By Gabriel Wiest —
No. 3 women’s basketball (26-2, 13-2) hosted No. 10 NC State (24-4, 11-3) for senior night at the KFC Yum! Center. The Cardinals won their third straight in a bold 92-62 victory, putting them in a good place as the ACC Championship approaches.
Louisville’s three seniors lit up the scoreboard with a combined 61 points. Asia Durr carried most of the load, trying her career-high with 47 points. She broke program and ACC records of 11 three-point makes.
Sam Fuehring contributed a double-double with 12 points, 12 rebounds and five assists. Arica Carter scored two points with two rebounds, playing with foul trouble at the beginning of the game.
The senior class is now two wins away from becoming the winningest class in the history of U of L’s program.
“It was senior night so we definitely want to get a win for me, Sam, and Arica,” Durr said. “Besides that we just wanted to win. We know that we were playing a great team with a great coach, so we knew that it was going to be a battle, and we just had to throw the first punch and keep on going.”
With a 23-point lead within the first quarter, Louisville immediately brought energy and dominance. Durr scored 21 points to help secure the commanding lead. The Cards had a lock on defense, continually forcing Wolfpack scoring droughts with pressure defense.
“When you get outscored by 23 in the first quarter it’s not going to be a real good night, especially against a team like this,” NC State head coach Wes Moore said. “It’s a great game on their part, and we have to regroup in a hurry.”
The Cardinals added to their lead in the second quarter, making it a 25-point edge. Play was much more sluggish, however, with referees calling more fouls and putting NC State in the bonus for free throws.
The pace picked up again in the second half, as Louisville continued to increase the lead and Durr score more points. Seniors exited the game late in the fourth quarter and the Cards won 92-62.
“I thought our flow was great, our tempo was great and hopefully we’ll continue to carry this over into Sunday’s game against Pittsburgh,” head coach Jeff Walz.
With the ACC tournament closing in, Louisville finds themselves tied for first place in the conference.
The Cardinals travel to face Pittsburgh on Sunday, March 2 at 2 p.m.
You can follow the Louisville Cardinal on Twitter @thecardsports.
Photos by Taris Smith / The Louisville Cardinal