By Jo Simpson

The Louisville Cardinals overcame a scrappy Syracuse Orange team to secure a 72-62 victory.

Hungover

Coming off the heels of their biggest win of the season, Louisville looked out of sync and struggled to find any rhythm in the first quarter.

Missed opportunities and turnovers allowed Syracuse to stay competitive despite their own inconsistencies. Ja’Leah Williams and Nyla Harris combined for some pivotal buckets, but the Cardinals couldn’t pull away.

By the end of the quarter, Louisville held a modest 21-15 lead.

Syracuse continued to capitalized on Louisville’s many mistakes, with Georgia Woolley and Kyra Wood keeping the Orange in the game.

Louisville’s defense played well in the second quarter, but their offense couldn’t hold a candle. They turned the ball over five more times, bringing their total in the half to 10. Louisville also went five minutes in the middle of the quarter of not scoring any points, and ended the final 2:15 of the quarter without getting on the board.

Both teams entered halftime licking the wounds of a measly 33-30 Cardinals lead.

Just needed a break

The second half saw Louisville begin to assert their dominance.

Jayda Curry found her touch from beyond the arc, hitting three three-pointers in quick succession to create separation. Williams shined in her role as a playmaker, dishing out assists while making clutch free throws down the stretch.

The Cards’ offense exploded in the third quarter, scoring 26 points. However, the defense didn’t maintain it’s intensity, and the Cards only led 59-51 going into the fourth quarter.

Louisville’s defense woke back up in the final period, but their offense went right back to bed.

The quarter opened up with a nice stretch by the Cards, then they proceeded to go almost seven scoreless minutes to led Syracuse cut the lead down to five.

Louisville then put their foot down and showed who was the better team. They ended the game on a 7-2 run to put the game away.

Louisville won 72-62.

Finishing Touches

While Louisville got the win, their uneven first-half performance exposed areas for improvement.

They played incredibly sloppy in the first half, but cleaned things up in the second. Louisville only had five of their 15 turnovers in the second half, with their best offensive quarter seeing only two of those turnovers.

Many of the players who saw minutes they don’t normally see struggled in their time on the court. Outside of Curry, the Cards shot a terrible 1-of-7 from deep.

It has now been shown that Louisville can beat quality opponents, but they seem to play to the level of their competition. The Cardinals cannot continue to start quiet as they prepare to face tougher ACC opponents, such as Notre Dame and Duke.

On a positive note, the starters played quite well with every player scoring double-digits, with Tajianna Roberts leading the charge with 13 points. Harris and Williams controlled the glass against a great rebounding team. Both players had double-doubles with points and boards.

With a record of 13-5 overall and 6-1 in the ACC, Louisville remains a formidable team, but slow beginnings may lead to their downfall.

Photo Courtesy // Taris Smith, Louisville Athletics