Louisville's confidence continued during losing streak
Louisville women’s basketball never lost its confidence despite losing two straight games. With an 82-49 victory over Notre Dame at the KFC Yum! Center Feb. 16, the Cardinals are now on a two-game winning streak.
After defeating fourth-ranked NC State in Raleigh last Thursday, Louisville (23-3 overall, 12-2 in the ACC) outscored Notre Dame by 31 points in the final three quarters to take sole possession of first place in the conference. The Cardinals were without starting guard Elizabeth Balogun, who was competing for the Nigerian National Team in the Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Serbia, during its two-game losing streak.
Since Balogun’s return, Louisville has looked like the same team prior to her absence. Louisville coach Jeff Walz didn’t want to change anything while Balogun was out of the lineup even though it changed the team’s dynamic.
“We had a two-game skid where we were without our other shooter. We truly have two consistent outside threats,” Walz said. “When Elizabeth is on the floor it spreads the defense, plus she is doing a great job of putting it on the floor and shooting pull ups.”
Walz was pleased with his team’s mindset during the losses, so returning to form hasn’t been a surprise. The Cardinals won their first 10 conference games and started the season 21-1.
“I wasn’t concerned because I know what our team is when we are at full strength,” Walz said. “It’s not like all of a sudden we have bad players. It’s just when you lose some people for a few games, depending on who they are, it has a big impact on your team.”
Dana Evans, who scored a team-high 18 points against Notre Dame, thought Louisville came together during the two-game losing streak. Evans and three seniors, Jazmine Jones, Kylee Shook and Bionca Dunham, had a team meeting to correct things.
“We talked about being the leaders of the team and setting a good example,” Evans said. “Body language was key.”
