Dana Evans dropped 24 points on Duke last night, the Cards held the Blue Devils to a season low 49 points and the Duke squad shot 36% from the floor, including a painful 1-16 from three-point range -- as Louisville improved to 5-0 on the season.
It was opening night for ACC WBB Conference play and the Cards came out firing from the three-point stripe. Kianna Smith, who drew her first start of the season, was particularly effective -- nailing her first three attempt, all in the first quarter. The Cards also got threes from Dana Evans and Hailey Van Lith in those first 10 minutes and built a 21-12 lead, thanks to that five-for-five three point marksmanship.
The old adage of offense fills the seats but defense wins games rang true last night. The Blue Devils missed their first 12 three-pointers and finished at 6.3% for the event from trifecta-land. Louisville came out and put the defense on the previously undefeated school in Durham and quelled the shot attempts while forcing 18 turnovers and scoring 23 points off turnovers.
Duke senior center Jade Williams offered her thoughts on the Cardinal 24-point win with her post-game comments:
“I just think that Louisville was really aggressive,” Williams said. “I think they played really well. Their inside presence was also very good. I just think that next time we need to be more aggressive.”
Williams was one of the few bright sports for Kara Lawson's squad. She led Duke in scoring with 13 points and grabbed nine rebounds. She also blocked three shots. She wasn't a part of the three-point instability of the home squad -- she didn't try any -- but the 6'5" powerhouse did go 6-10 from the floor and will pose problems for a lot of her future ACC opponents.
Then -- there was Dana Evans to consider.
Dana does whatever it takes to try and get the Cards a win and last night it was scoring (again) that was job #1 for her. She played 39 minutes and hit nine of her 20 shots. She also tacked on four-for-four free throw shooting and had three steals. The trio of Cards guard (Evans, Van Lith and Kianna Smith) saw 106 of a possible 120 minutes of action, had 53 of the Cards 71 points. They were crucial (along with Kasa Robinson) when Duke came out energized after the half and trimmed the UofL lead from 13 to seven (39-32) in the first 4:28 of the third quarter.
The Cards re-grouped, recovered and responded. Smith nailed a jumper right before the media timeout. A Kasa Robinson steal lead to a Van Lith layup. A Kasa rebound created a Smith jumper that was successful. Evans added two free throw and another Van Lith jumper created a four-minute, 10-2 Cardinal run that put them back up 49-34. Kara Lawson just stared out at the court. The Cards had quelled the Duke rally and turned it into their largest lead of the night. Louisville had taken the fight out of the Blue Devils and would go on to put a 24-13 fourth quarter on them for the going-away win.
-- Kudos to "O" -- Olivia Cochran for the big 11 point, 12 rebound effort against a Duke squad that had been dominating opponents. The Cards tied the Blue Devils with 38 rebounds each and Cochran, Dixon and Robinson had 23 of them.
-- Jeff Walz was, overall, pleased with the road win and pointed out the good and the "needs improvement" as he usually does with his post-game remarks.
''I thought we continued just to play with poise,'' he said and added that the Cardinals 'must improve their half-court execution as opponents try to take away their transition game. He went on to point out "We've got to be able to make reads, We've got to be able to do the small things. And if we can continue to develop and get better at that, then offensively we're going to be pretty hard to stop.''
Some deserved compliments for the offense and their potential, granted, but let's not kid anyone here. Defense did it for Louisville last night. 36% shooting isn't going to win you many games. 1-16 three-point proficiency adds "L's" to your won-loss column. And having Dana Evans on the court isn't a bad thing at all, unless you're an opposing freshman trying to guard her.
UNC is next. 4 p.m. at the KFC YUM! Center on Sunday
--sonja--
It was opening night for ACC WBB Conference play and the Cards came out firing from the three-point stripe. Kianna Smith, who drew her first start of the season, was particularly effective -- nailing her first three attempt, all in the first quarter. The Cards also got threes from Dana Evans and Hailey Van Lith in those first 10 minutes and built a 21-12 lead, thanks to that five-for-five three point marksmanship.
The old adage of offense fills the seats but defense wins games rang true last night. The Blue Devils missed their first 12 three-pointers and finished at 6.3% for the event from trifecta-land. Louisville came out and put the defense on the previously undefeated school in Durham and quelled the shot attempts while forcing 18 turnovers and scoring 23 points off turnovers.
Duke senior center Jade Williams offered her thoughts on the Cardinal 24-point win with her post-game comments:
“I just think that Louisville was really aggressive,” Williams said. “I think they played really well. Their inside presence was also very good. I just think that next time we need to be more aggressive.”
Williams was one of the few bright sports for Kara Lawson's squad. She led Duke in scoring with 13 points and grabbed nine rebounds. She also blocked three shots. She wasn't a part of the three-point instability of the home squad -- she didn't try any -- but the 6'5" powerhouse did go 6-10 from the floor and will pose problems for a lot of her future ACC opponents.
Then -- there was Dana Evans to consider.
Dana does whatever it takes to try and get the Cards a win and last night it was scoring (again) that was job #1 for her. She played 39 minutes and hit nine of her 20 shots. She also tacked on four-for-four free throw shooting and had three steals. The trio of Cards guard (Evans, Van Lith and Kianna Smith) saw 106 of a possible 120 minutes of action, had 53 of the Cards 71 points. They were crucial (along with Kasa Robinson) when Duke came out energized after the half and trimmed the UofL lead from 13 to seven (39-32) in the first 4:28 of the third quarter.
The Cards re-grouped, recovered and responded. Smith nailed a jumper right before the media timeout. A Kasa Robinson steal lead to a Van Lith layup. A Kasa rebound created a Smith jumper that was successful. Evans added two free throw and another Van Lith jumper created a four-minute, 10-2 Cardinal run that put them back up 49-34. Kara Lawson just stared out at the court. The Cards had quelled the Duke rally and turned it into their largest lead of the night. Louisville had taken the fight out of the Blue Devils and would go on to put a 24-13 fourth quarter on them for the going-away win.
-- Kudos to "O" -- Olivia Cochran for the big 11 point, 12 rebound effort against a Duke squad that had been dominating opponents. The Cards tied the Blue Devils with 38 rebounds each and Cochran, Dixon and Robinson had 23 of them.
-- Jeff Walz was, overall, pleased with the road win and pointed out the good and the "needs improvement" as he usually does with his post-game remarks.
''I thought we continued just to play with poise,'' he said and added that the Cardinals 'must improve their half-court execution as opponents try to take away their transition game. He went on to point out "We've got to be able to make reads, We've got to be able to do the small things. And if we can continue to develop and get better at that, then offensively we're going to be pretty hard to stop.''
Some deserved compliments for the offense and their potential, granted, but let's not kid anyone here. Defense did it for Louisville last night. 36% shooting isn't going to win you many games. 1-16 three-point proficiency adds "L's" to your won-loss column. And having Dana Evans on the court isn't a bad thing at all, unless you're an opposing freshman trying to guard her.
UNC is next. 4 p.m. at the KFC YUM! Center on Sunday
--sonja--
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