Louisville Falls to Notre Dame 68-65

After a teary Senior Day ceremony the Cards came out and played a great first half and went into halftime with a 33-24 lead. Unfortunately when they came out in the second half they couldn’t seem to readjust to the changes Notre Dame made to compensate for the loss of star Olivia Miles near the end of the first half. The Louisville offense seemed to screech to a halt when faced with the zone. In the final quarter the Irish seemed to find their mojo and midway through the quarter they stole the lead from the Cards and never relinquished it again.

Coach Walz said, “The zone was creating some problems but we had some shots. You have to be aggressive. You have to be willing to attack and we just didn’t. We were very passive when we got the ball and we didn’t look to score early

Hailey Van Lith led Louisville in scoring with 23 points to which she added 7 rebounds and 3 assists. Merissah Russell came off the bench to give the Cards a lift. She had 12 points and 2 rebounds. Mykasa Robinson had 6 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 steals in her final home game in a Cardinal uniform.

Coach Walz praised the play of several players. “I thought Hailey played a really good basketball game. I thought she competed and played her ass off. Kas did as well.... I’d like to see her take more than 4 shots to be honest... but she’s always looking to get other’s shots.” On Merissah he said, “I thought she shot the ball well. She had a great look there when we were down 3 with a 1:40 to go that went in and out. But overall I’ve been really pleased with the progress she has been making.... She works extremely hard. She works extra. She’s dedicated to it. She’s watching what she’s eating. She’s doing everything she can. I’m proud of her because I think she’s seeing the success.”

Coach Walz said, “Another really good basketball game. Unfortunately our 4th quarter offensively was not what we needed it to be, but I can’t fault our effort. I thought our kids competed. I thought they played hard and they gave it everything they had... but yeah it sucks to lose on Senior Day especially with a group of kids that are pretty special.”

Fortunately for Louisville the Tigers of Clemson did them a solid and beat Florida State which gave the Cards the double-bye in the ACC Tournament. Louisville will play Friday March 3rd at 11AM on the ACC Network.