LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – Home for the holidays? Forget that. The University of Louisville women’s basketball team has made itself at home on the road.
The Cardinals have logged more than 5,000 miles on the road and haven’t even broken the seal on their home schedule. Until tonight.
Fresh off an unbeaten swing through Boise, Idaho, and Las Vegas, (but don't forget the wins at WKU and Chattanooga), the No. 5-ranked Cardinals will open home play tonight at 7 p.m. against unbeaten Miami of Ohio (4-0).
It’ll be the first time the Cardinals will play in front of the home fans since reaching the Final Four last season, and their play early this season has done little to dampen their hopes of retuning.
They’re winning by an average of 17.2 points per game. Asia Durr is the No. 20 scorer in the nation at 22.2 points per game and Arica Carter ranks fifth in the nation in three-point accuracy at 61.1 percent (11 of 18).
But Louisville coach Jeff Walz came back from holiday victories over No. 19 Arizona State and Hartford enthusiastic with the production of his post players.
“I was really pleased with our post players in Vegas,” Walz said. “That was one of my big concerns going into the season, that there was going to be a lot of pressure on Sam Fuehring, Bionca Dunham and Kylee Shook, and we were going to need those three to step their games up, and they really did, especially against Arizona State, a Top 20 basketball team that really plays well in the post. So I was really excited with that.”
At the guard spots, there have been no surprises among the returning players. And that’s a good thing.
“Asia is playing at her usual high level,” Walz said. “Arica is playing extremely well. And Dana Evans, she’s just been fantastic for us. She could start for us, I’ve got six or seven that could start. But she comes in and has said, ‘I want to come off the bench.’ She’s really mature. In two games in Vegas she had 12 assists and one turnover, is scoring well, and I think they all realize now, you’re going to play 25-33 minutes a game. So does it really matter at what point you play?”
And Monday night, they’ll get to play at home. U of L will honor Walz and assistant coach Stephanie Norman before the game for reaching their 300th win at the school.
“It was a great weekend for us,” Walz said. “Now we’ve got Miami of Ohio, and they play hard. First home game after three weeks on the road, so it’ll be nice. We’re looking forward to it.”
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