Louisville women's basketball downs Boston College 55-45 -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

FOUR IN DOUBLE FIGURES FOR CARDS IN WIN

Louisville women's basketball used a first half ending 9-0 run to break a 20-20 tie Sunday afternoon against Boston College and held on to win in Chestnut Hill 55-45 to get their 22nd win of the season. The Cards clinched a ACC Tournament double bye.

Four Cards in double figure scoring today..with Myisha Hines-Allen leading the way with 18 points...14 in the second half. Asia Durr added 14 off the bench...10 in the first half...for UofL. Cortnee Walton nearly recorded a double-double with 12 points and nine rebounds and Mariya Moore finished with 10 points...including a buzzer-beater jumper at the end of the third quater. 

The Cards did jump out to an early 5-0 to start the game but B.C. rallied to tie it at 7-7 before Louisville (22-6, 13-1) took off on a quarter-ending 11-3 run to rake a 18-10 lead after ten minutes. 

The Eagles responded with a 11-0 run to start the second quarter to tie it on a Kelly Hughes three...her fourth of the first half...and the score was tied at 20-20 with 4:51 left in then half before the Cards got four points from Durr and five from Moore to end the half on a 9-0 run and lead 29-20.

Louisville pushed the lead to 35-22... a 15-2 run spanning the end of the first half and start of the second half...on a Hines-Allen put-back. The sophomore forward had Louisville's first four baskets of the third quarter. Boston College would muster a rally at the Cards when they cut the lead to 39-32 with 1:10 left in the third...but a jumper by Durr and Moore's buzzer-beater made it 43-32 UofL with ten minutes to go. 

The Cards would get the margin back to 15 on a Durr layup with 7:45 left at 47-32 but B.C. outscored the Cards over the next six minutes 11-4 to make it 51-43 with 90 seconds left in the action. Walton provided the final two Louisville baskets to clinch the win 55-45.



THE FRED REPORT

Free Throws...although scarce...went well for the Cards. They hit 5-6 for 83%. B.C. was perfect with a 5-5 from the charity stripe. A capital "F" for Louisville from the line.

Rebounding. A 23-17 victory on the boards for Louisville...with nine for Walton and seven for MHA. That'll work for a capital "R" in this category.

Easy shots. 20 points in the paint is "so-so" and the Cards failed on some wide open and several second-chance attempts underneath the basket that rolled off or missed completely. Despite UofL's 43.6% shooting for the game, we can't award a letter here. 

Defense. The Cards did hold B.C. to 35.3% shooting and a 4-13 three-point production, which is admirable given the way the Eagles love to bomb the three. BC did get 26 points from their starting guards, though...so we'll give Louisville a lower case "d" on the stops stat. 

WHAT WE LIKED

- Balanced scoring. With four in double figures, the Cards got production out of the three starters you expect to perform and super-sub Durr off the bench. 

- MHA came to play. When the game entered the second half, the talented Hines-Allen revved up and ensured that Louisville would not falter or fail today. She's making a run for ACC First-Team and Al--American considerations. She should get ACC Player of the Week honors Monday.

WHAT NEEDS WORK

- Turn up the A.C. and wake up the B.J. A dismal performance for Louisville's starting guards Sunday. A "0-for game" scoring effort from the two and eight turnovers. They'll need to raise the bar for Miami Thursday. 

It was a win, a bit ugly at times, but any win on the road is a good thing. Boston College is young and hoping to salvage a above .500 season so they can get some-kind of post season experience but the Eagles couldn't handle MHA or Cortnee inside. Louisville could have stretched this win out to 20 + points in the final stanza but the Cards got rather sloppy and disorganized in the final five minutes. Boston College has played top-flight opponents close on their home court this year...it's stack up the "W's" this time of year and Louisville did that on Sunday Afternoon. 

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SOFTBALL SHUT OUT BY NEBRASKA

The hot bats of the Louisville Softball team were chilled Sunday morning by the Cornhuskers 3-0 in the final day of ACC/BIG 10 Challenge play in Raleigh, NC.

Megan Hensley drew the start for the Cards and kept Nebraska at bay for two innings...but a two-run third which included a two run error gave the Huskers all the runs they would need to take the contest. Maryssa Becker came on in relief and allowed one more run in the fifth...Louisville managing just four hits against opposing pitcher Emily Lockman.

The Cards (6-3) return home to host next weekend's Red and Black Classic...where they'll face Cleveland State, Kent State and North Dakota State.

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RADIO REPLAY

The latest edition of The Cardinal Couple Radio Hour is available for replay listening on the Crescent Hill website. A lot of action going on right now with UofL women's sports and we reviewed swimming, hoops, softball and lacrosse.

We sampled audio from Jeff Walz, Sandy Pearsall, Kellie Young and several players. Our dry weather intern Sam Draut got hammered on a question. 



LINK: https://soundcloud.com/chradio/cardinal-couple-20160220


Another fast paced, action packed show that we're sure you'll enjoy.



paulie
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