Louisville women's basketball got 17 points and 15 boards last night from Emily Engstler'and eventually pulled away from a stubborn, upset minded Pittsburgh WBB squad in Thursday night ACC action in the Peterson Event Center 66-55
It wasn't a work of art or masterpiece from the Cards, but a win is a win and the majority of college women's basketball world will glance the final score, nod and move on. What they probably won'r realize is that the Cards had their hands full of an opponent that had nothing to prove, no one in the stands to impress and is most likely a "one and done" in the upcoming ACC Tournament.
Louisville started the contest sleeping at the gate and went almost the first four minutes without a bucket . Eventually Hailey Van Lith and Engstler overcame the three Pittsburgh first quarter threes and rallied to a 19-13 first quarter lead.
Jeff Walz was playing his "five in, five out" rotation game in the first half and the Cards did get good minutes out of Liz Dixon, Kasa Robinson, Ahlana Smith and Payton Verhulst but neither squad could find the range to start the second quarter and neither made a basket in the first five minutes of the second sessions. Chelsie Hall and Van Lith spurred a run after the slow start to the second, though, and the Cards would build a 10 point lead before a late 6-1 Pitt run made it a two-possession game at the half 31-25
Louisville was getting beat on the boards but Pitt turnovers were proving beneficial to Louisville. Yes, the Cards were in the lead....but it wasn't really that Louisville was playing better that Pittsburgh, more like Pittsburgh was playing worse than the Cards.
Pittsburgh refocused and came out of the half time locker room on a 6-0 run to knot the game up at 31-31. It was still tied at 35-35. Walz shifted things up again at that point and A.Smith, Verhulst and Dixon helped UofL close the quarter on 13-6 run. The Louisville version of "good cop, bad cop" had them on top 48-41. The light in Pittsburgh's upset window was getting dimmer as the squads trudged to the final quarter, but one couldn't help thinking of fourth quarter collapses at NC State and UNC.
Louisville looked like a team that was just anxious as they could be to head to the airport and get out of the city with three rivers with a win and called upon Engstler to start the bus and provide the points. Engstler also kept her cool after an obvious blunder when she was whistled for a fourth foul by the ref crew on what looked to be a blocked shot to the rest of North America and the Canary Islands. Pittsburgh would offer one more attempt at an upset and got within six with just under two minutes to play, but Engstler and the Cards would outscore the "dwellers of the Pete" by five to close out the game and give UofL a 66-55 win.
Louisville fared poorly from the foul stripe in this one (10-19) and l I st the battle of the boards 53-41 but the Cards did get nine steals, eight blocks and held Pittsburgh to 19 baskets over the four quarters, an absolutely horrid final ten minutes for Pitt that produced 3-17 from the floor. Defense shines again for Uof....Pittsburgh never eclipsed better than 40% shooting in any quarter Three-point shooting was a major problem for the Cards, going 2-16, and free throws were another unimpressive number with just 10 makes in 19 attempts.
Let's hope a more focused and responsive UofL squad shows up Sunday in South Bend for the regular season ending game against Notre Dame. The Irish probably remember Louisville's decisive win in the KFC YUM Center a few games back and will be looking for some payback in front of their faithful Sunday at noon. That target on the back of the Cards isn't getting any smaller...
--sonja--
It wasn't a work of art or masterpiece from the Cards, but a win is a win and the majority of college women's basketball world will glance the final score, nod and move on. What they probably won'r realize is that the Cards had their hands full of an opponent that had nothing to prove, no one in the stands to impress and is most likely a "one and done" in the upcoming ACC Tournament.
Louisville started the contest sleeping at the gate and went almost the first four minutes without a bucket . Eventually Hailey Van Lith and Engstler overcame the three Pittsburgh first quarter threes and rallied to a 19-13 first quarter lead.
Jeff Walz was playing his "five in, five out" rotation game in the first half and the Cards did get good minutes out of Liz Dixon, Kasa Robinson, Ahlana Smith and Payton Verhulst but neither squad could find the range to start the second quarter and neither made a basket in the first five minutes of the second sessions. Chelsie Hall and Van Lith spurred a run after the slow start to the second, though, and the Cards would build a 10 point lead before a late 6-1 Pitt run made it a two-possession game at the half 31-25
Louisville was getting beat on the boards but Pitt turnovers were proving beneficial to Louisville. Yes, the Cards were in the lead....but it wasn't really that Louisville was playing better that Pittsburgh, more like Pittsburgh was playing worse than the Cards.
Pittsburgh refocused and came out of the half time locker room on a 6-0 run to knot the game up at 31-31. It was still tied at 35-35. Walz shifted things up again at that point and A.Smith, Verhulst and Dixon helped UofL close the quarter on 13-6 run. The Louisville version of "good cop, bad cop" had them on top 48-41. The light in Pittsburgh's upset window was getting dimmer as the squads trudged to the final quarter, but one couldn't help thinking of fourth quarter collapses at NC State and UNC.
Louisville looked like a team that was just anxious as they could be to head to the airport and get out of the city with three rivers with a win and called upon Engstler to start the bus and provide the points. Engstler also kept her cool after an obvious blunder when she was whistled for a fourth foul by the ref crew on what looked to be a blocked shot to the rest of North America and the Canary Islands. Pittsburgh would offer one more attempt at an upset and got within six with just under two minutes to play, but Engstler and the Cards would outscore the "dwellers of the Pete" by five to close out the game and give UofL a 66-55 win.
Louisville fared poorly from the foul stripe in this one (10-19) and l I st the battle of the boards 53-41 but the Cards did get nine steals, eight blocks and held Pittsburgh to 19 baskets over the four quarters, an absolutely horrid final ten minutes for Pitt that produced 3-17 from the floor. Defense shines again for Uof....Pittsburgh never eclipsed better than 40% shooting in any quarter Three-point shooting was a major problem for the Cards, going 2-16, and free throws were another unimpressive number with just 10 makes in 19 attempts.
Let's hope a more focused and responsive UofL squad shows up Sunday in South Bend for the regular season ending game against Notre Dame. The Irish probably remember Louisville's decisive win in the KFC YUM Center a few games back and will be looking for some payback in front of their faithful Sunday at noon. That target on the back of the Cards isn't getting any smaller...
--sonja--
