LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A balanced effort on both ends of the floor was key for Louisville women's basketball to get its first conference win of the season.
Behind 24 second-chance points and 28 points off of 23 Boston College turnovers, Jeff Walz's squad led for a majority of an 86-73 road victory. While the Eagles closed some double-digit deficits, the Cardinals showed an improved ability to keep control of a game in which they led for a little more than 34 minutes.
"I was really proud of the way we continued to fight and the way we continued to operate on the offensive end," Walz said. "We attacked to score, which is what you have to do, especially against a team that is going to try to cause some chaos and make you play unorthodox."
Senior guard Jayda Curry made her first start of the season, staying aggressive to combine with freshman Tajianna Roberts for an inefficient 27 points on 30 shots. But while neither shot the ball well, their teammates were all over the offensive glass for a season-high 20 offensive rebounds, which helped the Cardinals shoot 50% from the field against an Eagles team who primarily plays a zone defense.
"It's effort. It's being relentless and not allowing yourself to be boxed out," Walz said of the offensive rebounding performance. "Don't just run into the back of the person that's trying to box you out. Get to the other block and make a spin move."
Walz thinks Curry and Roberts have to be driving forces behind his team's scoring. While they only made 9 shots on Sunday, he did not see them forcing too much.
"Those two have to look to take open shots and be aggressive off the bounce," Walz said. "Taj, she had 4 assists and 1 turnover, which was outstanding. I was fine with Jayda's shots. There's one or two that she's got to be able to see the post help come over and drop it off for a layup."
Fellow starters in Olivia Cochran, Nyla Harris and Ja'Leah Williams combined to clean up any misses with 10 offensive boards. The trio was efficient from the field, shooting 73%.
"A lot of times in offensive rebounding, you might make that effort, which Nyla is fantastic at, and you might not get it," Walz explained. "But it might allow your teammate to get it, and that's happened several times with her."
What is also still happening too frequently for Walz is his own team giving the ball away too much and not defending well enough outside of forcing giveaways. There was an up-and-down pace throughout the afternoon, as both teams had trouble protecting the basketball in a game that saw 43 combined turnovers.
"This is the challenge I have with this group," Walz said. "It's a tale of two halves in so many of our games this year.
"We had 14 turnovers in the first half and 6 in the second. I've always said if we turn it over 10 to 12 times a game trying to play with pace, that's okay. But we've got to start valuing the basketball, and I promise you, I put them on the treadmill in practice for each turnover. I'm doing everything I can."
Louisville's 14 steals were good for its second-best effort of the year. They helped make up for Boston College being the third consecutive Cardinal opponent to shoot at least 40% or better from the field, a figure only three teams have failed to hit against the Cards this season.
"Defensively, we're just not very good," Walz said. "You don't want to be a club where you got to shoot 50% from the field to win by 13. If you shoot 50% from the field, you should win by 25.
"So, that's our challenge right now when we get back home, to really start working on becoming a better on-ball defending team."
Next up for the Cardinals is a home ACC matchup with Miami on Jan. 2 at 7 p.m. The Cardinals are 9-1 in all-time conference games vs. the Hurricanes.
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