By Jocelyn Scurlock

No. 20 Louisville opened their season Tuesday night with a loss against the reigning national champion No. 1 UConn Huskies.

Rough to say the least

Louisville got out to a rough start, allowing UConn to get out to an 8-0 lead.

Tajianna Roberts gave the Cardinals their first point by splitting a pair of free throws nearly three minutes in.

Despite getting a lot of great looks throughout the first quarter, Louisville just couldn’t seem to get a bucket.

UConn widened the gap by keeping the game fast-paced and holding the Cards to only 3-for-18 on field goals.

Reyna Scott tried to get something going on the Cards side by taking the ball end to end for a bucket and a foul.

That fueled a huge three-pointer from Skylar Jones off a crafty assist by Laura Ziegler.

Despite building a little momentum at the end, Louisville ended the first down 25-9.

The second quarter started a bit more promising for the Ville with Scott hitting an early mid-range jumper.

For a majority of the second, the Cards were not taking smart shots which led to easy rebounds and transition scoring for UConn. They also struggled to contain the Huskies guards who combined for 19 points in the second.

Ziegler hit a huge three to bring the Cards to within 12, but UConn continued to find the bottom of the net and opened the lead even more.

With 0.5 seconds left in the half, Imari Berry forced her way to the basket for an and-1 which gave them some hope going into halftime.

At the break Louisville was down 44-23.

Too little, too late

The Cards were able to strike first to start the third off a layup from Mackenly Randolph but it wasn’t enough to force a run.

Louisville gave the Huskies a ton of second chance opportunities which they were able to capitalize off of and open the lead to 50-25.

They switched to a zone defense in an attempt to slow down UConn’s scoring in the paint, but that ended up leaving their strongest three-point shooters wide open.

Offensively, the Cards continued to struggle, shooting only 4-for-15 on field goals. They once again were able to get great looks they just couldn’t connect.

By the end of the third, the Huskies lead grew to 61-40.

Louisville looked like a whole new team in the final quarter.

Ziegler hit back-to-back threes to start the period and earn her first double-double of the season. 

On the other side, UConn went cold, missing easy layups as well as triples.

The Cards continued their run with both Roberts and Ziegler hitting triples, forcing the Huskies to take a time out.

Louisville’s defense remained strong forcing a shot clock violation which they were able to turn into an 8-0 run.

After being down as much as 28 points, the Cards were able to cut the deficit to just 10 by outscoring UConn 40-23 in the second half.

Although the burst of energy looked promising, there was just not enough time left in the game.

Louisville dropped their season opener 79-66.

A little bit of something

The Cards looked rough for a majority of this game.

They struggled to keep up with the Huskies offense and gave up too many easy looks and second chance opportunities.

However, they did a complete 180 in the fourth quarter. The Cards shot 5-for-7 from three and held UConn to only nine field goals.

They did a great job of playing as a team and getting everybody involved in the scoring.

Ziegler led the team with 16 points and 18 rebounds followed by Jones and Berry who both put up 13.

All in all, even though they started pretty rocky, Louisville showed their potential towards the end. It will be exciting to see how they grow from this loss as they move into the rest of their season.

Louisville is now 0-1 on the year.

The Cards will face Northern Kentucky Sunday for their home opener in the KFC Yum! Center.

Photo Courtesy / Caleb Jones / Louisville Athletics