ALBANY, N.Y. (WDRB) – It wasn’t a vintage Louisville women’s basketball offensive performance, but it was elite-level defense. The Cardinals’ swarmed and shut down Oregon State 61-44 to advance to the NCAA Elite Eight on Friday night.
Oregon State managed just eight points in the second quarter and five in the third, and the Beavers, who ranked fourth in the nation in three-point percentage coming in, managed just 2-for-22 shooting from beyond the arc.
"We knew this was going to be a hard-fought game," Walz said. "They're always very well-prepared, run multiple sets, throw different defenses for you. We did a really good job of preparation. Our assistant coaches did a remarkable job, and our players felt confident about that. . . . When we play together as a team, we're a pretty darn good basketball team."
The win sets up an Elite Eight, high noon matchup between women’s basketball heavyweights. The Cards will face Connecticut Sunday at noon.
Asia Durr had 17 points and eight rebounds and Sam Fuehring had 17 points and nine boards to help the Cards overcome interior shooting difficulties that saw them shoot a lower percentage from two point range (40 percent) than from three (41.4).
It wasn’t a replay of last season’s runaway, even though Louisville did, as it likes to do, throw the first punch. Durr scored six quick points and Fuehring added five in a row to put the Cards up 13-4 before the game was five minutes old.
But neither team could establish anything offensively in the second and third quarters. Louisville scored eight straight points at the end of the third quarter to boost its lead to 16, and nine straight midway through the fourth pushed the lead to 20 and put the game away.
“Excellent team. Great defensive team,” Oregon State coach Scott Rueck said. “They hit big shots early to get initial separation, and then had a couple of spurts. I loved our effort tonight. I thought we played an excellent game with the exception of shooting the ball. They took the rim away, so we had to go to perimeter shots. I liked what we were getting. . . . But the shots did not fall. That’s basketball.”
Louisville held Oregon State to 30.4 percent shooting and did not allow a three-point field goal in the second half, and outscored the Beavers 13-2 on the break.
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