Pregame Notes:
Good afternoon Card Nation, today the University of Louisville will take on the 7-8 Pittsburgh Panthers, who are 0-4 in ACC play. The Cards are coming off a bounce back, much needed 63-55 win over Georgia Tech. Previously, they had lost 56-63 to Duke in Cameron Indoor last Sunday. The Cards were led by Hailey Van Lith with 24 points, 4 boards, and 4 assists. Olivia Cochran had 10 points and 6 rebounds. No other Louisville player scored more than 8 points. The Cards only attempted 7 shots behind the arc and only connected on one of them. Pittsburgh is searching for their first conference win and if the Cards aren’t careful, it might be today. Louisville leads the all-time series 24-2 vs the Pittsburgh Panthers.
Starters:
Chrislyn Carr
Hailey Van Lith
Morgan Jones
Olivia Cochran
Liz Dixon
1st Quarter:
A 3-ball by Hailey put the Cards on the board first. Both teams struggled to get anything going offensively for the first 5 minutes of the quarter. Louisville shot 25% on 4-16 in the quarter and really struggled to get any quality looks when the Panthers switched to a zone midway through the quarter. Louisville trailed 12-18 heading into the 2nd quarter.
2nd Quarter:
The Cards offense look lamented for most of the quarter, as Pittsburgh opened up a 12-point lead (14-26). Louisville continued to struggle to get any open looks and commit careless turnovers against the Panthers zone. Louisville was eventually able to string together a few stops and hit a couple 3s to cut the lead down to six before halftime. The Cards trailed the Panthers 26-32 heading into intermission.
Halftime Stats:
Field Goal %: 7-28 (25.0%)
3PT Field Goal %: 4-11 (36.4%)
Free Throws: 8-11 (72.7%)
Total Rebounds: 18 (7 offensive)
Turnovers: 10
Leading Scorer: Chrislyn Carr (7)
3rd Quarter:
Louisville came out of the locker room and showed a ton of fight. First by Olivia Cochran with 4 quick points and followed by 2 consecutive corner 3s by HVL to tie the game at 38. Two Morgan Jones free throws gave the Cards their first lead since 10-9. The Cards offense came alive as they battled all the way back to take a 5-point lead (53-48). A Pittsburgh free throw cut the lead to 4 (53-49) heading into the final quarter.
4th Quarter:
Louisville struggled to put the game away early in the quarter because of bad shots and not rebounding defensively. The Panthers came all the way back to take a 4-point lead, but Louisville battled back to take a brief lead. The Cards got big baskets from Konno, Cochran, and Carr to help give them a 71-69 lead with 48.1 seconds remaining. A huge deflection by Robinson that led to a 3-point play. Louisville wins 76-69.
Final Stats:
Field Goal %: 25-64 (39.1%)
3PT Field Goal %: 13-27 (48.1%)
Free Throws: 13-17 (76.5%)
Total Rebounds: 35 (14 offensive)
Assists: 19
Steals: 9
Blocks: 5
Bench Points: 21
Turnovers: 11
Leading Scorer: Hailey Van Lith (18)
Post Game Notes:
The Cards improved to 13-5 and 4-1 in ACC play. Louisville were pushed to the limit today and had to fight with everything they had to come away with a victory. Louisville was led in scoring by Hailey Van Lith with 18 points. She also added 7 assists and 2 blocks. Olivia Cochran had a big impact in the 2nd half, as she finished with 8 points and 9 rebounds. Louisville got a significant and much needed contribution from their bench today. The bench scored 21 points, collected 11 rebounds, and had 5 assists. Louisville had a season high 13 3-point field goals and needed every one of them. Konno shot 3-4 from beyond the arc and Carr shot 5-10. Louisville took really great care of the basketball in the second and need to continue to value the ball moving forward.
Next Opponent:
The Cards head back on the road, as they face the Virginia Tech Hokies on January 12th at 7 pm.
