Pregame Notes:
Good afternoon Card Nation. Your 10th ranked Louisville Cardinals took on the Belmont Bruins. The Cards are coming off a 70-48 hammering of 12th ranked Michigan on Thursday. Louisville is 3-0 all-time versus Belmont. Coming into the game Louisville is ranked 1st in the ACC in opponent ppg (43.6) and 2nd in opponent field goal percentage (31%).
Starting Lineup:
Chelsie Hall (5.1ppg, 2.2apg, 3.7rpg)
Hailey Van Lith (9.4ppg, 3.3rpg)
Emily Engstler (9rpg, 10.9ppg )
Kianna Smith (11.1ppg, 2.[rpg)
Olivia Cochran (6ppg, 4.7rpg)
1st Quarter:
Chelsie Hall got the scoring started off with a basket that included a beautiful assist by Engstler. Both teams struggled in the first minute, but the scoring picked up and the Cards led 10-6 at the 4:01 mark. Kianna Smith passed the 1,000-point mark in her career during the quarter. Belmont was not intimidated in the least in the first quarter as Louisville led 17-12 at the end of the quarter.
2nd Quarter:
The Cards started the quarter of with a 3-ball, but give up two consecutive 3s to Belmont as Belmont cut the Louisville lead to 2 (22-20). Louisville started to execute better offensively, picked up the defensive pressure and used a 15-2 run to open a 37-22 lead late into the half. The Cards led 39-24 at the intermission.
Halftime Stats At A Glance:
FG%: 17-37 (45.9%)
3PT%: 2-6 (33.3%)
FT%: 3-6 (50.0%)
Assists: 7
Turnovers: 6
Total Rebounds: 25-15
Leading Scorer: Kianna Smith, Hailey Van Lith(9)
3rd Quarter:
Cochran scored the first bucket of the half for UofL on a beautiful bounce pass by Kianna Smith. The scoring picked up for both teams as they found their offensive rhythm and the Cards led 54-37 a the TV timeout. Louisville had their biggest lead of 23 points, with seconds left in the third, but a successful halfcourt shot by Wells cut the lead to 64-44 heading into the final quarter.
4th Quarter:
Belmont cut the Louisville lead to 15 early in the quarter, forcing Coach Walz to put all 5 starters back in the game. The 3s for Belmont started falling and the Louisville lead was cut to 12, forcing Coach Walz to call a timeout. Louisville held off a late surge by Belmont and won 80-66.
Final Stats:
FG% 34-63 (54.0%)
3PT% 5-10 (50.0%)
FT% 7-10 (60.0%)
Assists: 17
Blocks: 2
Steals: 10
Turnovers: 16
Total Rebounds: 40-24
Offensive Rebounds: 14-8
Bench Points: 20
Post Game Notes and Leaders:
Louisville was primed to have a ‘trap game’ with a huge win over Michigan on Thursday and looking ahead to uk next Sunday, but the depth and talent of Louisville was too much for the Belmont Bruins. Belmont did make it interesting in the fourth, but in the end it was too much Louisville in the end. Louisville had four players in double-digits scoring, and was led in scoring by Hailey Van Lith (16) and Kianna Smith (14). Emily Engstler led the team with 8 rebounds and Cochran added 7 rebounds. Liz Dixon came off the bench and added 8 points and 5 rebounds.
Next Opponent:
Louisville takes on uk next Sunday, December 12th at 1pm at the KFC YUM! Center.
