By Conner Farrell–
Women’s basketball used a big second half lift to roll past Clemson 65-46.
“We just did not play very well, we weren’t very focused to start the game, our intensity level was really bad,” coach Jeff Walz said.
Junior Asia Durr led all scorers with 15 points on 3-9 shooting from the field, but the Cards got contributions from a host of players.
Four players including Durr scored in double figures. Sophomores Kylee Shook and Jazmine Jones chipped in 10 points of their own and junior Sam Fuehring added 14.
The Cardinal offensive started off sluggish in the start of the game, connecting on six of their first 14 field goals in the first quarter.
“This was the first game in a long time that we actually were very stagnant on offensive,” Walz said.
Although the offensive was slow out of the gates, the defense held the Tigers to a scoreless four minutes to end the first quarter of play. The Cards led 15-13 after one.
The offensive struggles continued into the second quarter as the team only managed to score three points in the first five minutes.
However, the team managed to find a spark from an unlikely source. Following a technical foul assessed to Walz, the Cardinals went on an 8-0 run and closed out the half on a 15-3 run.
The defense held the Tigers to zero field goals in the final 8:36 of the quarter.
Louisville led 32-21 at the intermission.
The Cards picked it back up right where they left off in the third quarter, coming out hot, hitting five of their first six shots in the opening five minutes of the half.
The hot shooting cooled off a bit in the final five minutes as the team went without a field goal in the stretch. However, the defense alleviated those woes by holding the Tigers without a point in the final three minutes of the quarter.
Louisville led 47-34 going into the final quarter.
The fourth quarter was smooth sailing for the Cards as the held the Tigers to 12 points in the final ten minutes.
The Cardinals won the turnover battle 17-10 as well as slightly winning the rebounding tilt 36-30.
Defensively, the team held the Tigers to 16-of-45 from the field for 36 percent.
“We’re sitting here right now, playing UConn is a great challenge, but I’m more concerned about Boston College and North Carolina. This next game is just going to be a bonus game,” Walz said.
The women’s basketball team is back in action on Feb. 12 for a marquee match-up against the number one ranked Connecticut Huskies in Storrs, Connecitcut.
You can follow Conner Farrell on Twitter @ConnerFarrell9.
Photo by Nancy Hanner / The Louisville Cardinal
