Cards Handle Wake Forest 72-60

Both teams started this game hot offensively and the Cards were behind 21-22 at the end of the first quarter. Then Louisville played Louisville defense and went on a 23-1 run to end the quarter up 44-26. The final quarter was a bit of a slog. The officials started calling loads of fouls and Louisville went cold. Hopefully this is not becoming a trend.

Hailey Van Lith led the Cards in scoring with 17 to which she added 6 assists. Emily Engstler had 15 points and 8 rebounds. Liz Dixon had 10 of her 12 points in the first half and was a big part of Louisville’s second quarter run.

After the game Coach Walz said, “I thought we came out and obviously defensively we weren’t where we wanted to be in that first quarter but offensively we moved the ball well, we really shared it, we had 13 assists on 18 made field goals in the first half. It was really impressive. Defensively we got them scrambling at times and really threw them out of rhythm.”

Mykasa Robinson had 7 assists and 4 rebounds and Coach Walz praised her play. “She’s phenomenal at the defensive end of the floor. She gives us so much. She’s diving after loose balls, she’s giving us extra possessions... things you can’t coach. She changed the tempo of the game as soon as I put her in. She’s the one who allowed us to go on the run defensively. I keep challenging my team. I need to find somebody else. It can’t just be Kasa.” He added, “She’s able to make the other team’s player work a lot harder.”

Hailey Van Lith talked about Liz Dixon’s contribution: “People crash hard on us and she and Olivia [Cochran] get tough rebounds for us. Quick finishes. On our pick and rolls we’ll get a throwback right into them and they get a quick finish with an and one sometimes.” Coach Walz said, “One thing I really appreciate about her is no matter what takes place she’s coming back the next day to continue to grind and continue to get better. It was really nice to see that pay off for her. She really did a great job finishing around the rim. She was very patient.”

Norika Konno was absent from the bench and Coach Walz said that she’s “taking care of some stuff health-wise and when she’s able to hopefully she’ll rejoin us.”

Next up the Cards meet Florida State in the Yum Center. The game is Thursday at 8PM and can be seen on the ACC Network.