By Dalton Ray —
In a top-five match-up, No. 4 women’s basketball couldn’t overcome a poor first quarter on the road against No. 1 Connecticut. The Huskies used an efficient offensive night (45 percent shooting) en route to a 69-58 win.
Louisville’s 16 turnovers led to easy UConn baskets and stalled the Cardinals offense all night.
Senior Myisha Hines-Allen recorded a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Junior Asia Durr (7-of-19) scored 20 points.
The Cardinals won the second half (36-27) but couldn’t overcome the 19-0 run by UConn in the opening quarter.
Junior Arica Carter kicked off the game with 3-pointer for the Cards. U of L didn’t score for more than seven minutes.
During the span, UConn ballooned their lead to 19 and forced seven turnovers.
Louisville ended the quarter shooting 2-of-13 from the field with nine turnovers to trail 24-6 — their lowest quarter total of the season.
The Cardinals stayed on par with the Huskies during the second quarter, but couldn’t put together defensive stops.
UConn only out-scored U of L by two in the quarter, but still entered halftime leading 42-22.
Durr struggled against the tie defense, going 1-for-6 in the half.
Louisville won the third quarter (18-15), but couldn’t come within 13 points against the nation’s top-ranked team during the quarter.
The pace started to even out entering the fourth quarter as the game became a back-and-forth bout.
Louisville cut the UConn lead to 11, but there wasn’t enough time for U of L to complete the comeback.
The Cards travel to Boston College on Feb. 15.
You can follow Dalton Ray on Twitter @dray5477.
Photo by Nancy Hanner / The Louisville Cardinal
