Louisville-Memphis women's basketball
Louisville athletics

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) - After a 30-point home loss to a conference rival in No. 21 North Carolina State, Louisville women's basketball head coach Jeff Walz wanted to see his young team respond strongly.

The Cardinals listened and bounced back on Saturday, beating Memphis 87-68. Freshman Tajianna Roberts continued to shine, leading all scorers with a season-high 23 points. Veteran Olivia Cochran finished with a double-double of 12 points and 13 rebounds while the Cards shot 60% from the field, their second-best mark of the year.

"For team psyche, it was really important," Walz said of getting a victory following that last loss. "I'm not going to have teams roll over and quit. And I thought that's what we did in that game. That's not what Louisville women's basketball has been for the past 18 years and it's not going to be that. So, I was really proud of just the fight they showed today."

While UofL has not been able to find enough consistency yet, Roberts has been an exception. She shot 10 for 17 from the field and added 3 steals. Her head coach just wanted to see her enjoy all of this more.

"I've really been challenging her to play with emotion, Walz said. "She's been a dud and shows no emotion when she's out there playing, doesn't get excited. And I'm like, 'Taj, you're too good of a player. Like, our own fans don't know to get excited when you do something good because you don't act like it's good.'

"And I think she did a much better job. I don't know any elite players in any sport that don't play with emotion. I tell them all the time: I don't want arrogant players. I want confident players. I thought today she made a couple shots and showed emotion. We got a defensive stop and she gets excited. That's what we need from her because she is our best pure scorer that we have on the team. And I've got to have her have a mindset of, 'I'm coming at you every single time. I'm coming right at you.'"

More Cardinals seemed to adopt that attitude too. Louisville's bench outscored Memphis's 36 to 8, as Jayda Curry helped lead the reserves with 14 points. The Cardinals tallied their third-highest assist total of the season, finishing with 21.

Walz thinks the collective improvement since losing to the Wolfpack came from more intentionality in practices. 

"We had some that were just trying to survive," Walz said. "I'm just coming out here to practice two and a half hours, three hours, and then I'll call it a day. And we weren't getting better.

"And I really talked to them about if that's your mindset, if that's your approach, why are you playing the game? So every day, you've got to have a reason you're coming out on this floor. Is it to drive to the basket instead of settling for threes? You had to have an intent. I thought we practiced all week with an intent. And I thought today we did a much better job of continuing to compete."

It showed on the defensive end of the floor. Ja'Leah Williams set the tone and pushed her teammates to take it up a notch during a 19-0 run in the 2nd quarter to give the Cardinals full control in a game they led for 37 minutes.

"She was a difference maker for us," Walz said. "We can't keep allowing, 'If we score, then we'll defend. We've got to get this mindset back, which we've been trying to get them as coaches, to understand your defense has to go with you everywhere you go. And if you miss some shots, you miss some shots. And we finally did that. Then, when you make shots, great things can happen."

Louisville returns to ACC play when it hosts Boston college on Dec. 29 at 2 p.m.

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