Louisville withstands VT run to win 72-63

It seemed like it might be just another day at the office after Louisville amassed a 20 point lead in the third quarter against Virginia Tech. Then the Hokies held the Cards scoreless the last five minutes of said quarter and went on a 11-0 run. Heading into the fourth the lead had dwindled to 51-42 and now we had a ballgame.

Asia Durr scored 11 of the Cards’ 21 points in the fourth including clutch free throws in the final moments when the Hokies had cut the lead to 66-61. She finished the game leading all scorers with 34. Sam Fuehring had 21 points and 11 rebounds for a double-double. Dana Evans had 6 assists.

Coach Walz commented on the play of Dana Evans, “She didn’t shoot as well as she has, but what a beautiful pass to Sam as things were getting tight on that back door cut. Those are the things that sometimes people don’t see. They just look at the points scored instead of looking at what impact you had on the game.”

On the overall game Coach Walz said, “I’m thrilled to be able to get out of here with a win. I’ll take it.” He added, “The third quarter what got us in trouble is that we only scored 11 points. Defensively we held them to 17. So that’s not terrible. But offensively we were just atrocious there,”

He also talked about why he didn’t call a timeout as the Hokies made their run. “I need them to figure out things by themselves. I need them to not get emotionally caught up in what’s going on.” He added, “Sure I would’ve called a time out in the NCAA Tournament but I’m hoping once it’s gets there I’m not going to need to because they’re going to be able to control it themselves.”

Next up for the Cards is #25 Miami at the Yum Center on a Play for Kay Day [Pink Out]. Coach Walz said, “We’re going to need everybody there. I’d love to get this thing to 14 or 15,000. We’re rolling in here at 23-1. Miami is coming off a huge win at home against Notre Dame....That ball game on Sunday is huge for us.” The game is at 3PM and will be shown on ESPN2.