Seniors classes continue to build on success
Senior leadership has created an evolution of sorts for Louisville women’s basketball. When one group of seniors move on, the next class steps up.
The group of seniors this season have been no different.
Louisville's 2020 senior class can be the third straight class to conclude their careers as the most accomplished class in program history. The seniors are 122-18, just one win shy of tying the program record 123 wins.
Jazmine Jones is the team’s second leading scorer with 13.9 points per game while shooting 55.6 percent from the field. Kylee Shook averages 9.6 points, 8.0 rebounds and leads the ACC in blocks. Bionca Dunham is the Cardinals’ defensive leader and averages 5.9 points and 4.7 rebounds.
Yacine Diop, a graduate transfer from Pittsburgh, is scoring 8.0 points in conference games this season while Jessica Laemmle has appeared in the 18 games this season.
“We have had great senior leadership for the past four or five years,” Louisville coach Jeff Walz said. “When your seniors are taking things personally and are fully committed and invested, they hold everybody else accountable.”
Walz said the coaching staff knew the talent of this year’s senior class, but it became a matter of the players taking the next step in their game.
Shook, a 6-foot-4 forward, became the program’s all-time leader in blocks earlier this season. She has continued to progress offensively as well, scoring in double figures 17 times this year.
“Kylee has been a process for four years, she has been a process this season,” Walz said. “You have seen growth from her as this year has gone. I have been really impressed with what she has been able to do for us on the defensive end of the floor. Offensively she is giving us that boost.”
In Louisville’s victory over Pittsburgh on Sunday, Walz told Jones she was the best player on the floor, so she should play like it. Jones has taken on a larger role this season after contributing as role player in her previous seasons.
Walz said Jones has stepped up to the challenge of being a leader on the floor.
“That’s one thing as a senior, as an underclassman its easier because all the pressure is on the older kids, so if you got out there and do your job you can slide underneath the radar,” Walz said. “As a senior, Jaz knows everyone knows how talented she is.”
Walz says Dunham is valuable defensively because of her toughness. The 6-foot-2 forward directs Louisville’s defense as a post defender with the ability to guard on the perimeter.
“She has put the work in,” Walz said. “I think it is pretty amazing to sit there and look at what she has been able to accomplish.”
Laemmle, a walk-on from Mercy Academy, has played less than 100 minutes this season, but her greatest contribution comes in practice. She is typically a member of Louisville’s scout team as it prepares for opponents.
“She is one that can go all week and practice on the scout squad for me and she will be whoever we ask her to be,” Walz said. “And then I can put her in during the game and I have no doubt that she knows the scouting report front and back, she knows exactly what we are trying to do.”
