By Cole Emery —
No. 5 Louisville Cardinals defeated the Boston College Golden Eagles 68-48 Feb. 27 at the KFC Yum! Center.
The Cards jumped out to an early 18-6 lead thanks to five forced turnovers that turned into seven points for Louisville.
Boston College fought back and went on a 11-2 run to finish the quarter down three points to the Cards. Sophomore Makayla Dickens scored nine points in the final two and a half minutes of the first quarter from beyond the arc.
The run left the Cardinals unaffected, and they went on a 13-2 run of their own to start the second quarter. During the run, senior Bionca Dunham scored six points, and junior Jazmine Jones capped off the run with a three-pointer to give them a 33-19 lead.
For the rest of the game, Boston College remained in a double digit deficit.
With five seconds remaining in the half, senior Kylee Shook swiped a steal and drained a buzzer-beating jumper. The Cards took a 46-24 lead into halftime.
Boston College outscored Louisville in the second half, but a dominant first half gave the Cards enough cushion to cruise to victory without their starting guards for the second game in a row. “Those are two significant players on our team,” Shook said. “So, we knew, us being upperclassmen, we had to lead the way and just go out hard.”
Shook racked up her fourth double-double in five games with 18 points and 10 rebounds. She also blocked two shots and secured two steals for the game. Jones scored 17 points, assisted three baskets and blocked three shots.
In their second straight start, redshirt senior Yacine Diop and sophomore Mykasa Robinson both played an important role in the victory. Diop scored 13 points, grabbed four rebounds and passed for two assists. Robinson scored seven points, secured five rebounds, assisted 5 shots, stole the ball three times and blocked one shot.
Amidst injury problems, “These kids have been unbelievable,” Louisville coach Jeff Walz said. “It just shows the character and the fight that they have.”
The Cardinals will play Virginia Tech Mar. 1 in their final game of the season at the KFC Yum! Center at noon.
