Louisville WBB excels on Senior Night vs Georgia Tech -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

CARDS 85 - GEORGIA TECH 70

Happy Holiday Weekend Louisville fans! It's the 'I Love Dana Evans' edition of Cardinal Couple 

Lucy Walz took to the stage for the National anthem in the pre-game ceremonies for Thursday night's matchup with Georgia Tech... Coach Walz said she wanted to do it for Dana on Senior Night... As a freshman, Dana was heading to the Final Four with these two in tow (See pic below).  I'd say that both parties are very attached to the other, so the sweetness surrounded by Lucy wanting to sing the anthem for Dana's special night just fills me with so much joy I could burst. 

Daryl with "Lucy and Lola

RECAP: Louisville WBB vs Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets 

It was Senior Night for the lone upperclassman, Dana Evans.  She added another headline to her Player of the Year campaign with 25 points on 8-19 shooting from the field, 4 rebounds and 7 assists on the night.  Kianna Smith followed her lead with 21 points of her own on 9-13 shooting, 3-6 from three with 3 rebounds and 5 assists.  The Cards scored 44 points in the paint and Elizabeth Balogun and Cochran came off the bench for 10-17 shooting for 9 and 13 points respectively. 

It was a tight race in the first quarter, the Yellow Jackets holding the advantage most of the way through the first ten minutes.  GT Guard Loyal McQueen finding the back of the net from deep going 3-3 with three assists.  Liz Dixon led the Cards with 6 points going 4-4 at the FT line and grabbing 4 rebounds. 

End of 1Q 20-19 GT 

FG %
7-16 43.8% Cards
7-16 43.8% GT
Reb.  10-9 GT 
3-pt %
1-3 33.3% Cards
3-4 75% GT

Dana Evans said she let the pre-game ceremony emotions wear off and started to warm up for the Cardinal offense in the second quarter.  She lead Louisville in the quarter in points and beat GT herself with nine points on 4-6 shooting in about a 3:30 minute span compared to the Yellow Jacket's eight points total for the quarter. The Cards closed the quarter on a 6-0 run 

End of 2Q 17-8 Cards 

FG %
7-15 46.7% Cards
4-17 23.5% GT
Reb. 11-10 Cards
3-pt %
2-6 33.3% Cards
0-3 0% GT

HALF 36-28 Cards

Kianna Smith had four points at the halftime break but she turned up the heat coming out of the break scoring 13 in the third quarter to lead all scorers. Kianna's 13 points were the first 13 points for the Cards in the third quarter.  Smith was 5-6, 3-4 from 3 with 2 assists and a rebound. She kept the Cards in it or it would've been close -- as the Louisville defense gave up 23 Georgia Tech points, five of them at the free throw line.  

End of 3Q 24-23 Cards 
FG %

10-18 55.6% Cards
8-15 53.3% GT
Reb. 8-7 GT
3-pt %
3-5 60% Cards
2-3 66.7% GT

SCORE 60-51 Cards

After the halftime break, GT was never able to pull it within less than 9 point lead for the Cards.  Lead by Dana's perfect 8-8 performance at the FT line in the 4th quarter and Olivia's seven points and three rebounds, the team won the quarter 25-19.  The Cards did commit eight fouls, though, including a technical foul that was handed out to each team with just 5 or so minutes left in the game. I'm sure a curse word warranted the judgement from the ref for it.  It wasn't anything to write home about as this game just kind of came and went.  The Cards are on a 3 game win streak as they hit the road for the final four game stretch of the regular season (fingers crossed).

Dana kisses the Cardinal Bird at the end
of the game, a long-standing Cards WBB
tradition for seniors. 

End of 4Q 25-19 Cards
FG %
8-16 50% Cards
6-12 50% GT
Reb. 10-6 Cards 
3-pt %
0-0 0% Cards
1-3 33.3% GT

FINAL 85-70 Cards

With the win, Louisville goes to 19-1 on the season and 12-1 in the ACC. Georgia Tech falls to 11-5 and 9-4 in ACC games. The win streak goes to three now and the Cards are 8-0 liffetime against Georgia Tech. 

 

FRED REPORT 

The late, legendary Fred Wiche
would have approved -- Flowers for Dana! 

F-Free Throws The Cards managed to go a solid 15-16 at FT line on the night good for 93.8%. Dana was 8-8 all in the 4th quarter, Liz Dixon 5-5 on the night and the team was 10-10 in second half.  It was a good night for the squad, in fact, it was the difference maker in this matchup and more than the required 70% for a CAPITAL F

R-Rebounding 37-34 Cards with the advantage in the game. 20-20 for both squads in the first half, 17-14 Cards advantage in the second half.  With the towering size of Dixon and Cochran, as well as the ability of HVL and Mykasa Robinson to snatch to boards for the Cards, its ideal that this squad average several more of these and take away the opportunities for the opponents.  Ill give this performance a lower case "r" for the advantage 

E-Effort/Efficiency 17 assists on 32 baskets, the Cards scored 25 more points than Georgia Tech was averaging allowing coming into the matchup. As a team, they shot almost 50% from the field for the evening and made sure Dana left the Yum! Center with a win.  It was a fiery effort on an icy evening in downtown Louisville. CAPITAL E 

D- Defense Georgia Tech didn't have a bad night from the floor.  They missed 7 of their 21 attempted free throws and turned it over 14 times which gave the Cards 13 extra points.  The Yellow Jackets matched their averaged coming into this one with 70 total points scored, 18 assists on 25 made buckets.  It was a Cards advantage in steals 7-4 and in blocked shots 4-1. GT found a good amount of quality scoring opportunities. Ill give the defense a lower case "d" 

FINAL Fred Report: F-r-E-d 

POST-GAME PRESS CONFERENCE

-- Coach Walz said he 'wishes there could've been 20,000 fans in the stands for Dana's Senior Night.' 

-- Kianna Smith on Dana.. 'She's the only senior... she's our leader and the only one who's been in a Final Four and in big games and she challenges me to be better.'

-- Check out the website the athletic department put together for Dana's Player of the Year Campaign.  You're gonna wanna see these videos and graphics... they're spectacular.  I even made it into Chapter 2 when they put a clip of my interview with Dana following the loss to Mississippi State in the Final Four in Columbus her freshman year.  Seeing that clip made make the cut made my week!

 

http://danaevans1.com/

CARDINAL SOFTBALL SWITCHES DIRECTION

UOFL Softball - Oh boy, don't look now but the first 'Cancelled' has found itself into the softball schedule already.. this time, weather to blame for the change of plans.  The Cards will be heading to #8 Alabama instead of Columbia SC for some SEC action this weekend to kick off the 2021 campaign. 

Next Games: 

Sunday 2/14 

WBB at 1pm vs Syracuse 

SBALL at 1pm vs Alabama

CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR PODCAST

(Dana auditioning for the Cardinal Couple
Radio Hour Podcast? No, probably not..) 

We will be back on the radio Saturday morning with a smaller crew for another episode of the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast.  Jared and Paulie will be freezing at the Louisville Lacrosse Stadium for a (for now) 11:30 a.m. Saturday morning Lax match against Florida. 

Yep, they're crazy.

Tune in with me, Case and Jeff (as far as I know) at 11 a.m. Saturday to talk about the Cards. 

(GAME PHOTOS BY JARED ANDERSON)

Go Cards! 

~Daryl