LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – Considering what the Louisville women's basketball program has accomplished in his time there, for Jeff Walz to call the first half of Saturday's 86-64 win at No. 14-ranked Notre Dame the best he has ever coached is pretty lofty praise.
But it's hard to argue with him, if you watched the kind of dominance on display at the Joyce Center on Notre Dame's campus, where the Fighting Irish hadn't lost a game all season.
Louisville hit its first seven three-point shots. If it had been a fight, they'd have stopped it. The Cards led 31-3 at the end of the first quarter. They led 54-15 at the half. They made 12 of 15 shots in the first quarter (7-7 from 3-point range) and 11 of 19 in the second.
Louisville's starting backcourt had 30 points at halftime (Hailey Van Lith 16, Kianna Smith 14). Notre Dame made only six baskets the entire half.
Van Lith finished the game with 20 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists. Smith finished with 20 points. Emily Engstler finished with 17 points, 10 rebounds and 6 assists and Chelsie Hall added 13 points and 5 assists. The Cardinals' starting lineup combined for 16 assists.
Former Louisville men's player Luke Hancock, now an analyst for the ACC Network, Tweeted at halftime: "No exaggeration -- the most dominant half of basketball over a quality top 15 team I have ever seen in my life."
The second half returned to a more expected form, and Walz let off the gas in the fourth quarter, when Notre Dame put up 30 points. Still, Louisville, ranked No. 4 nationally, improved to 25-3 overall, and 15-3 in ACC play. They will enter next week's ACC Tournament as the No. 2 seed.
"I thought we were extremely efficient, obviously," Walz said. "I mean, we came out, we shared the ball well, we made open shots and then defensively we were outstanding. When you play a team, as talented as Notre Dame, I mean, we could play 50 times and I wouldn't expect the first quarter to be 31-3. It's not happening. It was one of those days for them. But defensively I think we caused a lot of it. We didn't let players who were three-point shooters take open three point shots. We made them try to shoot the ball off the bounce. I thought we sped them up. And then how efficient we were at the offensive end, then it starts to put more pressure on you at the offensive end because you're trying to catch up. And I think it was just kind of a spiral as it kept going. But I've got to give our kids credit. I thought we really did a great job of keeping our composure and just played as good as the first half as we've played all year, where even when you're up 35 and 40, we continued to run the offense, instead of trying to hit home runs, trying to hit a three off of one pass, we executed. It was fun to watch."
Heading into the game, Walz stressed rebounding. Louisville had given up 22 offensive rebounds and 13 second-chance points in a win at Pitt earlier in the week.
An official holds Louisville's Hailey Van Lith (10) while Notre Dame's Dara Mabrey holds teammate Olivia Miles (5), next to Maya Dodson (0) after an altercation on the court during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Sunday, Feb. 27, 2022, in South Bend, Ind. (AP Photo/Robert Franklin)
On Saturday, Louisville allowed only five offensive rebound and one second-chance point.
"Our effort on the glass was really remarkable," Walz said. "And it starts with Olivia Cochran and Liz Dixon. You know, O comes up with 2 (rebounds). That's it. I think Liz comes up with four. But their assignment was to keep Maya Dodson off the glass. She has zero offensive rebounds in 35 minutes of play only, and comes up with two total. And that was the difference in the game in my opinion, keeping her off the glass, because she's so aggressive. She's so quick. She moves with ease. And if you don't find her at all times, she's going to get a stick back and put back. We got lucky there in the first few minutes. She had a nice open look and missed it – but that's part of the game though. If that goes in, it could change everything but I think it was a missed layup and then turned into a three for us. . . . But they're a really good basketball team. I'm going to be shocked if they don't host the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament. We just played really, really well."
If style points mean anything, the Louisville women will cruise into next week's ACC Tournament in Greensboro, N.C. in a Bentley.
But Walz isn't a believer in style points.
"I do believe it was us who scored three points in the first quarter when we played at Georgia Tech," Walz said.
The big thing about this game was the discipline Louisville showed once getting the lead. Unlike at N.C. State, where the Cards got hurried and rattled and perhaps tried a bit too hard to hit a dagger late, Walz urged his players to "just keep hitting singles, don't worry about home runs," and they heeded his advice.
The played deliberately but efficiently once getting a big lead.
"It's by far the best first half that we've had since I've been here – against a Top 25 team," Walz said. "You know, you take into consideration sometimes who you're playing. But Notre Dame is very talented, and I thought we really dictated what we wanted to have happen on both ends of the floor and that was great. . . . Unfortunately, it's not going to guarantee you play the same way next Friday. You've still got to practice and make sure you keep your habits the same or you'll go back. We were 7-7 from three at one point and we finished 8-14. So there are things we'll have to address. But overall, it was a fun game to coach and a fun game to watch."
Louisville played the game without key reserve Ahlana Smith, who missed the game to attend the funeral of her grandfather. She expects to be back for the ACC Tournament. The game also marked the return of Norika Konno, who hit one late basket in limited action, after missing the past 11 games with what coaches called a medical issue.
The Cardinals will open play in the ACC Tournament in Greensboro on Friday at 6 p.m.
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