By Sam Draut–

Jeff Walz couldn’t have been more critical of his team’s defense early on in the season, but the coach finally got the performance he wanted from his young roster and Louisville defeated 18th-ranked Duke 65-48 on Sunday for their ninth-consecutive win.

While sophomores Mariya Moore and Myisha Hines-Allen and freshman Asia Durr made up the majority of the Cardinals scoring, it was a collective effort on the defensive end that held Duke to shooting under 35-percent from the field up until the final minute of the game.

Walz said it was a great team effort as U of L forced 22 turnovers and had 14 steals. U of L scored 27 points off Duke’s turnovers.

“We are figuring out how to play as a team,” Walz said.”Defensively, we aren’t good enough to play one on one, we have to help each other.”

The Cardinals held Duke to eight and nine points, respectively, in the first and second quarter, and took a 31-17 lead into halftime. Duke (12-5) closed the deficit to ten points with 4:24 left in the third quarter, but U of L responded with a 10-2 run.

Moore and Durr each had 15 points a piece, and Hines-Allen added 14 points and five rebounds.

But, it was the defensive performance that clinched Louisville’s eleventh victory in its past 12 games.

“This was a very well executed scouting report,” Cortnee Walton said.

Walz agreed with Walton’s sentiment, saying the Cardinals (12-5) did a great job on the scouting report.

Walton had a game-high 12 rebounds and credited the freshmen to the improved defensive performances over the past few weeks.

The junior forward said the five freshmen have spent extra time working on fundamentals and learning where to be on the floor.

Stringing together two consecutive games of holding the opponent to under 50 points for the first time all season, extra practice time over winter break helped the team begin to turn the corner.

The team went through two-a-day practices and focused on playing well together defensively.

“The biggest asset we had was winter break,” Walz said. “Our freshman really benefited from it.”

Durr played a season-high 28 minutes and hit three three-pointers. The freshman continues to recover and rehab from groin surgery in May and sees the progression of a roster comprised of nine freshmen or sophomores.

“We are playing hard, we have been putting in the work,” Durr said. “We play really good defense now.”

Another freshman that made the most of her career-high of 17 minutes played was Erin DeGrate. The center filled in for Hines-Allen as she battled foul trouble, DeGrate pulled down nine rebounds and scored six points.

With the win-streak a game away from reaching double-digits, Louisville hits the road for a three game stretch. As the season continues to turn around from the rough 1-4 start, the players want to keep the mindset that has brought them back from the difficult beginning.

“We have been taking one game at time, we have been focusing,” Walton said.

Photo by Wade Morgen / The Louisville Cardinal