Pregame Notes:
Good evening Card Nation. Louisville is coming off a 63-53 road victory over Boston College that gave Coach Walz his 400th victory as a head coach. The Cards were led by Kianna Smith and Hailey Van Lith in scoring with 18 and 16 respectively. Tonight’s trip to Raleigh puts #3 Louisville against #4 NC State. The two are both sitting atop of the ACC race, with the Wolfpack (7-0) holding down the top spot and Louisville (5-0) squarely in 2nd. NC State is coming off a 84-60 thrashing of Duke. All-time Louisville is 8-5 vs the Wolfpack and 3-1 in Raleigh. Last time these teams met was in the ACC Tournament, with the Wolfpack getting the best of the Cards by a score of 58-56. Dana Evans missed the game-winning 3-point shot in the final seconds.
Starting Lineup:
Chelsie Hall (6.1ppg, 2.2apg, 3.5rpg)
Hailey Van Lith (11.9ppg, 3.2rpg)
Emily Engstler (10.5ppg, 8.3rpg )
Kianna Smith (12.2ppg, 3.3rpg)
Olivia Cochran (7.6ppg, 5.4rpg)
1st Quarter:
Olivia Cochran got the first bucket of the game off an offensive rebound. Both teams showed some early game jitters as NC State led 9-6 at the midway timeout. Louisville used a quick 6-0 run to take a 12-9 lead. Louisville looked sharper in the latter half of the quarter and led 18-15 after the first quarter.
2nd Quarter:
Kianna Smith got the left hand layup to drop, giving the Cards the 20-15 lead. An 8-0 Louisville run in 3 minutes forced a Wolfpack timeout with 5:56 remaining. The Louisville defense disrupted NC State for the entire quarter, limiting the Wolfpack to just six points in the quarter. Louisville led 34-21 heading into intermission.
Halftime Stats At A Glance:
FG%: 15-38 (39.5%)
3PT%: 1-6 (16.7%)
FT%: 3-7 (42.9%)
Assists: 6
Turnovers: 3
Total Rebounds: 25-21
Leading Scorer: Olivia Cochran (11)
3rd Quarter:
Hailey Van Lith got the first 5 points for Louisville in the quarter as NC State tried to make their comeback. The Louisville defense stifled NC State for most of the quarter and the Wolfpack weren’t able to get any closer the 12 points in the quarter. Even with the fouls mounting, Louisville maintained a double-digit lead and took a 51-37 lead into the final quarter.
4th Quarter:
NC State used an 21-2 run to erase 14-point Louisville lead. Free throws by Emily Engstler stopped the bleeding and cut the Wolfpack lead to 58-53. Louisville struggled on both ends of floor in the quarter and the Wolfpack ran away with the game. Louisville suffers a 68-59 loss.
Final Stats:
FG% 25-684 (36.8%)
3PT% 2-12 (16.7%)
FT% 7-12 (58.3%)
Assists: 13
Blocks: 3
Steals: 15
Turnovers: 14
Total Rebounds: 43-41
Offensive Rebounds: 21-14
Bench Points: 4
Post Game Notes and Leaders:
Louisville no longer has the nation’s longest active winning streak and falls to 5-1 in the ACC. Louisville led and was in control for three quarters of this game and decided to have perhaps their worst defensive performance in one quarter. Louisville couldn’t find a rhythm on offense or defense in the quarter and NC State took advantage. The 3s that weren’t falling for the Wolfpack for 3 quarters, started to fall in the final quarter. Louisville was led by Olivia Cochran with 19 points and 7 rebounds. Emily Engstler had another double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds.
Next Opponent:
Louisville heads back home to face Wake Forest on Sunday, January 23rd at 2 pm in the KFC YUM! Center.
