Pregame Notes:
Good evening Card Nation, Coach Jeff Walz and your 17th-ranked Louisville women’s team take on the 9-4 Duke Blue Devils. On paper, the two teams are as even as can be except in the 3-point field goal percentage, where Duke shoots it 7% better than the Cards. Louisville is coming off a very tough and gritty win against a talented Miami Hurricanes team. Jayda Curry led the Cards with 19 points and Nyla Harris notched her 2nd double-double of the season with 13 points and 12 rebounds in the Cards 77-72 road victory. Meanwhile, the Duke Blue Devils come in riding a 4-game winning streak and are also 1-0 in conference play. Before the game, Kiki Jefferson was recognized for scoring her 2,000 career point and Jayda Curry was recognized for scoring her 1,000 career point.
STARTING LINEUP:
Nina Richards (6.8ppg, 4.2rpg)
Sydney Taylor (9.9ppg, 2.7rpg)
Kiki Jefferson (12.3ppg, 4.4rpg)
Nyla Harris (9.9ppg, 5.6rpg)
Olivia Cochran (11.8ppg, 6.3rpg)
1ST QUARTER:
Nyla Harris gave Louisville the early lead with a free throw. Kiki Jefferson then added a wing 3-ball to give the Cards an early 4-0 lead. Duke, however, countered with a 9-3 run of their own to take a 9-7 lead midway through the quarter. Over the final 3:27, Louisville outscored Duke 14-6 to take 21-15 lead heading into the 2nd quarter.
2ND QUARTER:
Olivia Cochran’s fade away mid-range jumper gave the Cards a 23-15 lead with 7:12 remaining in the quarter. Both teams then struggled to find the bottom of the net. Duke missed their first 9 shots of the quarter and were held scoreless for over 8 minutes before a fast break layup by Mair. Duke shot 14.3% from the field and committed 9 turnovers in the quarter, as Louisville took a 35-19 lead heading into intermission.
HALFTIME STATS:
Field goal %: 15-34 (44.1%)
3pt field goal %: 2-6 (25.0%)
Free throw %: 7-10 (70.0%)
Rebounds: 21 (7 offensive)
Assists: 7
Steals: 6
Turnovers: 8
Leading Scorer: Kiki Jefferson (9)
3RD QUARTER:
Louisville came out of the half and kept up the defensive pressure. The Cards forced 5 Duke turnovers in the first 5 minutes of the quarter. Louisville didn’t hold Duke under 10 points in the quarter, but they did force 7 turnovers. They also forced Duke to take a lot of tough shots on their way to shooting 35% for the quarter. Louisville made 5 of their last 7 shots and led 54-31 heading into the final quarter of play.
4TH QUARTER:
Louisville opened up a 27-point lead early in the quarter, thanks to free throws from Jefferson, but the Cards played sloppy on both ends of the floor and went on a scoring drought that allowed Duke to cut into the lead. Louisville scored 7 points in the quarter, went 1-6 from the field (with reserves getting most of the time) and committed 7 turnovers. The Cards overcame a sloppy quarter and beat Duke 61-44.
Final Stats:
Field goal%: 21-50 (42.0%)
3pt field goal %: 2-8 (25.0%)
Free throw%: 17-21 (81.0%)
Rebounds: 33 (11 offensive)
Assists: 11
Steals: 12
Turnovers: 19
Bench Points: 16
Leading Scorer: Kiki Jefferson (15)
POSTGAME NOTES:
Louisville improves to 13-2 on the season and 2-0 in ACC play. Tonight’s win also gives the Cards their 1,000th all-time program win. The Cards were lead in scoring by Kiki Jefferson with 15. Olivia Cochran added 13 points and 6 rebounds. Louisville’s defensive pressure forced Duke into 27 turnovers. They were out-rebounded by 3 tonight as they allowed 17 offensive rebounds by Duke. The Cards hit the road for a January 11th matchup vs Pittsburgh at 6pm.
