What we learned about Louisville women’s basketball in blowout victory.
The then #2 (now #1) Louisville women’s basketball program was at home for the third straight game to take on the Florida State Seminoles. FSU came into the game 4-1 on the season and 3-1 in the conference, also riding a 2 game win streak.
Louisville came into the game undefeated and looked to stay that way, also playing for a chance at the #1 spot.
The game was close in the beginning as it was tied at the end of the first quarter. Louisville used their depth to pull away from the Seminoles as they won every quarter after that.
An 84-56 win put the Cardinals at 15-18 against FSU in the series. Here’s what stood out from Louisville’s play.
The team showed Dana Evans doesn’t have to do it alone
We’ve seen Louisville women’s basketball star Dana Evans take over games so many times, that we’ve grown accustomed to it. That doesn’t mean that her teammates have played (clearly). But instead, it has shown that Evans is the clear-cut go-to scorer.
This season she has remained the clear-cut go-to scorer. But things have also been different, and this game showed that. With only 12 points Evans was the fourth-leading scorer for the Cards. Kianna Smith scored a team-high 16, Hailey Van Lith put up 15, and Olivia Cochran added 14. Liz Dixon also got in double figures with 10 points, and she added 10 rebounds to that for a double-double.
Evans also showed her faith in her teammates as she dished out 8 assists in the game. Some of those coming when she had easy shots to hit, but gave it off anyway so her teammates could get more points.
Also read: A troubling trend for Louisville basketball
Defense wins championships – and Louisville defends
I know this is a football saying, but I don’t care I’m taking it anyway.
The Cards held FSU to their lowest point total on the season. The Cards also forced 13 turnovers, with 5 of those coming on steals. Louisville grabbed 29 defensive rebounds and only allowed FSU to bring in 6 offensive rebounds. The Cards stayed strong in the middle with 5 blocked shots in the game.
The COVID shooting slump is officially over
Louisville struggled shooting the ball their first couple of games back from the COVID break. But since they have filled up the scoring sheet. They stayed hot against Florida State shooting 54% from the field, and 48% from three-point range.
The Cards were very efficient with HVL going 3-5 from deep, Smith going 4-8, Evans hitting 2-5, and Elizabeth Balogun going 1-2. The Cards had 7 players with 3 or less misses from the field, just to show how smooth the offense ran. As if it wasn’t enough, it came against a team that has been fairly good against the three this season. In fact, Louisville’s shooting day was easily the best of any opponent against FSU this year.
Jeff Walz’s team came out on fire and were able to push the envelope for the entire game. If I was going to combine ingredients to make a championship team, this team would have them all.
The newly ranked #1 Cards will be at home again on Thursday the 21st to face Syracuse AT 9pm. The game can be seen on ESPN2 and listened to on 790 WKRD.
