Pregame Notes:
Good afternoon Card Nation. Louisville is coming off a heartbreaking loss to NC State on the road in Raleigh, in which the Cards were in control for a little over 3 quarters of the game and lost 68-59. The Cards however, do return home today for the first game in a three-game home stand. Olivia Cochran had a great game and Emily Engstler had herself another double-double in the loss to the Wolfpack. Louisville won the last meeting vs the Demon Deacons 65-53 in the ACC Tournament. Louisville leads the all-time series 8-0, including 3-0 at home.
Starting Lineup:
Chelsie Hall (5.7ppg, 2.1apg, 3.5rpg)
Hailey Van Lith (12ppg, 3.1rpg)
Emily Engstler (10.8ppg, 8.5rpg )
Kianna Smith (11.9ppg, 3.3rpg)
Olivia Cochran (8.3ppg, 5.5rpg)
1st Quarter:
Kianna Smith got the scoring going for the Cards as both teams had no problem scoring in the first 3 minutes of the game. Wake Forest looked sharped early and led 15-12 with 4:05 remaining in the quarter. The Cards didn’t look engaged early on as Wake Forest shot 50% from beyond the arc and the field. UofL shot 57.1% for the quarter, but trailed 22-21 after the first quarter.
2nd Quarter:
Liz Dixon got the first and second baskets for the Cards in the quarter, as Louisville was able to tie the game at 25. The Cards used a 15-4 run that led to 2 Wake Forest timeouts and allowed them to take a 36-26 lead with 5:08 remaining in the quarter. Louisville’s defense gave the Demon Deacons fits all quarter, as they held yet another team under 10 points in a quarter. Louisville led 44-26 heading into intermission.
Halftime Stats At A Glance:
FG%: 18-27 (66.7%)
3PT%: 6-9 (66.7%)
FT%: 2-2 (100%)
Assists: 13
Turnovers: 6
Total Rebounds: 17-14
Leading Scorer: Hailey Van Lith(12)
3rd Quarter:
Olivia Cochran got the first bucket of the half on a beautiful post move. The Cards defense was still very tough to score on in the quarter and even though Wake Forest scored 11 points, most of that was aided by bad officiating. Louisville was able to maintained a double-digit lead. They took a 63-37 lead into the final quarter.
4th Quarter:
Coach Walz earned himself a technical foul early in the quarter and Wake Forest was able to cut the lead to 23. The fourth quarter had very little flow to it, but Louisville was able to maintain their composure for the most part. Some reserves were able to get some valuable playing time. The Cards win 72-60.
Final Stats:
FG% 26-51 (51%)
3PT% 8-15 (53.3%)
FT% 12-14 (85.7%)
Assists: 19
Blocks: 2
Steals: 9
Turnovers: 17
Total Rebounds: 34-33
Offensive Rebounds: 9-17
Bench Points: 25
Post Game Notes and Leaders:
Louisville bounces back from the NC State loss and improves to 6-1 in the ACC and will look to get the 7th conference win when they take on FSU later this week. Outside of the first quarter, the Louisville defense dominated a good portion of this game. Louisville was led in scoring by Hailey Van Lith with 17 points. Emily Engstler added 14 points and 8 rebounds. Liz Dixon came off the bench to contribute 12 points and 5 rebounds.
Next Opponent:
Louisville will face FSU on Thursday, January 27th at 8pm in the KFC YUM! Center.
