Pregame Notes:
Good afternoon Card Nation, Louisville is coming off a less than impressive win against the Syracuse Orange. The last time Louisville played Boston College, Louisville ran away with a 79-49 victory in the YUM! Center. Emily Engstler led a very balanced Louisville attack, that saw 5 players in double-figure scoring. Boston College is coming in on a 4-game winning streak, their last loss was the 30-point loss to Louisville. Louisville leads the all-time series 11-1 and are 4-0 on the road against BC. Coach Walz came in with 399 wins in his coaching career.
Starting Lineup:
Chelsie Hall (6.2ppg, 2.2apg, 3.5pg)
Hailey Van Lith (11.7ppg, 3.3rpg)
Emily Engstler (10.9rpg, 8.4ppg )
Kianna Smith (11.8ppg, 3.3rpg)
Olivia Cochran (7.6ppg, 5.5rpg)
1st Quarter:
Kianna Smith broke the scoring seal for Louisville after Boston College got off to a quick 5-0 start. Boston College came out of the gate ready to play and led 17-8 with just over 3 minutes left in the quarter. Louisville trailed 20-10 after the first quarter.
2nd Quarter:
Ahlana Smith got the scoring started for Louisville off a beautiful assist by Konno. In a quarter that saw more than its share of tie-ups, Louisville used a 13-1 run to take a 23-21 lead with 4:23 left in the half. The Louisville defensive intensity picked up and limited BC to only 5 points in the quarter. Louisville led 32-25 heading into intermission.
Halftime Stats At A Glance:
FG%: 14-31 (45.2%)
3PT%: 2-7 (28.6%)
FT%: 2-2 (100.0%)
Assists: 7
Turnovers: 9
Total Rebounds: 18-16
Leading Scorer: Kianna Smith (9)
3rd Quarter:
Kianna Smith scored the first 5 points of the quarter, but Boston College would not go away. The fouls began to pile up for the Cards and Boston College was able to cut into the lead. A technical foul on the BC bench allowed HVL to add 2 points onto the lead with 1.3 seconds left in the quarter. The Cards led going into the final quarter
4th Quarter:
HVL came out with 4 quick points for Louisville, but BC always had an answer. Boston College continued to make runs, but were never really able to cut it closer than 5 points. Timely offensive baskets by the Cards helped them to a 63-53 win.
Final Stats:
FG% 26-58 (44.8%)
3PT% 4-10 (40.0%)
FT% 7-11 (63.6%)
Assists: 13
Blocks: 6
Steals: 11
Turnovers: 21
Total Rebounds: 40-38
Offensive Rebounds: 17-19
Bench Points: 13
Post Game Notes and Leaders:
Louisville improves to 15-1 overall and 5-0 in the ACC with the win today. Louisville struggled early in this game, but the talent and depth along with the improved defensive effort helped Louisville take the lead and never look back. Louisville has looked uncharacteristically sloppy on both ends of the floor, and there are some scoring droughts that need to be cleaned up before the NC State game and the post season. Louisville was led in scoring by Kianna Smith and HVL with 16 points each. Emily Engstler led the team with 7 rebounds. Coach Walz now has 400 wins at UofL.
Next Opponent:
Louisville stays on the road to take on top 5 ranked NC State on Thursday, January 20th at 7:30 pm in Reynolds Coliseum.
