Louisville would have had a chance to beat Notre Dame for a third time.
About the Irish Notre Dame is not perfect- they lost one game, against Connecticut on December 2nd. The Irish won only one quarter in the game. The Irish lead the ACC in scoring offense. They score 90 points per game. Five women are averaging in the double-digits scoring, all of their starters. Arike Ogunbowale leads the team with 22.7 points, and hits 50.2 percent of attempts. Notre Dame is hitting 52.4 percent from the field, and 34.5 from beyond the arc. The Irish have won four of five games against ranked opponents- the best against No. 10 Oregon State on November 24th.
What to expect
Louisville defeated Notre Dame twice last year, once in a neutral location. The Cardinals have a higher three-point and free-throw percentage, but trail the Irish in field goal percentage, rebounding, assists, and some other metrics. The Cardinals are arguably deeper than Notre Dame. Notre Dame’s starting five make up the bulk of their offense- the next scores less than five points a game. Louisville, comparatively, has six that score more than seven. Louisville has a few players that can come off the bench and provide a spark- Kylee Shook can score from up close and sneak in the occasional three. Bionca Dunham had multiple games with more than 10 points, and had shown a rebounding ability. If Louisville can go on a few runs, and keep the rest of the game close, then they may win their first game in nearly a decade in South Bend. The game is at 7pm, and will be on ESPN.  --By Jared Anderson
--Photo by Jared Anderson Arica Carter scored a career-high 23 points to lead the Louisville women's basketball team to a victory over Duke, 73-51. The victory was the first ever in Cameron Indoor Stadium for Louisville. Nine of the first 11 points for the Cards were scored by Carter, who was a perfect 3-for-3 from three-point range at the time. She finished with a career-high seven three-pointers on 7-for-10 shooting. Dana Evans scored 16 and Asia Durr added 13 to round out the double-digit scorers. Jazmine Jones pulled in a team-high 10 rebounds and Kylee Shook added seven, but Duke still won the rebounding battle 39-34. The Cards raced out to an early lead that they never surrendered. Louisville and Duke traded baskets for much of the late first half with the Cards holding a 12 point lead at the half. Duke attempted a small run early in the second half, but Jeff Walz's squad quickly silenced the Blue Devils and used a big fourth quarter to pull away. No. 3 Louisville improves to 14-0 overall with a 2-0 mark in conference play. They will face their toughest challenge this season when they visit No. 2 Notre Dame on Thursday night. The Cards defeated the reigning NCAA Champions twice, 100-67 in the regular season and 74-72 in the ACC Championship.  --By Mike Gilpatrick --Photos by Jared Anderson The Louisville Cardinals won a close game to open ACC play. Jeff Walz’s squad pulled off the 73-66 win over North Carolina to win their first game in ACC play. While the Cardinals lost the second-half, their first-half lead was great enough to lead them over the Tar Heels. Sophomore guard Dana Evans put up 10 first-half points against the 9-5 Tar Heels. She led first-half scorers, and was a big part of Louisville’s 40-23 halftime lead. The Cardinals shot 45.5 percent from the field, and dominated the first-half rebounding game 28-15. Kylee Shook had seven first-half boards.
Bionca Dunham hit a layup to open the game within the first 17 seconds. Dana Evans hit a three less than 30 seconds later. UNC scored four, and Louisville responded with a five point-run. The Cardinals led 21-11 after the first period. Asia Durr hit a jump shot 33 seconds into the second quarter. UNC hit two free-throws to counter. The Cardinals then went on an 8-2 run lasting until the halfway point of the period. The Cardinals outscored the Heels 19-12 entering halftime. The second half was all North Carolina. The Heels shot the same second-half percent as Louisville, and had two more three-point baskets. The Heels also benefitted from eight more made free-throws, hitting 15 of 17 from the line. Jazmine Jones and Arica Carter helped Louisville’s case in the half, grabbing double-digits scoring each.
UNC stormed out of the gates. Early in the third period, the Heels went on a 10-2 run, which cut Louisville’s lead to 11. Then, within the last four minutes, North Carolina hit an 11-2 run, cutting Louisville’s lead to eight. Jazmine Jones hit a layup with four seconds left, giving Louisville the 10-point lead with ten minutes to play.
Louisville nearly lost the lead in the fourth quarter. UNC came within two points four times in the last quarter. The first time was after a 9-0 run, that ended with 7:12 left. Jazmine Jones made a layup. Then, Janelle Bailey hit a pair of free-throws with 5:11 left. Arica Carter made a jumper about a minute and a half later. Paris Kea hit a layup at the 2:13 mark. Then, Bailey made a layup and a free-throw with under 1:30 left. Louisville hit enough free-throws in the final minute to secure the seven-point win. The 13-0 Cardinals hit the road Sunday, and will take on the Duke Blue Devils at 2pm. The Cardinals return home on Sunday, January 13th at 2pm against Georgia Tech. |