Pregame Notes:
Good evening Card Nation, and Season’s Greetings from your CSZ family. Tonight, the Louisville Cardinals return home after being away from the YUM Center for over three weeks to take on the Syracuse Orange. In their last meeting, the Cards squeezed the life out of the Orange on their way to a 100-64 victory. Both teams are undefeated in ACC play thus far. Congrats goes out to Chrislyn Carr, as she was awarded the ACC Player Of The Week after she averaged 13.5 ppg 8.5 rpg, and 2 apg last week. Carr had a double-double vs DePaul where she had a career high 17 rebounds.
Starters:
Chrislyn Carr
Hailey Van Lith
Morgan Jones
Olivia Cochran
Liz Dixon
1st Quarter:
Hailey got the scoring started for Louisville as they fell behind 5-0 early. Louisville answered with a 8-0 run of their own. Both teams were battling. Syracuse continued to make tough shots while the Cards were in need of a spark. Insert Nyla Harris. Harris made an immediate impact on the boards and on the defensive end and finished the quarter with 4 rebounds and 3 points. The Cards and Orange played to a 21-21 tie heading into the 2nd quarter.
2nd Quarter:
A Merissah Russell layup started a 10-3 Louisville run to begin the quarter. Louisville used that run to take a lead and never looked back. Syracuse was able to continue making tough shots, but never got within two points. Louisville was able to build their biggest lead of 8 points with HVL on the bench, as they took a 42-36 lead heading into intermission.
Halftime Stats:
Field Goal %: 18-38 (47.4%)
3PT Field Goal %: 3-9 (33.3%)
Free Throws: 3-8 (37.5%)
Total Rebounds: 27 (9 offensive)
Turnovers: 8
Leading Scorer: Hailey Van Lith (14)
3rd Quarter:
Louisville came out of the locker room on fire. They went on a 13-1 run to open up a 55-37 lead early in the quarter. The Cards kept up their fantastic pressure defense and ball movement on offense as they were able to open an 18-point lead on multiple occasions. Louisville took a 69-55 lead heading into the final quarter.
4th Quarter:
Louisville held Syracuse’s Fair in check for the first 3 quarters, but the guard continued to hunt her shots and create open looks for her teammates. The Cards continued to get some important minutes for their reserves, but Louisville needs to work on stopping their self inflicted wounds. The Cards allowed Syracuse to make this game because their turnovers and missed free throws. Louisville wins 86-77.
Final Stats:
Field Goal %: 35-67 (52.2%)
3PT Field Goal %: 7-17 (41.2%)
Free Throws: 9-18 (50%)
Total Rebounds: 47 (16 offensive)
Assists: 17
Steals: 3
Blocks: 1
Bench Points: 18
Turnovers: 18
Leading Scorer: Hailey Van Lith (24)
Post Game Notes:
The Cards improve to 11-4 on the season and 2-0 in the ACC. They were led in scoring by Hailey Van Lith with 24 points. She also tied her career high in assists with 6. Louisville was led in rebounds by freshman reserve Nyla Harris with 10. She also led all bench players with 8 points. The Cards had 4 players score in double-digits. Louisville played great defense on Fair as they held the ACC’s 3rd leading scorer to 13 points on 3-18 shooting. The win for Louisville is their 6th in a row, and they can now focus their attention on the 11-1 Duke Blue Devils.
Next Opponent:
The Cards head back on the road as they face the Duke Blue Devils on New Years Day, January 1st at noon.
