Takeaways from Louisville women’s basketball exhibition victory

Louisville women’s basketball made short work of Union University

It was the day all the Louisville women’s basketball fans have been waiting for since March; game day at the Yum. The Louisville women’s basketball team finally got to take the floor since their Elite Eight loss to eventual champions Stanford. There has been a buzz around town about how the team would look without superstar Dana Evans taking the floor this year. Well, the Cards came out in their first game since the tournament and took care of business 106-32.

I don’t think there is a lot to take away from an exhibition game like this as far as rotations and strategies, but they got to compete. Coach Jeff Walz said after the game “It was a really good basketball game for us. We’ve still got some things to work on but I thought our defense was really good overall and I was pleased with the way most of our kids played.”

Here are three takeaways I did have from the game.

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We got to see what we were hoping to see

This game pretty much went the way all the Louisville women’s basketball fans were expecting it to go. The Cards won in dominant fashion by 74 points. The game saw the Cards go on several big runs to jump out to a 61-15 halftime lead, and cruise in the second half to a 106-32 win. As one would expect the game also saw all 13 Cardinal players take the court. The Cards played everyone at least 5 minutes, and 11 of the 13 saw at least 12 minutes of playing time. Fans also got to see 12 of the 13 Cardinal players score in the game, with 5 of those scoring in double figures.

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The Cards played very strong on the defensive end

The Louisville women’s basketball team took the floor Thursday night and did not mess around on either end of the floor. The Cards may have had a better defensive game than offensive game. Louisville was very aggressive on the defensive end of the floor and smothered the Bulldogs. On the night the Cardinals had 18 steals and 10 blocks. The Cards forced 31 turnovers total and scored 49 points off those turnovers. Louisville also had 21 defensive rebounds, while only allowing UTN to get 9 offensive rebounds. The defense held Union to 12-41 shooting and 3-13 from the three-point line. The Cardinals also only committed 12 fouls in the game.

Louisville used its size to bully Union

The Cards used their size and strength to run away with this victory. When playing a team with only three players over 6 feet tall, Coach Walz and his players knew what the key to victory was. Louisville outscored Union 60-16 in the paint. The Cardinals also outrebounded the Bulldogs 43-20 in the game. While most fans were wondering about outside shooting, that is not what the Cards relied on in this game. Only 18 of their 70 shots came from outside the arc.

After the Cards took care of business against Union, they get an 8-day break before their next game. Louisville women’s basketball will open the regular season against national runner-up Arizona in the Invitational at the Stanford Pentagon. Louisville takes the court against Arizona on Friday, November 12th at 4:30 pm.