UofL WBB traveled to Durham Sunday and got their first win ever in Cameron Indoor Stadium with a 22-point, 73-51 defeat of Duke. For "A.C." comfort, letting three-dom ring, secretaries of the defense and jumping to the Jazz, let's take a trip down Tobacco Road and go to:
FIVE THINGS ABOUT THIS GAME
5) You have to put the ball in the hoop. Duke didn't do a lot of that Sunday, with just 31.4% shooting and a face-palm 2-13 from the three-point range. Take out Gorecki and Odom's combined 9-22 marksmanship and Duke shoots 7 for 29. That won't win many contests and it didn't Sunday.
4) Hopped up on Jaz. She only managed five points, all in the first half, but Jazmine Jones led Louisville with 10 rebounds and that was almost 1/3 of the Cards rebounding total. Good players find ways to help when the shot isn't falling and Jaz kept tracking down errant Blue Devil shots. Seven of those grabs on the defensive end. Her and Fuehring (7) were cleaning the glass, even though Duke had a 39-34 rebounding edge for the 40 minutes.
3) Incoming! The Cards found success from three-point land, sinking 12 in 24 attempts. We'll get to Arica's seven in a bit -- Durr added two, Evans connected on two and Lindsey Duvall drained one late. Five of them came in the pivotal fourth quarter, when Louisville stretched a 10-point lead to 25 in just five minutes.
2) Not to worry, Asia is just fine. Although she disappointed some of her way-too-overly concerned fans with just 13 points, Durr found other ways to contribute with four assists and two steals and fantastic passing. Six points in the fourth when the Cards were puling away. Maybe it's what Louisville needs now -- a chance for others to step up when defenses are zeroing in on #25. To reach the Final Four, even to beat Notre Dame Thursday, it's going to take more than just one person. Evans had a great game, so did Shook and that leads us to:
1) Is the A.C. on? Oh, yeah! Arica Carter hit her first four threes (in the space of two minutes in the first quarter) and led Duke 12-2 at one point. By herself. She finished with 23 points on 7-10 three point shooting and once again showed that the Cards are not one dimensional in their offensive attack. She chilled the Duke defense with her bombs, and when they eventually decided to guard her -- it left Asia open for 11 second-half points. Diversion. Strategy. Multiple fronts of attack. All these things were present Sunday.
There are still some people calling Louisville an "average" team (when they are sans a blockbuster Durr performance). Seriously? What's so average about a 14-0 record? Is #3 (and maybe a shot at #2) in the nation "average"? Maybe it's time some of the critics stop staring at the football blocking their vision and accept this team for what it is
And (repeat after me). What is this UofL WBB squad?
Great. Undefeated. Carrying multiple weapons. Very capable of stepping up when one or two parts of it aren't scintillating. Put that in your Satterfield flux capacitor and see what results spit out.
Onto to South Bend. There is a great and present danger waiting there. The National Champions. The Irish have been running roughshod over ACC turf so far with 56 and 21 point wins in their first two conference contests.
Walz beat them twice in 2017-18. I wouldn't count him, or the Cards, out Thursday night.
-- Sonja --
FIVE THINGS ABOUT THIS GAME
5) You have to put the ball in the hoop. Duke didn't do a lot of that Sunday, with just 31.4% shooting and a face-palm 2-13 from the three-point range. Take out Gorecki and Odom's combined 9-22 marksmanship and Duke shoots 7 for 29. That won't win many contests and it didn't Sunday.
4) Hopped up on Jaz. She only managed five points, all in the first half, but Jazmine Jones led Louisville with 10 rebounds and that was almost 1/3 of the Cards rebounding total. Good players find ways to help when the shot isn't falling and Jaz kept tracking down errant Blue Devil shots. Seven of those grabs on the defensive end. Her and Fuehring (7) were cleaning the glass, even though Duke had a 39-34 rebounding edge for the 40 minutes.
3) Incoming! The Cards found success from three-point land, sinking 12 in 24 attempts. We'll get to Arica's seven in a bit -- Durr added two, Evans connected on two and Lindsey Duvall drained one late. Five of them came in the pivotal fourth quarter, when Louisville stretched a 10-point lead to 25 in just five minutes.
2) Not to worry, Asia is just fine. Although she disappointed some of her way-too-overly concerned fans with just 13 points, Durr found other ways to contribute with four assists and two steals and fantastic passing. Six points in the fourth when the Cards were puling away. Maybe it's what Louisville needs now -- a chance for others to step up when defenses are zeroing in on #25. To reach the Final Four, even to beat Notre Dame Thursday, it's going to take more than just one person. Evans had a great game, so did Shook and that leads us to:
1) Is the A.C. on? Oh, yeah! Arica Carter hit her first four threes (in the space of two minutes in the first quarter) and led Duke 12-2 at one point. By herself. She finished with 23 points on 7-10 three point shooting and once again showed that the Cards are not one dimensional in their offensive attack. She chilled the Duke defense with her bombs, and when they eventually decided to guard her -- it left Asia open for 11 second-half points. Diversion. Strategy. Multiple fronts of attack. All these things were present Sunday.
There are still some people calling Louisville an "average" team (when they are sans a blockbuster Durr performance). Seriously? What's so average about a 14-0 record? Is #3 (and maybe a shot at #2) in the nation "average"? Maybe it's time some of the critics stop staring at the football blocking their vision and accept this team for what it is
And (repeat after me). What is this UofL WBB squad?
Great. Undefeated. Carrying multiple weapons. Very capable of stepping up when one or two parts of it aren't scintillating. Put that in your Satterfield flux capacitor and see what results spit out.
Onto to South Bend. There is a great and present danger waiting there. The National Champions. The Irish have been running roughshod over ACC turf so far with 56 and 21 point wins in their first two conference contests.
Walz beat them twice in 2017-18. I wouldn't count him, or the Cards, out Thursday night.
-- Sonja --
