Louisville takes a bow in NCAA Tourney, Seniors ride off into sunset

--By Mike Gilpatrick
--Photo by Jared Anderson

All good things must close; whether that be a season, career, or title run.

The Louisville women’s basketball team found their end on Sunday, after losing to the Connecticut Huskies in the Albany regional final, 80-73. The Louisville faithful also saw three seniors exit the court in Louisville uniforms one final time.

​Arica Carter, Sam Fuehring, and Asia Durr wrapped up their Louisville careers. Fuehring, who was named to the Citizen Naismith Trophy Award Watchlist and Lisa Leslie award watchlist; dropped 15 points, and tallied seven rebounds during the game. Carter, third on the team in assists, had two more, in addition to seven points and two boards. 

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Durr, one of the greatest women’s basketball players to don the Red and Black; put up 21 points, nine rebounds, and five assists, despite not scoring in the first period.

Louisville had a brief lead in the first period. The Cardinals went on an 9-0 run from around the four-minute mark until three minutes were left. It gave them a four-point lead.

It was the only lead of the game for Louisville. The Huskies were tougher than when the Cardinals defeated them 78-69 on January 31st in Louisville. At multiple points, Connecticut led by double-digits. Louisville kept clawing back.

​In the third period, Christyn Williams layed a ball up, and gave UConn their fourth 10-point lead. Bionca Dunham kicked off a 6-0 run to end the period. 

Then, with less than 90 seconds left, Katie Lou Samuelson gave Geno Auriemma an 11-point lead. Asia Durr led the Cardinals with six points during a 10-1 run, lasting until just 30 seconds were left. It cut Connecticut’s lead to two points.

Louisville was backed into a corner, and was forced to send the Huskies to the line. 28 seconds later, the game ended.

The final result may have been a loss, but the Cardinals never stopped fighting. While they were the No. 1 seed, the game felt like a road game: Albany is just two-hours away from UConn, and Louisville is 12. The crowd was overwhelmingly UConn-heavy. The 10-points could have easily become 20.

Instead of that, Louisville played a tough game, scored 18-points on 13 forced turnovers, and put up 12 points from the bench.
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2018-19 was a good season for the Cardinals. 2019-20 will be here before we know it.