Pregame Notes:
Good afternoon, Card Nation. The Cards are coming off an impressive 91-58 victory over the SMU Mustangs on New Year’s Day. Tajianna Roberts led Louisville in scoring with 15 points. Louisville is currently 3-0 in the ACC, and look to remain undefeated after today’s matchup against the Virginia Tech Hookies. Last year the Cards suffered a tough loss to the Hookies in Blacksburg, 65-70, on a night where Virginia Tech honored Liz Kitley. Virginia Tech is coming into today’s game 11-4, including 1-2 in ACC play. The Hokies are led in scoring by Carys Baker and Carleigh Wenzel (13.7 & 13 ppg respectively).
STARTING LINEUP:
Tajianna Roberts: (13.4ppg, 2.9apg)
Mackenly Randoplh: (6.8ppg, 4.4rpg)
Anaya Hardy: (5.8ppg, 5.7rpg)
Laura Ziegler: (11.3ppg, 7.3rpg)
Elif Instanbulluoglu: (8.9ppg, 5.3rpg)
1ST QUARTER:
Anaya Hardy with a layup off a beautiful feed from Laura Ziegler, but failed to convert the and-1. The Cards forced 4 turnovers in the quarter, but committed 6 of their own. Sophomore guard Imani Berry came in and was an instant impact for the Cards with 6 points, 2 rebounds, and 2 assists. Louisville held Virginia Tech to 29.4% from the field and 0-5 from beyond the arc, en route to a 19-12 lead heading into the second quarter.
2ND QUARTER:
The defense from Louisville frustrated Virginia Tech early in the quarter. Virginia Tech wasn’t able to string any consecutive baskets off of the few stops they got in the quarter. Louisville forced 6 turnovers and allowed the Hokies to shoot 40% from the field. Louisville’s bench outscored the Hokies bench 17-6 in the half, and Berry with her 11 points outscored the entire Virginia Tech bench. The depth of the Cards helped them to methodically stretch their lead from 7 in the beginning of the quarter to the 44-27 at the half.
HALFTIME STATS:
Field goal %: 18-34 (52.9%)
3pt field goal %: 5-9 (55.6%)
Free throw %: 3-4 (75.0%)
Rebounds: 20 (7 offensive)
Assists: 13
Steals: 3
Turnovers: 8
Leading Scorer: Laura Ziegler (12)
3RD QUARTER:
Louisville came out of the locker room energized and focused on the boards. In the first 90 seconds, the Cards had 4 offensive rebounds, as the lead ballooned to 21 points. The defense was stellar for the Cards in the quarter. Virginia Tech had 10 shot attempts compared to 6 turnovers in the quarter. Last quarter, Louisville systematically build their lead, and they continued the same work in the 3rd quarter. Louisville used multiple mini-runs to increase their lead to as large as 31, before taking a 70-42 lead into the final quarter of regulation.
4TH QUARTER:
Louisville got off to a good start to the quarter, then it got sloppy with 3 consecutive turnovers that allowed Virgina Tech to get out in transition. With the game completely out of reach, Louisville had 6 turnovers in the quarter and shot 40.7% from the field. The Cards did force 4 turnovers, but allowed the Hokies to shoot over 47& from the field. Louisville runs away from Virginia Tech 85-60.
Final Stats:
Field goal%: 34-72 (47.2%)
3pt field goal %: 11-17 (57.9%)
Free throw%: 6-7 (85.7%)
Rebounds: 41 (19 offensive)
Assists: 23
Steals: 11
Turnovers: 15
Bench Points: 30
Leading Scorer: Laura Ziegler (15)
POSTGAME NOTES:
Coach Jeff Walz picked up win no. 500 in his 19th season at UofL. He is the first UofL women’s coach to reach that mark. Louisville moves to 14-3 and 4-0 in ACC play. Laura Ziegler led all scorers with 18 points. Randolph had 11 points, and Berry added 13 points off the bench to round out all the Cards that scored in double figures. Louisville had 3 other players that were just a basket away from joining the club (Hardy, Taj, and Elif). This was just another well-balanced offensive attack from Louisville. Once again, Louisville got great contributions from their bench, including a 3-ball from Grace Mbugua. Virginia Tech was held without a 3-pt field goal for the first time in what feels like forever. Meanwhile, Louisville shot just a tick under 58%. Next up for the Cards is a game vs Miami in Coral Gables, FL. The game will be Thursday at 3 pm. It was moved up so that it doesn’t interfere with the College Football Playoffs.
