Pregame Notes:
Good evening, Card Nation. Tonight, the Louisville women’s basketball team takes on the Morehead State Eagles. The Eagles are coming in 1-2 on the young season, with their lone win coming against a future Louisville opponent in the Bellarmine Knights. Meanwhile, the Cards are coming in winners of their last 3 games, after suffering a season opening loss to UConn. This is the Cards final tune-up game before facing rival uk at home November 22nd in the YUM Center.
STARTING LINEUP:
Tajianna Roberts: (14.3ppg, 2.5apg)
Reyna Scott: (9.8ppg, 4rpg)
Mackenly Randoplh: (6.8ppg, 5.5rpg)
Laura Ziegler: (14.3ppg, 11.3rpg)
Elif Instanbulluoglu: (6.5ppg, 4.3rpg)
1ST QUARTER:
Instanbulluoglu hit a corner 3 to give the Cards the early 3-0 lead. The Eagles then rattled off 5 consecutive points to take their only lead of the game (5-3). The Cards shot an incredible 70.6% from the field, including 2 3-pointers from Instanbulluoglu (it was 75% before a last second heave by Scott). The Cards ended the period on a 10-0 run to take a 29-10 lead into the second quarter.
2ND QUARTER:
Just as she did in the 1st, Instanbulluoglu got the scoring started for the Cards in the quarter. Scoring by either team was extremely difficult to come by. I would credit the defense by both teams, but players were just missing good shots or passing up good shots. Both teams were a combined 2-14 at one point in the quarter. Reagan Bender hit a 3 to end the half, and the Cards led the Eagles 50-22 heading into intermission.
HALFTIME STATS:
Field goal %: 18-30 (60.0%)
3pt field goal %: 5-10 (50.0%)
Free throw %: 9-10 (90.0%)
Rebounds: 19 (3 offensive)
Assists: 11
Steals: 6
Turnovers: 5
Leading Scorer: Elif Instanbulluoglu (11)
3RD QUARTER:
For the second consecutive home game, Coach Walz kept the team in the locker room a lot longer than usual. The Cards didn’t come back on the floor until 1:40 left in the break. Berry got the start over Randolph coming out of intermission. Reyna Scott hit a the 3-ball to put the Cards on the board first. Louisville came out of the locker room on fire from beyond the arc. The Cards quickly ballooned their halftime lead to 45 with the reserves in the game. Anaya Hardy finished the quarter with 6 points and 5 rebounds in 6 minutes. Louisville more than doubled the Eagles by the end of the quarter as they took a 85-39 lead into the final quarter of intermission.
4TH QUARTER:
The only thing Louisville didn’t do well all game was shoot the 3-ball, and it showed in the fourth quarter. Louisville went 1-8 in the quarter. The Cards struggled from the field as a whole in the quarter, but the defense and the attention to detail never wavered. Although the Cards only scored 11 points in the quarter, they won the quarter by 1 point because Morehead State was only able to score 10 points on the Cardinals defense. Louisville flew away from Morehead State 96-49.
Final Stats:
Field goal%: 33-61 (51.4%)
3pt field goal %: 10-26 (38.5%)
Free throw%: 20-23 (87.0%)
Rebounds: 42 (12 offensive)
Assists: 22
Steals: 10
Turnovers: 11
Bench Points: 44
Leading Scorer: Laura Ziegler, Reagan Bender, Imari Berry & Taj Roberts (13)
POSTGAME NOTES:
Louisville improved to 4-1 on the season. They had 7 players score in double figures. Laura Ziegler led a very balance UofL offense tonight, as four players scored 13 points. Next up for Louisville will be the in-state rival cats. Louisville lost to the cats in overtime last year in Lexington to first year head coach Kenny Brooks. Louisville got their work done early, which allowed reserves to get a lot of playing time and gain valuable in-game experience. Anaya Hardy registered her first double-double with the Cards with 12 points and 13 rebounds. Reagan Bender finished the game with 13 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 assists in 21 minutes.
