BOZICH | Louisville turns Duke upside down for program's 1,000th win, 61-44 | Sports

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — Stanford is a team that expects to make the NCAA women’s Final Four this season.

Stanford has Cameron Brink, a first-team all-American. Stanford is coached by Tara VanDerveer, whose plaque went up in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame more than a dozen years ago.

In women’s hoops, Stanford is a brand, ranked No. 8 in the latest Associated Press poll.

And in mid-November, Duke traveled to Stanford and took the Cardinal into overtime before losing by 3 points.

Measure that against the score that flashed in the KFC Yum! Center Thursday night:

Louisville 61, Duke 44.

Not a bad way for the program to celebrate its 1,000th victory by forcing the Blue Devils into 1,000 turnovers. (OK, only 27 that seemed like 1,000.) The No. 17 Cards improved to 13-2, 2-0 in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

“Regardless of who they beat or who they lose to, we’re just doing us,” UofL guard Sydney Taylor said when asked about the comparative scores.

Trust me, it wasn’t that close. There were stretches of the game when it looked like Duke was playing four against seven. On defense, the Cards had hands and feet moving in every direction. The Cards led by 27 when coach Jeff Walz turned it over to his reserves.

Before she took charge of the Duke program 3 1/2 seasons ago, Blue Devils’ coach Kara Lawson analyzed women’s basketball at ESPN. She’s seen many of the best teams Walz has assembled at Louisville. I asked her what impressed her about this Cardinals team.

“I think their physicality and their experience for us was a challenge,” Lawson said. “They’ve got very seasoned players … so I think the biggest difference was probably their physicality and competitiveness.”

How do you create competitiveness? Of course you have to do it in practice, but Walz also did it in the game.

The opening tip was tossed poorly. Neither center controlled it. The ball bounced and bounced and bounced on the floor. Walz was not ecstatic about that.

“Not one player on our team is on the floor diving for the ball,” Walz said. “I’m like, ‘Whoa. That’s a great way to start.’"

“That’s urgency. That’s what I’ve got to get them to understand. We all look at each other. Should I get it? Somebody dive after the ball!”

Message delivered.

The Blue Devils failed to score for the first 8 1/2 minutes of the second quarter. Duke averages 17 turnovers per game. The Cards pushed the Blue Devils past that total early in the third quarter.

Duke finished with more turnovers (27) than field goals (19). Twice the Blue Devils burned all 30 seconds of the shot clock without managing a field goal attempt. Duke failed to score more than 15 points in any quarter.

The Blue Devils averaged making 6.5 three-point field goals per game. They made 2 — in 19 attempts.

“We were in the gaps and pressured them, making them put it on the floor,” Walz said. “I think we took four or five charges. I think we did a nice job of not letting them shoot the three in rhythm because they had been shooting the three really well.”

Balance has defined this Louisville team. That continued. Eight players scored but nobody scored more than 15. That was Kiki Jefferson. She made all eight of her free throws.

Credit Olivia Cochran with 13 points and 6 rebounds. Merissah Russell had 10 points off the bench.

All five starters got to the foul line. All five starters had at least one rebound. All five starters had at least one assist. All five starters had at least one steal.

“We’ve got seven new players,” Walz said. “It’s pretty neat to watch them out there …”

The Cards have a week off before visiting Pittsburgh next Thursday. The Panthers took Notre Dame to the wire Thursday night. Louisville will return home to play Wake Forest Jan. 14.

“This league is as good as it’s been from top to bottom,” Walz said.

Against Duke, Louisville looked ready for it.