Dana Evans.
The Louisville women's basketball team survived a third-quarter I'd like to forget and got a spectacular end-of-game effort from the Gary, IN senior last night -- as the Cards got their first ACC road win of the 2020-21 season 71-67 at Blacksburg Thursday night.
Louisville squandered a 16-point second quarter lead, found themselves down by two with 2:26 to go, after an Aisha Sheppard three ball -- but turned to the pre-season MVP of the ACC and she delivered. Sheppard's three would be the final VT points of the contest. Louisville, on the other hand, got a big rebound from Evans with 1:40 to go, a jumper that tied it from her with 1:06 on the clock and a go-ahead jumper from the driving Evans with .23 seconds remaining to take a 69-67 lead.
Then, the steal.
Hokies had possession and were holding for the last shot. Freshman guard Georgia Ammore was being guarded by Evans. Dana just took the ball away, drove around the court to kill the clock and was eventually fouled with five ticks left on the clock.
Jeff Walz had wanted a foul in that sequence. VT was not in the bonus yet. Dana saw it differently and went for the possession.
VT had to foul after finally chasing down the elusive Evans.. they chose to send Hailey Van Lith to the line and the calm, cool freshman from Wenatachee, WA stepped to the line, tossed both attempts through the hoop and secured the road win.
Pretty game? No, it wasn't at times. Sometimes wins are the road aren't. That's the ACC -- each night, each conference game the Cards will go out with a target on their back and get the best from whoever suits up against them. Elizabeth Kitley is the best post the Cards have faced this year. Aisha Sheppard is a "can't miss" WNBA prospect if she decides to go at the end of the season.....but the key thing here is that the Cards weathered their own mistakes, a spirited VT rally and refused to lose.
The three-point shooting lapsed back into futility -- just 5-17 (29%) for Louisville -- except for Norika Konno's commendable 2-3 long range bombing, The Cards finally and wisely realized that this win would need to come from defense and drives. VT was 0-4 from the floor in the final 2:26 and and had three turnovers
Defense. It's what wins games.
Points in the paint are also huge in securing wins. The Cards won that battle against Kitley and her crew 42-28 -- getting 14 points on six for 10 shooting from Liz Dixon and Olivia Cochran.
The Cards could have folded to a Virginia Tech WBB squad that was trying to end a two-game losing streak. Despite a few bumps, bone-headed plays and bad decisions, they did not fall. Yes, Louisville WBB needs to continue to improve, and I'm pretty sure Jeff Walz will find a wealth of teaching opportunities when he and the staff break down this game film. Consider, though, that Louisville got this win with only two of the players (Evans and Robinson) ever being pushed to the brink in Cardinal uniforms. They got the win with three freshmen, four transfers, a previously untested reserve in Konno and, in crunch time, the Cards still won. On the road. Despite VT winning the second-chance points, points off turnovers and rebounding categories.
Jeff Walz warned us earlier this week that he expected a tough game from Kenny Brooks Gobblers and Walz was right. If anything, this win will help continue to gel this team. And it shows that experience is the best teacher of all. Experiencing rough stretches and leaning on experience in crunch time. If Dana decides to get a tattoo sometime down the road, "refuse to lose" would be a fine one to display.
With Evans, you always have a chance and you are never out of any situation. And, her heir apparent (Van Lith) is learning, performing, producing and, most importantly -- absorbing -- what it takes to be "that girl".
--sonja--
The Louisville women's basketball team survived a third-quarter I'd like to forget and got a spectacular end-of-game effort from the Gary, IN senior last night -- as the Cards got their first ACC road win of the 2020-21 season 71-67 at Blacksburg Thursday night.
Louisville squandered a 16-point second quarter lead, found themselves down by two with 2:26 to go, after an Aisha Sheppard three ball -- but turned to the pre-season MVP of the ACC and she delivered. Sheppard's three would be the final VT points of the contest. Louisville, on the other hand, got a big rebound from Evans with 1:40 to go, a jumper that tied it from her with 1:06 on the clock and a go-ahead jumper from the driving Evans with .23 seconds remaining to take a 69-67 lead.
Then, the steal.
Hokies had possession and were holding for the last shot. Freshman guard Georgia Ammore was being guarded by Evans. Dana just took the ball away, drove around the court to kill the clock and was eventually fouled with five ticks left on the clock.
Jeff Walz had wanted a foul in that sequence. VT was not in the bonus yet. Dana saw it differently and went for the possession.
VT had to foul after finally chasing down the elusive Evans.. they chose to send Hailey Van Lith to the line and the calm, cool freshman from Wenatachee, WA stepped to the line, tossed both attempts through the hoop and secured the road win.
Pretty game? No, it wasn't at times. Sometimes wins are the road aren't. That's the ACC -- each night, each conference game the Cards will go out with a target on their back and get the best from whoever suits up against them. Elizabeth Kitley is the best post the Cards have faced this year. Aisha Sheppard is a "can't miss" WNBA prospect if she decides to go at the end of the season.....but the key thing here is that the Cards weathered their own mistakes, a spirited VT rally and refused to lose.
The three-point shooting lapsed back into futility -- just 5-17 (29%) for Louisville -- except for Norika Konno's commendable 2-3 long range bombing, The Cards finally and wisely realized that this win would need to come from defense and drives. VT was 0-4 from the floor in the final 2:26 and and had three turnovers
Defense. It's what wins games.
Points in the paint are also huge in securing wins. The Cards won that battle against Kitley and her crew 42-28 -- getting 14 points on six for 10 shooting from Liz Dixon and Olivia Cochran.
The Cards could have folded to a Virginia Tech WBB squad that was trying to end a two-game losing streak. Despite a few bumps, bone-headed plays and bad decisions, they did not fall. Yes, Louisville WBB needs to continue to improve, and I'm pretty sure Jeff Walz will find a wealth of teaching opportunities when he and the staff break down this game film. Consider, though, that Louisville got this win with only two of the players (Evans and Robinson) ever being pushed to the brink in Cardinal uniforms. They got the win with three freshmen, four transfers, a previously untested reserve in Konno and, in crunch time, the Cards still won. On the road. Despite VT winning the second-chance points, points off turnovers and rebounding categories.
Jeff Walz warned us earlier this week that he expected a tough game from Kenny Brooks Gobblers and Walz was right. If anything, this win will help continue to gel this team. And it shows that experience is the best teacher of all. Experiencing rough stretches and leaning on experience in crunch time. If Dana decides to get a tattoo sometime down the road, "refuse to lose" would be a fine one to display.
With Evans, you always have a chance and you are never out of any situation. And, her heir apparent (Van Lith) is learning, performing, producing and, most importantly -- absorbing -- what it takes to be "that girl".
--sonja--
