CRAWFORD | Speed and defense make for sensational NCAA sendoff win for Louisville women

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – Arica Carter and Asia Durr hugged. They kissed the court. They waved to the crowd of 7,000-plus, who stayed and kept cheering. They took a victory lap. When they got to the locker room and found fellow senior Sam Fuehring, they came back out to the court and did it all over again.

When an opponent can reduce the Louisville women’s basketball team to a group of individuals, it has a chance at victory. When Louisville is playing its game – together, swarming, running, ball and player movement on offense, pressure and rotation on defense – it’s awfully tough. Especially in the KFC Yum! Center.

And especially on Sunday, in the final home game for the Cardinals’ three seniors, with a trip to Albany, N.Y., and the Sweet 16 in the balance. After her team fell, 71-50 to Louisville, just two days after scoring 84 points on this same court, Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico testified.

“I said to my team in the locker room, there probably aren't very many teams, and I can probably count them on one hand if I can count all of them, that can come into Louisville and play in this environment on their home court and not lose by more than 20,” she said.

Michigan came in with what looked like an advantage in the post and superior depth. Louisville, however, used superior speed and held its own in the post.

“We’re trying to throw the first punch,” Fuehring said.

And they did. Louisville led 4-2, then 10-2, then 19-4. And their half-court defense was stifling. They didn’t score in the final 5 ½ minutes of the first quarter, and still led by eight. In the third quarter, they put the game away by allowing only six Michigan points in the entire period.

“We got shook and rattled,” Arico said.

And Louisville got a few things it absolutely must have if it is to emerge from Albany with a second straight Final Four berth.

It got perhaps its best game of the season from 6-3 Kylee Shook, who was solid defensively, pulled down 10 rebounds and scored eight points. In the locker room, Walz told her he had good news and bad. The good, he said, was that she was fantastic in the game. And the bad?

“The bad is I’m going to expect this,” Walz said. “So now you've shown me what you can do, unfortunately for you, you have to keep doing it. And she got a good laugh out of it. But it's true. She has really developed over her three years here. She came from being an outside three-point shooter, which is all she did in high school, to where she's finishing at the block and being more physical. I'm really proud of her.”

The other thing Louisville got that is crucial from here on is a solid offensive contribution from Jazmine Jones, who finished with 15 points, and was aggressive on both ends. When she is locked in and assertive, Louisville becomes much tougher to beat.”

Louisville also got a major lift from Carter, who scored only two points but who was a major factor in the first half, pulling down four offensive rebounds and playing tough defense.

“I wasn’t going to spend my last home game here sitting on the bench,” she said.

Fuehring had 10 points and a pair of rebounds, but led to a great many rebounds for teammates by keeping Michigan’s larger frontcourt players off the boards. And Dana Evans came off the bench to add 10 points.

Louisville got the tempo it wanted early, forcing 17 Michigan turnovers in the first half and 22 in the game, scoring 28 points off turnovers. It also sliced through Michigan’s full-court pressure for easy looks. The Cardinals took 21 more shots than Michigan.

And then there was Durr. She helped throw the early haymaker with quick scores, and constantly occupied two and sometimes three Michigan defenders at a time. She not only scored a game-high 24 points, but dished out a game-high five assists.

Ahead for Louisville is either Gonzaga and Oregon State, and then perhaps Connecticut – in its own back yard, or maybe another old nemesis in Maryland.

But after this game, there was a definite pause. It was the end of an era in this building, and fans sensed it. Arico credited the crowd, and she wasn’t the only one.

“What a tremendous crowd for a women's basketball game on a Sunday morning at church time,” she said.

Fuehring said she’s played in front of bigger crowds in the building, but not many that were louder or more amped up.

“Even when we were doing the instructions (with game officials), I was like, this crowd is roaring,” Feurhing said. “I feel like it's not like this anywhere else, and I'm so appreciative.”

Durr just kept hugging afterward, kept finding people, she stopped in the tunnel to reach up to outstretched hands.

“You know, playing here for four years with such great fans, great people who follow you everywhere, literally, everywhere. I can't really put it into words because it's a feeling that you'll never forget,” Durr said. “And years down the line, you talk to your kids, your grandkids, your friends about these four years, and I mean, it was just so much fun playing here, playing in front of the best fans in the country.”

So a chapter ends for this team. But the ending has yet to be written.

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