Louisville tops Virginia for 11th straight win

Cardinals are 8-0 in the ACC for the first time since 2015-16

Louisville women’s basketball won its 11 straight game, defeating Virginia 71-56 at the KFC Yum! Center Jan. 23. The Cardinals only trailed once early in the first quarter before building a double-digit advantage to improve to 8-0 in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) for the first time since 2015-16.

Dana Evans scored a team-high 21 points while Jazmine Jones finished with 13 points for Louisville. Kylee Shook had 13 points and 10 rebounds. 

The Cardinals limited Virginia to 36.2 percent shooting from the field in the 300th win for Louisville coach Jeff Walz. 

Louisville ended the first quarter on a 12-2 run as Dana Evans made three 3-pointers in the opening quarter. The Cardinals shot 71 percent from the field while Virginia suffered a scoring drought that lasted for more than four-and-a-half minutes.

Kylee Shook made her first three shots, making two 3-pointers to help Louisville lead by 12 points after the first 10 minutes.

Bionca Dunham scored on consecutive possessions early in the second quarter, extending Louisville’s advantage to 29-13. The Cardinals made 12 of their first 16 shots.

After Louisville extended its advantage to 20 points midway through the second quarter, the Cardinals suffered a scoring drought that lasted more than four minutes. Mykasa Robinson made a jumper in the lane to give Louisville a 39-22 lead at halftime.

Virginia went on an 8-0 run capped by a steal and transition layup by Jocelyn Willoughby to cut Louisville’s lead to 43-30 to force a timeout by coach Jeff Walz.

Robinson ended a scoring drought that lasted nearly four minutes with a free throw with 4:16 left in the third quarter. Virginia pulled with 10 points as Louisville went more than seven minutes without a field goal, which ended on a drive by Jones with 1:01 left in the third quarter.

Virginia went more than four minutes with a field goal until Shemera Williams took a steal for a layup as time expired in the third quarter to cut the visitors’ deficit to 51-39.

Evans scored twice in transition following Virginia turnovers, giving Louisville a 60-44 lead with less than six minutes left.