Recap: Louisville Has No Luck Against the Irish

ESPN's Big Monday turned into a big No Fun-day for the Louisville Cardinals.

Louisville held the lead against Notre Dame for the first 6 minutes of the game, but when Notre Dame went ahead 12-13 in the first quarter Louisville would never have the lead again.  Briahanna Jackson went to the bench with back spasms and as Louisville regrouped the Irish went on a run and in a flash the Cards were down 16-32 a few minutes into the second quarter.  Myisha Hines-Allen is battling a knee injury and came in for just one minute.  Notre Dame had 0 turnovers in the half and Louisville shot 0 free throws both of which can be attributed to a lack of aggressiveness.

Although the final score was 66-85 if there's a glass half-full aspect to this game it's that the Cardinals never quit.  In fact, they won the second half 38-30 and the 3rd quarter 23-13.  If Taylor Johnson had gotten the foul call she deserved when she was mauled on a fast break layup the score could've potentially been 51-63 late in the 3rd.  But if ifs and buts were coconuts oh what a merry Christmas it would be, right?  Still, it was encouraging that the Cards withstood some setbacks and fought hard until the last minute.

Asia Durr scored 31 points and had 6 rebounds.  Mariya Moore added 18 so between the two of them they accounted for nearly 75% of Louisville's scoring.  Missing two starters certainly didn't help that statistic but the Cards will need their deep bench to contribute bigger numbers if they hope to make a deep run in the tournament. As Coach Jeff Walz said, "We've got to figure out a way to find some people to step up.  We just didn't have that tonight."

The Cards take on the Hokies of Virginia Tech in Blacksburg this Thursday at 7PM.  The game can be seen on ACCN Extra.