Pregame Notes:
Good night Card Nation, Coach Walz and the Louisville Cardinals take on the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets on senior night. The Cards are sitting at 18-1, ranked 3rd in the country, and 1st in the ACC. Louisville leads the all-time series 7-0.
Dana Evans is the Cards lone senior. Dana, who is on multiple midseason awards watch lists, is currently averaging over 20ppg.
Starting Lineup:
Dana Evans (20.6ppg, 4.2apg)
Hailey Van Lith (11.6ppg, 5.4rpg)
Kianna Smith(11.8ppg, 3.7rpg)
Mykasa Robinson (3.5rpg, 2.2apg)
Elizabeth Dixon (8.3ppg, 6rpg)
1st Quarter:
Hailey Van Lith got Louisville on the board first with a corner 3-ball. The game got off to a great pace as both teams traded baskets and traded stops for most of the quarter. The Cards trailed the Yellow jackets by 7 with just under 2 minutes remaining before a basket by Cochran. Kianna Smith hit a floater at the buzzer, as the Cards finished the quarter on a 6-0 run and trailed Georgia Tech 19-20 after the first. Evans finished with 4 points, 1 rebound, and 2 assists in the quarter.
2nd Quarter:
Dana Evans started the quarter on a 7-0 run by herself, giving the Cards the lead and forcing Georgia Tech to call a timeout. Dana Evans continued to leave her imprint on the quarter in multiple ways. The Louisville defense stiffened as Georgia Tech was only able to score 8 points in the quarter. The Cards led 36-28 going into intermission. Dana finished the half with 13 points, 3 assists, and 3 rebounds.
Halftime Stats At A Glance:
FG%: 14-31 (45.2%)
3PT%: 3-9 (33.3%)
FT%: 5-6 (83.3%)
Assists: 6
Turnovers: 2
Total Rebounds: 20-20
Leading Scorer: Dana Evans (13)
3rd Quarter:
Kianna Smith started the quarter on an 8-0 run of her own, as the Cards lead extended to 14. The first 4+ minutes of the quarter was the Kianna Smith show. At one point in the quarter, she scored 13 straight points for Louisville. Both teams picked up the offense in the last half of the quarter, but the Cards still held a 9-point lead (60-51) heading into the final quarter. Dana Evans finished with 15 points, 4 rebounds, and 5 assists.
4th Quarter:
Liz Dixon briefly gave the Cards an 11-point lead off an offensive rebound before Georgia Tech scored less than 6 seconds later. Things got a little heated as both teams needed to be separated when Dana Evans felt as though her legs were taken out from under her. Fletcher from GT and Mykasa Robinson from Louisville both received technical fouls. Dana Evans left to a standing ovation and the Cards beat the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets 85-70.
Final Stats:
FG% 32-65 (49.2%)
3PT% 6-14 (42.9%)
FT% 15-16 (93.8%)
Assists: 16
Blocks: 6
Steals: 7
Turnovers: 12
Total Rebounds: 34-29
Offensive Rebounds: 9-10
Bench Points: 22
Post Game Notes and Leaders:
Louisville improved to 19-1 on the season and gave Dana Evans a win in her YUM center finale. The Cards only went 2 deep for most of the game. Dana Evans led the way with 25 points, 7 assists, and 4 rebounds. She was assisted by big games from Kianna Smith and Liz Dixon. Dixon contributed with 13 points, 9 rebounds, and an assist. Kianna Smith added 21 points, 3 rebounds, and 5 assists of her own. The Cards made a concentrated effort to not take 3s that weren’t there tonight, as they only shot 14 of them.
Next Opponent:
The Cards take on Syracuse on Sunday at 1pm in Syracuse, NY.
