Louisville finally conquers UConn 78-69

If you’re a fan of Louisville women’s basketball then you’ve watched the UConn Huskies easily beat the Cards 17 straight times. Seven-teen. Sometimes you’ve watched it happen four times in a single season. Even last year it seemed like the gap had narrowed and we had one of our best teams ever but still we went up to Storrs and blinked in the first quarter. Deep down you knew one day it would happen but it also felt like jeez is it EVER gonna happen??

Well the wait. is. over.

Louisville finished the first quarter tied 21-21 without Asia Durr scoring a single point. In the second quarter she caught fire scoring 14 of her 24 points. Louisville took a slight 40-38 edge into halftime. But the Cards have outscored UConn in quarters in the past. As we headed into the second half there was a lot of excitement and nervous energy in the arena to see if the Cards could finally put the complete game together.

Not only did the Cards hang with the Huskies in the second half—they outplayed them. They held UConn to under 40% shooting. They even out rebounded them 21-18 for the half and 46-40 for the game. They made 12 of their 18 free throws in the last five minutes to keep the game out of reach. In the end they slayed the dragon and came away with an historic victory over the #2 team in the nation.

Dana Evans stepped in during the first half when Arica Carter got in foul trouble and finished the game with 20 points, 4 assists, and 3 rebounds. Asia Durr benefited from her rest against Pitt and played all 40 minutes. Jazmine Jones kept her fouls in check and stayed on the floor 32 minutes and had 13 points, 12 rebounds, and 4 assists.

On Asia’s scoreless first quarter Coach Walz said, “The whole key to it was she was scoreless in the first quarter and it’s 21-21 so that speaks volumes for everyone on this team...it didn’t affect us.” He went on to say, “I was really proud of how we defended. We gave up 11 second chance points in the first half and did not give them another second chance point the rest of the game. And that’s what we’ve got to do.”

UConn had 0 fast break points. Coach Walz said, “We did a really good job. I thought we did a good job making sure they didn’t get out on transition. We had a break down or two but they missed a few cutters. That’s happens. That’s part of this game. There’s a little luck involved.”

Louisville set the record for attendance in all of women’s basketball this season with 17,023. Coach Walz said, “There’s no question the crowd was fantastic. They brought a ton of energy. They gave us a lift at times.” He added, “We’ve battled for many years and we were 0 in 17....so it’s a great win and I’m really proud of the team and the players and everyone who’s been a part of this program.”

Next up the Cards travel to Clemson on Saturday. The game is at 2PM.