Louisville Edges VaTech 71-67

Welcome back to the ACC! After several tune-up opponents after the Cards had to shut down due to Covid they finally got a real test from the Hokies. Both teams came out absolutely blazing in a fast-paced game. Louisville took a nice 42-33 lead into halftime, but Virginia Tech kept the pressure on. A boatload of turnovers from the Cards plus a liberal whistle from the refs (Louisville shot 7 free throws to VT’s 26) kept the other team in the game. In the end Dana Evans played like the senior star that she is. She scored two clutch baskets and then picked a pocket with 10 seconds to go to help give the Cards the win.

Dana led all scorers with 22 points. Hailey Van Lith had 15 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 steals. Olivia Cochran had 8 points and 2 blocks.

After the game Coach Walz told Nick Curran, “It was a great win for us. Any time you can get road wins you’ve got to be excited about it.... now it’s a matter of continuing to get better and better.”

He wasn’t thrilled with the 10 turnovers in the 3rd quarter. “As my grandfather would say the bakery was open and we were passing out turnovers. If you like an apple one, a cherry, whatever it might be...our bakery was definitely open there in the 3rd quarter. But I was really pleased with how we finished out the game because when they went up 3 we easily could’ve folded but we did not.”

Dana Evans said about her drives, “I knew my three wasn’t falling tonight which is fine. Then just go to the basket and put pressure on them to call a foul. Go to score. Go up strong. I knew we needed some scoring towards the end and I knew that what was my time to get to the basket and get us something easy.”

Dana praised the freshman, “The third quarter was tough. They [VT] came out ready to play and they got the best of us that third quarter but I feel like we bounced back and responded well. With this young team we know there will be some ups and downs, but I think our freshmen stepped up big. They did a great job guarding the post players.”

The Cards come back to the Yum on Sunday to face Clemson. The game is at noon on the ACC Network.