Coach Walz Gets 400th Win

Back in December Louisville beat this Boston College team by 30 points. So it may have been overconfidence or the lingering effects of the Covid hangover but the Cards came out sluggish for the start of this game. At the end of the first quarter they were down 10-20. However, Louisville finally got the engine revved and went on a 22-5 run in the second quarter with most of the starters on the bench. Still, in the second half Boston College refused to quit and cut the lead to 41-37 in the third quarter. Louisville withstood their run and held strong to gut out the 63-53 win.

Once again Kianna Smith and Hailey Van Lith stepped up to lead the team in scoring with 18 and 16 respectively. Emily Engstler had a low scoring game but contributed 7 rebounds and 6 steals.

After the game Coach Walz said, “Today we figured out a way to win. It was a terrible first quarter. Our second quarter I thought defensively we were outstanding.” He said in the second quarter, “We decided to play harder. We decided to defend. We really weren’t doing anything in the first quarter. We allowed them to do what they wanted.”

He said, “We are a really good basketball team but we’re not great like ‘hey I’m going to take this game over.’ We’re a really good TEAM. All it takes is one person to have a breakdown on one possession and we get exposed.” He added, “I really appreciate all of them. They’re great kids but we have some work to do before Thursday night.”

The Cards now look forward to a huge matchup against #4 NC State on Thursday at home. The game is at 7:30 on ESPN.