Louisville Earns Bounce Back Win at Florida State

Press Release from the University of Louisville:

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The RV/RV University of Louisville women's basketball team had another game that came down to the final minutes but the Cards came out on top, 82-75, against Florida State (16-4, 5-2) at the Donald L. Tucker Center Sunday afternoon. The Cards (14-6, 5-2) used a 31-point fourth quarter to erase a six-point deficit as they shot 13-of-18 (72.2%) from the field in the final quarter.

Morgan Jones returned to Tallahassee after playing her first four seasons with the Seminoles. She scored a game-high 25 points on 9-of-10 shooting and led the team with 10 rebounds. It was her fourth career double-double and the first with the Cardinals. Hailey Van Lith poured in 20 points, the fourth game of her last five with 20 or more points. Van Lith led the team with a career-high eight assists and career-high five steals to go with eight rebounds. Olivia Cochran had 13 points and eight rebounds and Chrislyn Carr added 11 points. The Cards held ACC leading scorer, Ta'Niya Latson, to 11 points on 3-of-16 shooting. The field goals and shooting percentage are both season-lows and she came into the game averaging 25.0 points per game.

Both teams were held scoreless for over two minutes to start the first quarter as the teams struggled to find their shots. The Seminoles started to hit a few shots and built a nine-point lead during the middle portion of the quarter. The Cards cut into the deficit and at the end of the first, the Cards trailed 20-14.

The Cards continued to cut into the Seminoles lead in the second quarter and got their first lead of the game with 3:30 left in the quarter on a Jones jumper. Jones took over in the second quarter, as she scored the final eight points of the quarter for the Cardinals. The Seminoles jumped back in front in the final minutes and Florida State had a 33-29 lead at the break.

Jones led the Cardinals with 10 points in the first half on 5-of-6 shooting. Sarah Bejedi led the Noles with 10 points of her own. The Cardinals held Ta'Niya Latson to five points in the first half on 1-of-8 shooting. Latson came into the game leading the ACC with 25.0 points per game.

Jones continued to score into the third, as she put home five more points heading into the media timeout and the Cardinals trailed by one. After the timeout, Jones hit two free throws and gave the Cards the lead for just the second time in the game. The Noles responded with a run of their own, scoring six-straight and extended their lead to seven with under two minutes left in the quarter. The Seminoles led 57-51 at the end of the quarter and the Cards had 10 minutes left to get back in the game.

Louisville responded with the first seven points of the fourth quarter to take the lead and the Seminoles called a quick timeout. The Cardinals continued the hot shooting in the quarter, making 6-of-7 shots to build a five-point lead at 70-65 and another timeout for the Seminoles. Florida State cut the lead to two with under two minutes when Jones grabbed a crucial offensive rebound, hit the layup and got fouled. She completed the three-point play to put the Cards up five with 1:36 left.

Florida State got it back to a two-point deficit with less than a minute left when Van Lith took over. As the shot clock was winding down, Van Lith took a fall-away shot just inside the three-point line and drained it with 25 seconds left. The Seminoles did not score again as the Cardinals closed out their sixth road win of the season.

The Cardinals return to campus as they have a two-game homestand starting on Thursday, January 19. The Cardinals welcome Boston College to the KFC Yum! Center before closing out the week with NC State on Sunday. Thursday's game against the Eagles will be at 7 p.m. and streamed on the ACC Network Extra.

(Photo of Mykasa Robinson, Hailey Van Lith: Sam Upshaw Jr. - Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK)

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