By Benjamin Lampkin

Chicago, Ill- Led by senior guard Kara Kessans, who finished with a game-high 17 points, the University of Louisville women’s basketball team demolished Southern Miss 83-52 in the opening round of the Conference USA tournament.

The Cardinals opened the game with a 12-2 run, and controlled the offensive glass, grabbing three offensive boards in the first seven possessions. The Golden Eagles were able to get within five points at 24-19, but that would be as close as they would get the remainder of the afternoon.

Starting with a jumper from Kessans, the Cards started an 18-2 run that put the game away late in the first half. Sara Nord scored five straight points to end the half, and the Cards went into the locker room with a 42-21 lead.

“The biggest worry today was how we were gonna come out,” said head coach Martin Clapp. “We’ve been playing good second halves, but we’ve been getting off to bad starts. The intensity was there, and that led to the whole first half, which was the game.”

Collectively, the Cards shot 54.5% from the floor in the opening 20 minutes, while Southern Miss went 9-25 from the floor and committed 9 first half turnovers.

“We didn’t change the game plan from when we played them down in Hattiesburg,” said Southern Miss head coach Rick Reeves. “We were down 24-19, and we missed four straight free throws. Next thing we’re down 30-19, and we never recovered.”

The second half saw more of the same, with U of L jumping out to a 17-2 run to start things off. Sara Nord, who finished the afternoon with 16 points, also chipped in seven assists, giving her 224 for the season. That breaks the mark she set last season, and is the new league-high.

“This just motivates us for the next game,” said Nord. “We beat Cincinnati once and they beat us once, so this game motivates us for them.”

The Cards finished the game shooting 56.5%, and limited the Eagles to 38.8% in addition to forcing 22 turnovers. Leading scorer Kara Kessans was 8-10 from the floor.

Louisville faces #3 seed Cincinnati this afternoon at 4 p.m./3 central, and looks to advance to the semifinals on Sunday.