Louisville Fends Off Wake Forest 75-61

The final score might lead one to believe that the Cards won comfortably this afternoon, but it would be misleading. It was a fast-paced game of runs and every time it seemed like Louisville might be in control the momentum would swing back to the Demon Deacons. In the first minute of the 3rd quarter Louisville jumped out to a 42-23 lead, but Wake didn’t go away and in what seemed like the blink of an eye that lead was cut to 49-42. However, before the quarter was over the lead was again double digits. The Cards maintained that double-digit lead until the end of the game, but Wake made them work for it until the final seconds ticked off the clock.

Dana Evans led all scorers with 20 points to which she added 9 assists and 3 steals. Jazmine Jones finished with 18 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists. Kylee Shook had 12 points, 8 rebounds, and 2 blocks.

After the game Coach Walz said, “We came out the third quarter and scored the first four points and were really ready to put them away and then just got sloppy. We got absolutely killed on the boards [a 42-32 advantage for Wake for the game] especially there in the second half where they just kept pounding us for second chances opportunities.” However, he was “very impressed with our basketball IQ to end the half....We tried to get a two for one and ended up getting a three for none. It was a 6-0 run there in 41 seconds.”

Dana Evans said, “They’re a really good team. They came out ready to play. We played good in the first half. I think the second half we need to clean some things up as in rebounding and help side defense, but I think they did a really good job of mixing things up and trying to keep us out of the paint.”

Jazmine Jones’s athleticism was on full display all afternoon on both ends of the court. When asked about a steal and finish in the first quarter (see clip above) she laughed and said, “[Coach Sam] Purcell always says when we have a steal or a rebound and it’s going out of bounds just grab it. So I was thinking just grab the ball and find the closest person to you. Bionca was right there and she got it back to me, and then I took it down the court and nobody stopped the ball so I just went in for a layup.”

Both teams were pressing and Coach Walz said the decision to use it was “game by game.” He added, “Against Miami on Thursday if we had tried that they would’ve shot 100 layups....For us it’s more of a who are we playing, what’s their personnel, what do we think our advantage is, and then trying to make sure we take advantage of it.”

Yacine Diop once again came off the bench to play quality minutes. Coach Walz said, “She constantly moves. She is one player I never have to tell to move without the ball. She likes to score. If you continue to move there’s an opportunity that you’re going to get the ball.” He added, “She had 5 boards in 19 minutes and goes 3 of 5 from the field—she’s playing really, really well.”

The Cards travel to Massachusetts to meet Boston College on Thursday, January 16th at 7PM. The game can be seen online on ACC Network Extra.