Recap: Louisville women's basketball defeats Chattanooga
A poor shooting performance didn’t prevent Louisville women’s basketball from defeating Chattanooga 86-37 at the KFC Yum! Center Nov. 21. After shooting 35 percent from the field in the first half, Louisville’s offense played a cleaner second half, shooting 58.8 percent from the field.
On the counter side of Louisville's slow offensive start, the Cardinals' defense held Chattanooga to 24.6 percent from the field along with 18 turnovers.
“I thought defensively we did a really nice job on the perimeter without fouling,” Louisville coach Jeff Walz said. “That’s what we have to continue to do.”
Dana Evans scored 18 points while Kylee Shook posted her third straight double-double, finishing with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Norika Konno added 11 points. Elizabeth Balogun had nine points and 11 rebounds for Louisville.
The opening six minutes was plagued by missed shots as Louisville started 4 of 16 from the field. Chattanooga wasn’t much better, going 2 of 7 with three turnovers.
“We have to make some layups,” Walz said.
Louisville missed its first eight shots, scoring for the first time on a driving layup from Dana Evans nearly four minutes into the first quarter. Bionca Dunham dropped a hook shot in the lane and Elizabeth Balogun turned a turnover into a layup to give Louisville an 8-4 lead.
A baseline drive and layup capped from Evans capped a 12-0 Louisville run. Despite scoring a team-high 18 points, Evans didn't think her performance was complete because of just one assist.
“It could have been better with getting my teammates shots and getting people going,” Evans said. “I have to start creating more for them than me.”
The shooting didn’t get any better as Louisville led 26-9 midway through the second quarter. The Cardinals were just 11 of 34 from the field while Chattanooga missed 15 of its first 19 shots.
Balogun made a corner 3-pointer, Louisville’s first made 3-pointer after missing its first eight shots from behind the arc, on an assist from Evans to extend Louisville’s lead to 29-9. Evans turned a steal into a layup on Chattanooga’s ensuing possession to cap a 15-0 run.
Evans made 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions early in the third quarter to extend Louisville’s advantage to 43-16. She scored for the third consecutive possession with a layup.
“Dana is a scorer,” Walz said. “What I have been trying to get her to do is get her away from the ball. Get her up the floor and get away from the ball.”
Louisville shot 10 of 17 from the field in the third quarter, expanding its lead to more than 30 points.
Shook scored on back-to-back possessions early in the fourth quarter, making a layup on an assist by Elizabeth Dixon and then hitting a 3-pointer from the top of the key. The senior converted a three-point-play on the low block to give Louisville a 71-29 lead with seven minutes left. Shook scored again on the next possession, finishing with 12 points in the quarter.
Dixon and Shook combined for 18 points in the second half after going 0 of 7 from the field in the first half.
“Kylee and Liz both finished around the basket, which is what we have to do,” Walz said.
