By Harrison Plank

No. 9 Louisville overcame a 13-point deficit in the third quarter to force overtime and ultimately triumph over the North Carolina State Wolfpack.

Don’t force the issue

After the opening tip, both teams traded shots back and forth, but the Cards didn’t seem able to keep up with North Carolina State’s pace. Lousy defense and a failure to hit any of their five attempted threes put Louisville in the hole early.

The Wolfpack’s Zameera Jones hit a three-pointer off a forced turnover that got her up to 11 points in the first quarter. She alone accounted for almost half of North Carolina State’s scoring.

Louisville trailed after the first 23-14.

If the Cards wanted to win, someone had to hit a three, but until then, touch around the rim kept them in the fight. 20 of Louisville’s 22 points came in the paint, and Imari Berry hit a tip-in layup to cut the deficit to 31-22.

The half ended with an 8-0 run for the Cardinals, finished up with an and-one finish by Laura Zeigler. Her made free throw cut the lead to three, but a clean jumper by Zoe Brooks just before the Buzzer gave the Wolfpack all their momentum back right before the Break.

Louisville shot a collective 0-7 from three in the first half. Making this game closer was gonna be hard if the team stayed in their shooting slump after the break.

The Cards were down 28-33 at the half.

The Cardinals continued to live in the paint early in the third quarter, and deep shots remained a non-factor. Imari Berry and Elif Istanbulluoglu cut the lead to one, but once the lead was within grasp, the team began forcing up contested threes.

While Louisville’s triples continued not to fall, NC state hit two of their own during an 8-0 run to push their lead back to nine. To begin the third quarter the Wolfpack started 0-2 from the field, but then connected on six straight while pushing their lead to back up to 47-34.

In the final minute of the third Imara Berry scored eight points on her own while hitting Louisville’s first three of the game. Her heroics made it a one possession game going into the final 10 minutes. The Cardinals made the score 50-47.

The Cards finally achieved their first lead of the game to start the final period, but couldn’t seem to hold onto it. After a little bit of back and forth, a couple bad plays defensively allowed NC state to easily tie it all up 67-67 late in the game.

Khamil Pierre and Zoe Brooks then went on a 7-0 run by themselves to lead the Wolfpack to a 74-69 lead with less than a minute to go. Things were looking dire for Louisville.

Imari Berry once again had to put the team on her back, scoring on two quick possessions to tie it all up with 10 seconds left. NC State got nothing to go with their last chance.

A fifth period was played, with both teams locked even at 74-74.

In overtime, Louisville took an early lead and never looked back. Imari Berry continued to have the hot hand, while Mackenly Randolph rattled in two shots of her own. NC State looked out of gas after 45 minutes of basketball.

Both teams would play the free throw game late, but with a three score lead the Cards had this one in the bag.

Louisville won the overtime battle 88-80.

Looking ready for March

Imari Berry and the rest of the Cardinals showed real grit when facing a late 13-point deficit. Despite some failures defensively and from beyond the arc, Louisville found a way to win, and that is all that matters.

Berry had a outing to be remembered. Her 33 points led the team to a win and are a career high. An additional 12 rebounds gave her a double-double, another feat she had yet to achieve until now. She led the bench in scoring while leading louisville to 57 bench points.

No Cardinal hit a three until there was less than a minute in the third quarter. Through the whole game the team shot 5-19 from three.

Despite these shortcomings, Louisville shined in the paint. 48 points in the paint helped the Cards come away with a win.

The glass was dominated by the Cardinals as well, but no one seemed able to do anything with their rebounds. While the team did have 21 offensive rebounds, they only had 12 second chance points. Failure to capitalize on these opportunities were what caused Louisville to go down so early.

The Cards squeak out with a win, continue their 11 game win streak, and remain undefeated in the ACC.

Louisville is now 18-3 and 8-0 in conference play.

Photo by Taris Smith / Louisville Athletics