For Cards, Victory is Sweet -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Louisville Defeats Alabama 69-68

via UofL Athletics

It was vindication for Imari Berry Monday afternoon, as she stepped to the free throw line in a two-point game with 8 seconds remaining against Alabama. Similar situations have seen Berry step to the line for critical late-game foul shots twice in the last two months, both against Duke. In early February, Berry made one of two at the line with one second remaining for the Cards to lose by a single point. In the ACC Championship game, Berry again made one of two with 14 seconds left to give the Cards just a two point lead instead of three. Duke made a tying layup and went on to win in overtime. Those situations were top of mind for everyone in the Yum! Center, and if they weren't for people watching the game on ESPN, the announcing crew made sure to remind everyone of them. Whether Berry thought of them at all will forever be a mystery, but she calmly sank both free throws to give the Cards a two-possession lead. Alabama's banked prayer, as a result, made it a one-point game rather than tying, and Louisville survived a buzzer-beating attempt to win by just one point. 

It was an up-and-down affair, with each team trading haymakers during the game. The teams alternated quarter victories, with Louisville losing the final stanza but holding on just enough to win the game outright. Alabama refused to yield, multiple times needing sparks that brought them back into contention when Louisville looked poised to break the game open. The first of those came in the opening quarter. After Louisville turned a 4-6 deficit into a 13-6 lead with two minutes remaining, the Crimson Tide showed the danger of relaxing for just a moment. The Tide ran the shot clock down and Ace Austin nailed a three to make it 13-9. On the ensuing possession, Louisville turned the ball over just beyond mid-court and Laura Ziegler found herself trapped in a 2-on-1 situation. Normally, choosing to defend the easy layup is preferable to stepping out to guard the three-point shooter. When that shooter has just made a clutch three, though, preferences may go out the window. Austin sank her second three in ten seconds and Louisville's lead evaporated. The teams traded baskets and Louisville led 15-14 at the break. 

A frenetic second quarter saw the two teams shoot a combined 16/31 from the floor and 8/16 from three-point land. Unfortunately for Louisville, they were on the losing end of the percentage battle in both categories. Alabama rode a 5/9 performance from beyond the arc to a 21-19 second quarter win and a one-point halftime lead. 

Coach Jeff Walz put some fear into the Cards at halftime, as they were in danger of being upset at home. Louisville responded well. Both teams shot just 2/6 from distance in the third quarter, but Louisville was much more effective inside. The Cards were 9/16 from the floor overall and won the third by six points. Both teams took their first free throws in the third quarter, though Louisville's served as an omen for the remainder of the game. Alabama went 2-2 from the stripe while the Cards missed a pair. Those missed free throws came off the hands of Elif Istanbulluoglu, who entered as 70% foul shooter. Louisville went on to finish 8/16 from the stripe, dropping their season average by an entire percentage point and moving them down 30 spots in that stat category. 

Holly Rowe selfie from 2024-25

The Cards opened the fourth quarter with a 54-49 lead and extended it on an Imari Berry jumper just 15 seconds into the fourth. That pushed Louisville's lead to 56-49 and the crowd was feeling it. The Cards were poised to break the game open, but they failed to capitalize. Louisville had three possessions over the next minute and a half where Alabama remained scoreless, but they failed to extend their lead. That's when the Tide swept through. Alabama went on a 10-1 run, led by a pair of threes from Karly Weathers, to take a 59-57 lead. The crowd was stunned, but Walz let his team play through it. Another missed three late in the shot clock looked like it would give Bama another big momentum builder, but Mackenly Randolph pulled down the offensive rebound and kicked it back out. The ball worked around to Elif, who nailed a three and put Louisville back on top.

Louisville holding their ground despite the big burst from Alabama proved to be the difference. Free throws would have salted the game away, but I already noted that the Cards struggled in that regard. Their next three trips to the line saw them go 1/2 each time, but Alabama continued to miss shots after their big run. With 1:57 remaining, Randolph was sent to the line in a huge spot and knocked down a pair to extend Louisville's lead to 65-61. Louisville's defense stepped up, and a steal in the corner led to a timeout. With 27 seconds on the shot clock, Louisville went to work, using every second they could. Reyna Scott drove with five left, but she was blocked. The ball came back to her and she buried a jumper from just inside the free throw line as the shot clock ran out. 

Michael Hickey | Getty

Louisville looked like they'd put the game away when a jumper was missed by Alabama with 52 seconds left, but the ball bounced around until it was rebounded by the offense. A foul on the attempt gave Essence Cody a pair of free throws, which she sank to keep the lead at just four. Louisville burned the clock down again, but this time Taj Roberts' shot late in the clock failed to reach the rim. The fans erupted when another shot went in as the shot clock horn sounded, but it was ruled a shot clock violation and confirmed on review. Alabama took their final timeout with 19 seconds left, trailing by four. Randolph came up with a huge block on a layup, but Weathers recollected the ball and tipped it in with ten seconds remaining. That set up Berry's redemption story, but the game wasn't quite over. Weathers, who else, made the 30-foot bank shot to keep the Tide alive. Louisville tried to catch Alabama off guard with a quick inbounds to Scott so she could sprint away from defenders, but the plan didn't work. Scott went to the line with 2.3 seconds left and a chance to put the Cards up a full possession. She missed the first. 

The conventional wisdom says you should miss the second to run the clock. Missing a free throw intentionally is difficult. It's also risky. A shot that fails to hit the rim doesn't count, and a shot that hits the rim too hard could lead to a breakaway for the defense. Scott executed the intentional miss well, and the ball bounced down toward the block. Alabama took off down the court and the Cards defended, in my opinion, dangerously closely. You know a desperation heave is coming. A foul on that heave basically loses you the game. Nevertheless, Louisville harassed the ballcarrier just enough for the shot to miss wide of the rim. The play-by-play actually doesn't even indicate the shot, so it may have been waved off. Whatever the decision, the outcome was the same. Louisville survived and advanced. 

The FRED Report

F - Free Throws: Eight of sixteen. It was bad. It was bad before the intentional miss, because 8/15 is still barely over 50%. No letter. 

R - Rebounding: The Cards dominated the boards 41-24. Louisville had two players with double-digit boards as Randolph had 13 and Elif had 11 (double-double with 18 points). Ziegler added eight, while Weathers was the top rebounder for Alabama with just five. The Cards used that advantage to double up on the Tide in second chance points, which was critical. Capital 'R'. 

E - Effort/Execution: Louisville shot just 45% from the floor and 27% from three. However, they didn't yield. Even when minor lapses saw Alabama erase big leads, the Cards stayed focused on the goal, and they did just enough to get the win. Louisville did lose the turnover battle 15-13 and the points off turnovers battle 15-10, though, so I can only give a lowercase 'e'.

D - Defense: The Cards had just seven steals and Alabama shot 45.6% from the floor and 46.2% from three. You might think that's an easy knock on the defense, but Louisville held the Tide to under 50% from two and just 24 points in the paint. They sent Alabama to the line only twice, making the 100% free-throw shooting virtually useless. They also held the Tide below their scoring average, so I'm going to grant a lowercase 'd'. 

A final tally of _-R-e-d won't win many awards, but it did the all important thing of winning this game. 

Louisville advances to the Sweet Sixteen for the 13th time under Coach Jeff Walz. Those 13 appearances under Walz represent every appearance in program history. The Cards will now travel to Fort Worth for the next round (or two) of the NCAA Tournament. Louisville will face the two-seed, Michigan, who dispatched NC State by a whopping 29 points on Sunday. The Cards have won the last five matchups against the Wolverines, but the two teams last met in 2022. The Sweet Sixteen game will be played at 12:30 on ABC.

Until next time, Go Cards!

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