Strong second half leads Cards WBB past Syracuse 79-67 -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 

HARRIS HAS 18 TO IMPROVE CARDS TO 7-4 IN ACC CONFERENCE 

Louisville women's basketball got a big boost from freshman Nyla Harris in Sunday's win over Syracuse, Harris was one of several surprise starters for the Cards against SU, along with Norika Konno and Mykasa Robinson, as Jeff Walz looked for ways to shake things up a bit and end the Cards two-game losing streak. Walz was proud of the new-to-the-starting lineup trio, as well as who came off the bench for the Cards. 

Still, there were some lapses and areas for improvement. Louisville had expanded a two-point, end of first quarter lead into a 12-point lead early in the second quarter, but fell prey to a 19-2 run from Syracuse to trail by five late in the quarter. In this game of runs, the Cards responded with a 5-0 run to tie the contest at 34-34 with 24 seconds until half...going in at the break trailing 36-34.

The end of the third quarter was when Louisville statred the run that peeled the Orange for good. With the contest tied at 54-54, after a Syracuse three, Louisville got a Carr three, two Robinson free throws and two Harris free throws in the final two minutes of the quarter. That completed the quarter on a 7-0 UofL run and gave Louisville a 61-54 lead. 

How would the fourth quarter go? Would the Cards be able to avoid a scoring lapse and actually create some distance on their foe? 

Yes, they were. Quite convincingly, in fact, for awhile, at least. To start the quarter, two Harris baskets in the paint made it 65-54. A Harris follow up for a bucket and Morgan Jones jumper made it 69-56. Two free throws from Jones culminated a 14-2 UofL run and had the Cards comfortably in front and a Carr bucket pushed Louisville to a 75-56 lead with 5:29 left in the game. 

The Cards would gather only two more buckets the rest of the way-- baskets by Liz Dixon, but even a game-ending four minute, 9-0 Orange run could not catch the Cards and Louisville gets the regular season sweep over Syracuse. A scary ending for Morgan Jones, who sprained her ankle with 2:36 to play. 79-67, down from a 21-point lead at one time, but a nice, needed road win for the Cards Sunday.

A game of huge implications and proportions. Louisville goes into their bye week in a knot for fourth place with teams that have four losses in conference (NC State, Virginia Tech and Miami) and just two games back of league leading at 8-2 in Notre Dame and Duke. The Cards have yet to face the Irish. 

Sometimes, it's good to rest up a bit and watch the rest of the league beat each other up. 

Big tips of the cap for Sunday performances by Kasa Robinson (12 assists, seven rebounds and five steals ! ) and Liz Dixon (11 points in 25 minutes). 

(Walz put his cheaters on to go over the game plan with J. Fred Muggs )

THE FRED REPORT

FREE THROWS -- 13 for 14 from the charity stripe is going  to help you win a lot of games and that's how the Cards shot it from the stripe today.  CAPITAL "F". no question...

REBOUNDS -- the Cards squeak by here 39-37 and we've already mentioned the heroics of Robinson and Nyla Harris. You win the game, you win the rebounding battle and you win a CAPITAL "R".

EFFORT/EXECUTION -- 25 assists on 31 made baskets is excellent, Louisville also had a whopping 35-7 advantage on points off the fast break. They also won the points off turnovers 27-17. We proudly bestow a CAPITAL "E"

DEFENSE -- The Cards had 14 steals, six blocked shots and look good *most* of the time. Those periods where they couldn't stop the Syracuse runs were a bit anxious, though . I'll go with a small case 'd'

FINAL FRED REPORT :  F-R-E-d

 

A much needed road win in a lot of aspects. Does Walz stay with this new starting five? Can Kasa stay hot all over the court? Will Nyla Harris just get better and better? Things we'll find out next Sunday, when Louisville faces UNC in the KFC.

POST GAME WALZ:  JEFF WALZ POST SYRACUSE 1/29/23

POST GAME HARRIS: NYLA HARRIS POST SYRACUSE 1/29/233

paulie..