By Ashlea Hellmann
The University of Louisville women’s basketball team knew that their first full week of Big East Conference play would keep their hands full.
Their first loss, and their second straight in conference play, came to 14th ranked University of Notre Dame, 82-74. The game was tied going into the locker room at the half, but the Irish managed to pull away with a strong second half performance.
The Cardinals were also plagued by poor free-throw shooting. “Not much else to say other than 15-for-32,” said U of L head coach Jeff Walz in a post-game press conference. “When you go 15-for-32 you don’t have a chance to win.”
In their second game, the Cardinals took on the most powerful team in the nation, the Huskies of the University of Connecticut. The team tried not to be intimidated by the team’s high ranking. “We came out ready to play and we didn’t care if it said UConn across the jersey,” said senior guard Patrika Barlow.
Their second loss came in Freedom Hall in front of a record crowd of 19,123. While fans may have been disappointed others were not so disappointed with the performance. “There is a reason they are the number one team in the country. I’ve never seen a team score like this team can,” said Walz.
The Cardinals were led by a 30-point effort from standout forward Angel McCoughtry. “You have to give them a lot of credit. When you have a player like Angel McCoughtry you’re probably going to be in every game. There’s not going to be a lot of games when you don’t have a chance to win,” said Connecticut head coach Geno Auriemma.
Despite another double-double by McCoughtry, the team was no match for the offensive power of the Huskies, who had five players in double figures, led by forward Maya Moore’s 23 points.
While the fans might not have been impressed with the outcome, the arena’s attendance broke many records for women’s basketball. Not only was the game the first sellout in U of L women’s basketball history, but the crowd was also the largest crowd to see a women’s basketball game this season.
“I have been coming to games since I was little and I have never seen a crowd this big. It’s great to see the support. I think this is a turning point for the program,” said senior biology major Celeste Hollensead.
As always, many L-Raisers were also in attendance for the big game. The group attempted to keep the crowd excited, but admitted that it wasn’t quite up to their standards.
“It’s nice, but it’s not as loud as it could be. I mean, the girls deserve it. For me, it will be interesting to see how attendance goes from here on out,” said sophomore sports administration major Mike Price.
Today the Cardinals will attempt to regain their stride as they take on the University of Cincinnati. The Bearcats come into the game with a record of 10-5, 1-2 in Big East play.
Cincinnati will be led by redshirt sophomore guard Kahla Roudebush, who has averaged 16.6 points per game this season. The Cardinals will also have to attempt to contain efforts of sophomore guard Karla Jacobs, who has had 67 assists and 26 steals this season.
The team hopes that they will have many returning fans for tonight’s game. “A lot of people out here in Louisville haven’t given these ladies a chance. This is a job, and they don’t understand the amount of time and effort these ladies put in. Hopefully we will get a lot of [fans from the Connecticut game] to come back,” said Walz.
