Louisville Women's Basketball Holds Off Duke

Once up by 20, the Cardinals held off a second half rally by the Blue Devils to come out on top.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Hailey Van Lith scored eight of her 17 points in the fourth quarter, Kianna Smith added five in the period and No. 5 Louisville held off No. 21 Duke 77-65 on Sunday for their third consecutive victory.

The Cardinals (18-2, 8-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) appeared in control with a 20-point lead just after halftime. Shayeann Day-Wilson scored five consecutive points to get Duke within 62-57 early in the fourth before Smith and Hailey Van Lith answered with a layup and 3-pointer respectively and Emily Engstler added a jumper for a 69-57 cushion.

Van Lith’s 3 spurred a 6-0 spurt to make it 75-62 including three free throws from Smith and Mykasa Robinson. Van Lith’s layup with 27 seconds remaining closed the scoring as Louisville improved to 12-0 at home and closed the month 8-1.

Day-Wilson scored 25 points before fouling out late, and Lexi Gordon had 11 for the shorthanded Blue Devils (13-6, 4-5). Duke was without head coach Kara Lawson after she entered health and safety protocols last week. Celeste Taylor missed a sixth consecutive game with injury, while ex-Cardinal Nyah Green was also out for a violation of team rules.

Payton Verhulst came off the bench to score a career-high 13 points, including 3 of 4 from behind the arc that Louisville needed. The Cardinals made just 41% after halftime.

BIG PICTURE

Duke: The Blue Devils initially looked out of sync as they began a demanding stretch of five games in 11 days. They settled down to make 5 of 10 in the third quarter, including three 3s, to close the gap and kept fighting in the fourth before committing several late turnovers that Louisville took advantage of.

Louisville: The Cardinals were efficient for the first 20-plus minutes, creating open looks and knocking down shots from deep in particular. A slow third-quarter start allowed Duke to get within single digits and the Cardinals struggled to score in the fourth before Van Lith delivered key 3s to create space.

UP NEXT

Louisville visits Miami on Tuesday night.

Duke hosts Georgia Tech on Tuesday night in a makeup game.

(Photo of Kianna Smith: David Butler II - USA TODAY Sports)

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