LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – Not all of the University of Louisville women’s basketball road trips this season are for the scenery. Jeff Walz took his No. 19-ranked Cardinals to Martin, Tenn., on Tuesday night for a road game, as he looks to pick up experience for his young roster.
A traditionally tough OVC program, Tennessee Martin pressed Louisville throughout, but the Cardinals handled it with a deft offensive attack and solid shooting to take an 86-64 victory.
The No. 18-ranked Cardinals (2-1) made seven of their first nine shots and jumped out to a 19-8. It was their experienced players who staked them to the strong start, with six points from Nyla Harris and four from Tajianna Roberts and freshman Mackenly Randolph leading the way. And it was young players who finished the game off after Louisville used as solid defensive run late in the first half to extend a 14-point lead to 23.
UTM (0-3) missed a dozen straight shots in that stretch, then Louisville made 10 in a row beginning midway through the third quarter, to stretch its lead to 33.
The Cardinals shot 70.8 percent in the second half, and scored on 57 percent of their possessions for the game. Of their 31 field goals, 20 were layups. The only negative? They turned it over on nearly 30 percent of their possessions, 21 turnovers total.
“That's one of the things that we've talked about. I think we went in at halftime with either six or seven (turnovers), which was fine. It was, you know, perfect for when you're playing a team that's going to try and press you the entire game,” Walz said. “And we were trying to score layups and play fast. You're going to turn it over 12-13, times. And that was the pace we were on, and then we just got really sloppy. So, there's some areas that we're going to have to really look at some film and explain to them how you've got to come to the ball, because a lot of our turnovers were simply waiting for the ball to come to us, and they cut in front of us. But I was pleased with the way we shot the ball overall.”
Harris led Louisville with 16 points. Olivia Cochran added 14 points and seven rebounds. Roberts added had points and Imari Berry had 10 points and nine rebounds off the bench.
“She's actually rebounded the ball extremely well in every game we played,” Walz said. “She attacks the glass. She goes after it offensively. She looked to score more, which is something she can do, and it's one of the things I've talked about with her. I want her to get more assertive on the offensive end and attack instead of floating around on the perimeter. But when they kick inside-out or a diagonal skip pass, she did a great job tonight of stepping in and knocking down shots.”
Louisville outscored UTM 52-18 in the paint and 30-9 off the bench.
The road challenges continue on Saturday, when the Cardinals will face rival Kentucky, ranked No. 20 nationally, at 6:30 p.m. in Lexington.
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