Louisville Defeats Cincinnati 87-68

Louisville women’s basketball started off a brand new season tonight but not before celebrating the past. Before the ball was tipped the banner honoring the Final Four run from last season was unveiled. Coach Walz said that he told his team in the locker room, “Make sure you enjoy the moment because it was a lot of work. It’s not easy to get there. It’s a big deal. To have four of them up there right now I think it speaks volumes for what we’ve been able to do here.” He added, “We’re going to strive to put more up there and hopefully put one up there that says national champion on it.”

Tonight began that quest. Along with some seasoned veterans the Cards added former Florida State center, Morgan Jones. You may remember that name from her 26 point/10 rebound performance as she led the Seminoles to a victory in the Yum Center last season. She came out of the gate strong as a Cardinal to score 13 of her 14 points in the first half. Morgan said her first game was amazing. “We’ve been practicing so hard and this is what we look forward to. We have a long way to go but it was a great start.” As Mykasa Robinson said, “She sure does look good in red and white. Can I get an amen?” Amen!

Hailey Van Lith finished the game with 28 points including a couple of clutch shots when Cincinnati cut a 20 point halftime lead down to 8. Coach Walz said, “The first four possessions of the second half I don’t think we got one decent shot.... it was ugly basketball.” However he added that it was something that his team can learn from.

Olivia Cochran and Liz Dixon both started and seemed comfortable playing on the court together. Liz finished the game with 12 points and 6 rebounds. Olivia led the team in rebounding with 8. Peyton Verhulst came off the bench to score 9 points.

Next up the Cards take on IUPUI on November 10th in the Yum Center at 7PM. It is a Thanksgiving food drive so if you can bring a canned good. The game can be seen on ACC Network Extra.