By Derek DeBurger and Jo Simpson
The Louisville Cardinals overcame a sluggish first half to secure a 65-56 victory over the Pittsburgh Panthers.
Sleepwalking and then some
Louisville’s offensive struggles were apparent from the start.
Nyla Harris opened the scoring with a layup, but it was only after almost three minutes of play. Turnovers and poor shooting disrupted Louisville’s flow. Back-to-back three-pointers from Aislin Malcolm gave Pitt an eight-point lead.
Louisville trailed 13-17 at the end of the first quarter.
Pittsburgh’s Khadija Faye was a major factor in the Panthers’ early success. Faye collected seven rebounds in the first half and had a perfect score from the free-throw line at 8-of-8.
Louisville held serve for a brief moment in the second quarter, but a scoring drought of almost six full minutes saw Louisville fall behind by nine points, their biggest deficit of the game.
Harris stopped the bleeding with a jump shot right before the break, and the Cards went into the half down 21-28.
A reason to get up
Ja’Leah Williams opened up the second half with a layup and Tajianna Roberts knocked down a three to cut the lead to just two points.
Pitt responded with a three, but Louisville went on another small surge to take their first lead of the game since the opening minutes at 33-31.
The Cards would battle back and forth until the start of the final quarter. Louisville was up 37-35 to start the fourth quarter.
It took until the final period of play, but Louisville finally woke up and flexed their muscles in the fourth.
Jayda Curry, Roberts and Williams took control of the game, as Louisville held the lead for nearly the entire quarter. At one point, Roberts scored six points in just 15 seconds to give the Cards a 10-point lead.
Louisville led by as much as 14 points in the fourth thanks to a 16-4 run, and Pitt didn’t have enough firepower to close the gap in the last two minutes.
Louisville outlasted Pitt 65-56.
Messing with bulls
Though Louisville took control in the second half, their overall performance left a lot to be desired.
The Cardinals only committed 14 turnovers, but they were held to an abysmal 39.4% from the field and 26.7% from deep. Four Cardinals reached double-digits in scoring, with Roberts leading the charge with 17 points.
While the Cards did win the turnover battle themselves, forcing 20 turnovers including 12 in the second, Olivia Cochran and Williams were on the brink of fouling out with four fouls each.
Despite the win, it was clear this game should have been an easy victory for Louisville. Louisville’s sloppy first half allowed the Panthers to stay competitive, which is a trend the Cards seem destined to repeat on a nightly basis.
Louisville now has six-straight wins, but they are not playing like a team that can rattle off too many more.
Hopefully, this game serves as a lesson to stay sharp as Louisville plays No. 13 Georgia Tech on Jan. 12.
For now, Louisville limps to an 11-5 record on the year and 4-1 in the ACC.
Photo Courtesy // Landen Fuller, Louisville Athletics