It wasn’t pretty but it was a victory. Louisville women’s basketball remains undefeated following late-game heroics. Big takeaways from the win.
I don’t know if it was the pressure of the #1 ranking or the fact this was their ninth game in 3 weeks. But Sunday’s game for Louisville women’s basketball against Wake Forest was ugly.
The Cards came out sloppy on both ends of the floor. Turnovers and the inability to rebound haunted Jeff Walz’s team all game.
Wake Forest came to play, and the Cards did not. Everything Louisville did the whole game Wake Forest had an answer for, and the outlook was grim at times.
When Wake gave Louisville their biggest deficit of the season at 7 points with seven minutes to play I just couldn’t see how this game was going to end well. I’m sure most UofL fans were on the edge of their seats, just like I was, saying “you finally get the #1 ranking, please don’t lose it the first week.”
As painstaking as that game was, here are some of my takeaways from the game.
Also relevant: Why Dana Evans has earned the ACC Player of the Year Award
Dana Evans has cemented her legacy at Louisville
We all know Dana Evans is great. She has been since she has gotten on campus. Even after the Sixth Player of the Year and ACC Player of the Year awards, there was still something left to show.
This game gave us what we needed.
When Evans hit a 3 with three and a half minutes to go, she looked at her teammates and yelled “we’re not losing this game.” That was the point.
That was where Louisville’s best player went to that next level. It lead to seeing a different team on both ends of the court.
I haven’t seen one player will their team through the fourth quarter like that since Shoni Shimmel did it in the Elite 8 against Maryland. Shoni cemented her legacy when she single-handedly almost brought the Cards back to victory. Just like Evans did against Wake.
She didn’t have her best shooting night. Only going 8-22 from the field and 2-6 from three, but she hit them when it counted.
It was amazing to see her on the court for 40 minutes without impacting her motor on both ends.
Kianna Smith & HVL weren’t themselves
Kianna Smith and Hailey Van Lith are the second and third-leading scorers on the team and are who Dana Evans relies on to help her get the offense going.
They weren’t much help against Wake. The duo combined for 5 points, all scored by HVL, to go along with 3 rebounds. Van Lith averages 12 points and 6 rebounds per game, but could only muster 5 and 2 in this contest.
I have to add though that 2 of her 5 points were two of the most important points in the game. They put the Cards up 1 with 45 seconds left. Mykasa Robinson has started over Smith the last couple of games to bring a spark of offense off the bench. Unfortunately against Wake, Smith did not bring a spark of offense off the bench.
In 21 minutes Smith was 0-5 from the field and 0-4 from three-point range, while only bringing in 1 rebound. This is not the stat line you expect from a player averaging almost 12 and 4 per game.
All players have a bad game every now and then, so let’s all just hope this was both of theirs.
The Cards struggled in every facet & still won
The Louisville women’s basketball program came in leading the ACC in points per game, field goal percentage, and assists per game. Yet you would’ve never known against Wake Forest.
Louisville’s 65 points were 19 points below their average of 84 points per game. They only had 9 assists on 23 made field goals which are 8 below their season average of 17. The Cards only shot 39% from the field and 33% from three-point range, which is below their 49 and 35% season averages.
This was the third game this season the Cards have been outrebounded and by far their largest rebounding deficit. It also matched UofL’s lowest rebounding total of the season. For a team that averages just under 42 rebounds per game, the Cards could only grab 32 in this game.
The two areas of the game that kept Louisville in it and ultimately helped them secure the win was free-throw shooting and three-point shooting. The Cards were a perfect 13-13 from the free-throw line while the Demon Deacons were only 12-24. They were just below their season average from three, but their 6-18 was way better than Wake Forest’s 1-11.
When you are the #1 team in the nation you expect to always get your opponents best game, and Wake Forest fought till the final buzzer. The seventh place team in the ACC is not really the game I expected to get this big of a scare, but teams can’t play perfect every game.
As bad as they played most of the game, this team showed they have what it takes to pull out victories. You never saw any of the players with their heads hung or anyone ever looking defeated. The Cards kept their composure the whole game and turned up the heat in the final minutes to stay undefeated.
You can catch the Cards in action again on Tuesday the 26th. Louisville will be at home taking on Miami at 4 p.m., and you can watch the game on ACCN and listen to the game on 790 WKRD.
