By Derek DeBurger
No. 18 Louisville got blown off the court against the No. 17 UConn Huskies.
The Cards started strong, but slowly fell out of contention throughout the game.
The first quarter was back and forth and full of high-octane offenses on both sides. With both teams pushing the paint the first quarter ended at a score of 28-27. Olivia Cochran had eight points in the first and Aaliyah Edwards had six.
The Huskies’ defense, however, started to tighten up. They jumped out to a nine-point lead, shooting over 40% from three in the first half. Out of a timeout, the Cards began to dig back into that lead off of defensive stops and an aggressiveness from Kiki Jefferson. Jefferson was 6-7 from the field in the first half and finished the game as the Cards leading scorer with 19 points.
The score at the half was 46-42, UConn.
The second half was ugly.
Louisville did a better job defending the three-point shot, so instead the Huskies opted to get their work done in the paint. They took advantage of lazy passes by the Cards and got out to several fast-break looks. Though Louisville did a good job forcing turnovers, they committed 19 turnovers. Louisville made several attempts to try and orchestrate a comeback, but each swing was matched with a more forceful one from the Huskies.
Louisville would go on to lose 86-62.
UConn’s stars, Edwards and Paige Bueckers, were able to score with relative ease, but the leading scorer was Aubrey Griffin. All three players for the Huskies scored 20+ points. UConn shot 59.3% from the field, and the biggest reason for that number being so high is the easy looks in transition.
At this point, it’s just who the Cards are, but they can only go as far as they can hold onto the ball.
There are some positives; Jefferson was the team leader in points, rebounds, and assists, and the offense as a whole looked good early on. The Cards were also the more physical team early on, but as the Huskies gained momentum they took that from the Cards too.
This team still has a long way to go, but it’s a long season. For now, the Cards are 10-2 on the year.
Photo Courtesy // Ian Bethune, The UConn Blog
