LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – The University of Louisville women's basketball team was ranked No. 9 in the nation in the preseason, breaking a two-year string of unbroken top-five rankings. It's fair to say that, although the Cardinals were expected to be good, they probably weren't expected to be the kind of Final Four threat they were the past two seasons.
After putting away a probable NCAA Tournament team, Virginia Tech, 70-53 on Sunday, the Cardinals are right where they've usually been lately.Â
They are playing Final Four-caliber basketball, even with some nagging injuries and a couple of starters who aren't at 100%. And they are doing that because of a senior class that has tightened and elevated its game — over the past several weeks of Atlantic Coast Conference play, in particular.Â
Despite losing Asia Durr – who was in the crowd of 10,423 at the KFC Yum! Center on Sunday – and two other major contributors in guard Arica Carter and forward Sam Fuehring, Louisville finishes the regular season at 27-3, and 16-2 in ACC play.
The senior trio of Jazmine Jones, Bionca Dunham and Kylee Shook, along with walk-on Jessica Laemmle, finish as the winningest class in program history, with 124 wins and counting. Louisville has gone 45-5 in the ACC the past three seasons, including 23-2 in road games.
Of the Cards' three losses this season, only one came when the team had a full roster: at Ohio State a few days after returning from a tournament in the Virgin Islands.
Most thought this team would be good. It has shown over the past several weeks that it could be good enough to make another Final Four run.
Jones on Sunday displayed the jump shooting that has her near 60% from the field, the highest point in her career. Shook posted 15 points and 12 rebounds. Yacine Diop, a grad transer from Pittsburgh who sat out last season with an injury, had 8 points and three assists. Dunham added 8 points and nine rebounds. In her return from an ankle injury, Dana Evans had 11 points and four assists.
"Did I expect us to be sitting here at 27-3? No. Did I know we had a chance to be a pretty darn good basketball team? Yes," coach Jeff Walz said. "But, at the same time, there were a lot of unknowns. Where's Dana going to take her game? Where's Jaz, Kylee, where's Bionca?
"The thing I can honestly tell you: Elizabeth Balogun and Liz Dixon were two big, important parts, getting them transferred in and eligible," he continued. "But, if you look at what's taken place, I think the returning kids have surprised more people than what Liz and Elizabeth have done. I don't think anybody expected Jaz to play at the level she's played at as a senior. Bionca, Yacine and Kylee. And that's what's really separated us and allowed us to have the year we've had. Those kids all got better. That's something you hope for, but it doesn't always happen. And now that we've got Elizabeth back and Liz is getting better, it's exciting to just think about what this next month can be."
The Cardinals led the ACC in scoring defense for the third straight season, and Virginia Tech, a solid offensive team, just couldn't get good looks when it mattered. The Hokies still shot 50% for the game but took 20 fewer shots than Louisville and couldn't get the pace where it wanted, taking so long to get shots off that the game was played at a snail's pace – 61 possessions.
Louisville, meanwhile, is so efficient offensively that it still reached 70 points.
Defensively, the emergence of Shook as one of the nation's premier defensive players has helped matters. Not only is she the school's all-time leading shot-blocker, but teams are now reluctant to even attempt shots with her in the vicinity.
Dunham is a solid presence underneath, and her vocal leadership on defense is important. Diop comes off the bench but has had such a good ACC season that the program nominated her for league sixth player of the year. She's an accomplished scorer but also wreaks havoc with deflections and steals defensively.
And there's Jones, whose athleticism and ability to explode in the lane is well known, but whose outside jump shot is a senior development.
"Just time in the gym," Jones said. "I've got confidence in my shot now. I've put a lot of work into it."
Shook has asserted herself offensively down the stretch, after hearing a TV commentator saying Louisville needed a scoring option in addition to Jones and Evans.
"We all just want to do what we can do to help the team," Shook said.
With Evans, the probable ACC Player of the Year, getting healthy again, Balogun adding athleticism and scoring and Mykasa Robinson making major strides from the point guard spot late in the season, it's a team that has depth — and aspirations.
On Sunday, the seniors walked out with their families and friends and were presented with jerseys and flowers. They hugged one another and their coaches and shed a few tears.
But the way they're playing, there may be more presentations in their future. Their eyes are on the ACC Tournament title after winning their first outright regular season championship. And their goals are far beyond.
And the way they're playing, they have fewer doubters. They also aren't finished playing at home. They'll have first and possibly second round games at the KFC Yum! Center in the NCAA Tournament.
Sunday's game began with Laemmle, in a rare start, scoring the first points.
"You couldn't have written it any better," Walz said. "... And we're blessed to have a community and city that recognizes what we've done here and they come out and support it. This was a great crowd, on a day with a men's game later in the afternoon. We appreciate the support."
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