FRESHMEN LEAD WAY IN LOUISVILLE WIN
Louisville womens' basketball got a combined 29 points from freshmen Tajianna Roberts (16) and Ja'Leah Williams (13) and held off a late Georgia Tech charge to pick up the nine point win in front of 8917 fans on a chilly Sunday in Louisville at the KFC YUM! Center.
UofL started slowly in the contest, giving up the first five points in the game, but closed the first quarter strong, on a 9-0 run over the final 3:26 to graB a five-point advantage at 18-13 after Williams had six of the Cards final eight points in the quarter.
The Cards pushed the margin to 10 at 25-15 three and a half minutes into the second quarter on a Merissah Russell layup and closed the half on a 9-1 run over the final 4:27 to go in the locker room at halftime ahead 37-23. It was a 19-10 second quarter for Louisville and they shot 7-10 from the floor (70%) for the quarter and were at 60% (15-25) from the floor for the half while holding GT to just 40% (10-25) in the first 20 minutes.
Louisville...with the 37-22 lead in a bit of a surprise to many.
Walz played just eight players in the first half, Williams playing all twenty minutes and she led all scorers with nine points The Cards were dominating in points off turnovers (22-9), points in the paint (22-10) and in rebounds (16-13). It was a fairly clean half for the Cards in the foul department too, committing just four in the first half.
The third quarter proved to be the scoring quarter for both squads...Georgia Tech going for 26 points while the Cards mustered 22 points. Those 48 points were just nine short of what was scored in the entire first half. The Yellow Jackets had chipped away at the Cards advantage to trail 59-49. Kara Dunn had come alive for the visitors, with a 14 point quarter on 6-6 shooting and the Cards looked to be in for a battle in the final ten minutes.
Give Louisville credit for not letting the lead slip below eight in the first seven and a half minutes of period four. The Cards were able to shut down Dunn in a low scoring quarter, (11-10 Georgia Tech) and the Cards were making the most of the shot clock when they had possession of the ball. With 1:29 to play, Tech converted on 1-2 free throws to get the closest they had been at 65-60, but would fail to score the rest of the way. Williams nailed a jumper for the Cards with 59 seconds to play, and a Harris layup off a steal made it 69-60 with 27 seconds to go. GT would miss a three, in the final shot of the game, and Louisville had picked up their fifth conference win in a thriller.
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| Fred Durst is today's Fred. No limp biscutz on this Cardianls squad sunday |
THE FRED REPORT
Free Throws -- The Cards were 8-12 from the charity stripe...Jayda Curry going 3-3. That's 66.7% and not quite at our letter-mandate of 70% so...NO LETTER
Rebounds -- Louisville won the battle of the boards 31-24 and guard Ja'Leah Williams led the way with seven. Four were on the offensive boards. That's good for a CAPITAL "R".
Effort/Execution - The Cards led in points off turnovers, points in the paint, shooting percentage and second chance points. They took the fight to the visitors all game long and didn't wilt when the pressure was applied in the final minutes, It's worth a CAPITAL "E".
Defense- Holding Tech to 60 was quite the accomplishment and Louisville tied Tech with steals (7) and forced GT into 16 turnovers. 50% shooting for Ga. Tech was a bit head-scratching, but when you shoot 53%, it's another 'win". Defense was huge in producing this win and I'll award a CAPITAL "D".
FINAL FRED TALLY: _-R-E-D
So, we saw a Louisville squad that has played increasingly better in the last month and a half get a tier one win over a foe that started the season 15-0. Williams and Roberts continue to do great things as freshmen for Louisville...and they'll see any more tough tests as this season progresses...but, this win should do wonders for the team's morale and spirits. six wins in a row now, and this heat check continues Thursday when Syracuse comes to town.
GUESS WHO CAME BACK FOR VISIT? KASA ROBINSON!!
PHOTOS BY JARED ANDERSON
paulie
Great home Victory against a tough opponent cards follow Scouting Report to the T.
ReplyDeleteShout out to Ja 'leah Williams she played her heart out she was everywhere. 🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀
Go Cards the Year of the Freshman.
Pretty much where I thought we'd be mid January. Only thing is I was hoping a couple more freshmen would be seeing more minutes, but, I'm good with where we're at.👍
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