Louisville Defeats Syracuse 79-67

Even before the ball was tipped today you could tell this game was going to be different. The starting lineup included Mykasa Robinson, Norika Konno, and Nyla Harris. Unfortunately Syracuse jumped out to a lead and the Cards didn’t score for the first three minutes of the game. However In the second quarter Louisville turned up the pressure and made a great run before... you guessed it... Syracuse turned around and made a 19-2 run to take a lead into halftime.

With 4:30 to go in the third quarter the Cards briefly snatched that lead back. They had a seven point lead going into the final quarter and the question was could they finish? Today— yes. Instead of going cold and coughing up a lead Louisville kept their foot on the gas and increased their lead to 19 at one point.

After getting the start freshman Nyla Harris had an impressive 18 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 blocks. Chrislyn Carr came off the bench to score 14 points, dish out 8 assists, and get 5 steals. Mykasa Robinson had 12 assists, 7 rebounds, and 5 steals.

Hailey Van Lith only had 6 points and sat on the bench for much of the 4th quarter. Coach Walz said that on the season Hailey, “has played a ton of minutes. She even played 26 minutes tonight and.... the minutes can wear on you. I think this bye week is coming at a great time.” He added, “She was cheering like crazy on the bench which shows you what kind of teammate she is.”

Coach Walz praised Mykasa’s play, “What a ballgame for here. What I love about that kid is she’s willing to do whatever she has to do to win. She’s coachable the entire time. I can get on her ass when I need to. I can challenge her and she responds. She goes 1 for 1 from the field.... and impacted the game like no other. It’s a tribute to who she is as a person.”

On Nyla Harris he said that he was excited for her. “She really started to do some good things. She struggled a little in the beginning and that may have just been the lights and starting.... she competed and rebounded and just did some really, really good things.” Nyla said that before the game she told herself, “I’m not perfect. I’m going to make mistakes but just go hard and do the things that made you available.” She that she plays with a killer mindset. “I run the floor, I get rebounds, I don’t let anyone just punk me.”

With 2:39 to go in the game Morgan Jones turned her ankle and left the game, but Coach Walz said that prior to that, “Morgan played within herself. She defended.” He said that hopefully with a bye week coming up that she would be ready to play again next game.

With the bye the Cards won’t play again until Sunday, February 5 at home against North Carolina. It’s a Pink Game promotion that tips at noon and can be seen on ESPN2.