LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — This is what a down season looks like for coach Jeff Walz and the University Louisville women’s basketball program:
*A mere 21 victories, including a dozen in the grind of the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Cards celebrated No. 21 Thursday night by dispatching Miami, 71-57, at the KFC Yum! Center.
*A clear path to a double-bye in the ACC Tournament next week in Greensboro, N.C., a double-bye the Cards can secure by winning their Senior Day home game against Notre Dame at noon Sunday or if Florida State loses at Clemson at 2 p.m.
*The annual trip to the NCAA Tournament, with the Cards currently projected as a No. 7 seed by Charlie Creme of ESPN.com.
*The standard dazzling performances by Hailey Van Lith and Mykasa Robinson, who are playing with the fearlessness and confidence of guards who win in March.
Van Lith dropped 25 on the Hurricanes (her fifth game of 25 or more points this season), making four of nine shots from distance.
Robinson threatened a triple-double, creating advantages with her high-octane energy while scoring 12 points with 9 rebounds and 7 assists.
Van Lith argued forcefully that Robinson deserves to be named the ACC's defensive player of the year.
"Mykasa played fanstastic," Walz said. "The heart that kid plays with. The mentality she plays with. All of it. It's unbelievable."
But … the narrative around the Cards sometimes get snagged by their unusual absence from the AP Top 25 as well as the reality that for the first non-COVID NCAA Tournament since 2016, Louisville will not be one of the 16 host programs on the opening weekend.
What’s going on here?
“It hasn’t been the best year but the ACC is tough,” Van Lith said. “Like, I just hope everybody knows that.
“It’s the hardest conference in the nation. It’s the best it’s ever been since I’ve been playing here. Like, it is tough.
“You’ve got to bring your A game, every game. I think that’s something that people miss.
“They look at our record, like, ‘They’re having a down year.’ But we really are just playing a lot of good teams.”
The record shows this: Five of the Cards’ nine losses were to teams ranked in the top 19 of the current AP poll. Three others were to teams that received votes on Monday, headlined by Middle Tennessee State, which is No. 26.
The only total head scratcher in the group was Louisville’s 68-57 loss at Wake Forest on Jan. 26.
After that game Walz changed his starting lineup, opening with Van Lith, Robinson, Olivia Cochran, Nyla Harris and Norika Konno.
They beat Syracuse on the road and followed that with a victory over North Carolina, which is currently ranked 22nd. Wins over Virginia and Clemson preceded a controversial 78-76 overtime loss at Notre Dame (No. 10 this week).
Louisville will host the Irish Sunday, riding the good vibes of double-figure victories Boston College and Miami — and the Hurricanes are currently projected as an NCAA Tournament team by ESPN.
I asked Walz if he has talked to his players about the difficulty of the schedule. He was ready for that question.
“Not everybody thinks it was a tough start to the season,” Walz said.
“But yes we have. And I knew going into it what was in front of us … but if you really don’t know women’s basketball, it’s like, ‘I can’t really believe you got beat by those teams (like Gonzaga, South Dakota State or MTSU)
“Hey, they’re great teams And they have been for years.”
So have the Cardinals. There were a string of intriguing developments for Walz’s team against Miami.
Louisville made only 13 turnovers, while forcing 21. That led to a 22-7 advantage on points off turnovers. Louisville has averaged making nearly 16 turnovers per game this season and 13 were the fewest the Cardinals have committed in their last eight games.
Louisville also worked the Hurricanes for 15 offensive rebounds, including seven by Liz Dixon. That tied the most offensive rebounds by any U of L player this season.
They washed away a 24-19 Miami lead in the second quarter by outscoring the Hurricanes 17-3 over the final 6 and a half minutes.
At halftime, Walz told his team that the most important stretch of the game would be the opening minutes of the third quarter. His players responded, scoring the first two baskets. Miami never got closer than 7 the rest of the game — and this is a Miami program that had won twice in this building.
But not Thursday night. Now Louisville gets Notre Dame, its primary ACC rival, before the Cardinals reset for a big finish.
“We’ve still got room to grow,” Walz said “We’ve just got to get better in areas because I think we could be a team you might not want to play in March — if we can put it all together.”
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