By Glypie Grider
The women’s basketball team rang in the New Year with two Big East victories and one of their strongest records in school history. The Cards knocked off the Villanova Wildcats Saturday afternoon in their Big East home opener. The team improved to 11-2 overall with the 63-57 win in front of a season-high 2,309 fans in Freedom Hall.
All American candidate Jazz Covington led Louisville with 14 points and sophomore reserve point guard Patrika Barlow added a career-high 13 points.
Louisville Head Coach Tom Collen admitted he was nervous about the game. “I think everybody talks about UConn and Notre Dame and the thing they don’t understand is that Villanova is the sleeper,” Collen said. “They’re the team that can come in here and beat you. They are probably the biggest giant slayer of any team in this conference. They’ve done it to UConn and Notre Dame time and time again.”
The Cards and Wildcats remained close the entire game, but a series of Louisville free throw shots and lay-ups from Covington and Barlow gave U of L the 58-53 edge with 47 seconds remaining. Louisville hit five of six free throws to seal the deal before the buzzer ran out.
Villanova Head Coach Harry Perretta admitted he was impressed by the Cardinals’ inside game and said that was something lacking on his own team. “For us to win, we have to make threes and we made five today. We were able to generate 22 [attempts], but we only made five,” he said. “We have to make threes for us to win. We don’t really have an inside game to go to.”
The Villanova win came four days after the Cards’ first appearance (and subsequent win) in the Big East when Louisville defeated Syracuse 90-73 on the road. Four Cardinals scored in double figures, with Missy Taylor leading the way with a season-high 20 points. Connie Neal nailed a career-high six three-pointers, while Covington added 16 points. Katie Olson chipped in 10.
“It was a good win for us tonight,” Collen said. “Any time you can get a win on the road in the Big East, it’s a good win.”
The U of L women’s team only suffered one loss over the winter break, losing to Texas Tech 68-57 in the first round of the Caribbean Classic in Cancun, Mexico. Though three Cardinals scored in the double digits, the Red Raiders capitalized on the Cards’ early foul trouble and season-low 29 percent shooting from the field in the first half.
Though Louisville finished the game shooting 40 percent from the field, the Cards did not make one three-point basket during the entire game, making this the first time all season the Cards have not been able to do so.
The Cards were down by as many as 26 points over the course of the second half, but Louisville ended the game within 11.
Louisville bounced back from the loss with a decisive 73-50 victory before switching their focus to arch-rival the Kentucky Wildcats.
Three days after Christmas the Cards traveled to Rupp Arena where they edged past the Cats 64-55 in front of a record 10,192 fans. Louisville struggled in the first half before finally taking the lead with under 10 minutes remaining in the half. Louisville went on a 15-2 run and ended the half with a 35-26 lead.
Kentucky responded with a 9-0 run and was able to get the game within four with less than four minutes remaining before Louisville went on an 8-2 run to put the game out of reach.
Three Cardinals scored in double figures with freshman Angel McCoughtry leading the way with 17 points and 12 rebounds.
Wins over St. Francis and Northern Colorado rounded out the Cards’ 6-1 performance over winter break, and the team must now prepare for a long series of conference games.
“We’ve got to go back on the road now and every road game out there will be tough,” Collen said. “I really don’t think we have a road game in the Big East that is anything that you can lock down in the win column.”
The Cards take on West Virginia on the road tonight at 7 p.m. They are slated to face highly touted No. 12 Notre Dame at 1 p.m. Saturday in Freedom Hall. The Fighting Irish, as of press time, have suffered three straight losses, dropping to 9-4 on the season. Their 74-61 loss to Seton Hall on Saturday marked their longest losing streak in eight years.
