Louisville Women’s Basketball Holds Off North Carolina

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The fifth-ranked Louisville Cardinals women’s basketball zipped out to a 14-3 run on the North Carolina Tar Heels within the first period of the game.

North Carolina looked like a deer in headlights during the onslaught that was characterized by poor ball-handling and careless mental mistakes. Louisville led 27-14 at the end of the first period.

UNC trailed 45-29 at halftime but they fought their way back into the game and brought alive a ruckus crowd a Carmichael Arena with a fourth-quarter run that brought the game within two possessions. An experienced Louisville team withstood the pressure and outlasted the Tar Heels 74-67.

“I told them in the locker room,” Banghart said, “‘ I’m disappointed for them and with them.’  We just didn’t play well enough to beat a good team. In the first half, we were just totally unglued defensively – that wasn’t the team you’re used to seeing. And offensively we were really rattled, We had 12 first-half turnovers and we’re averaging 12 a game.”

Louisville junior guard Dana Evans lead the game in points, 22, and assists, six. North Carolina senior guards Taylor Koenen and Madinah Muhammad led UNC in scoring with 17 points each.

Koenen drilled a 3-pointer with 1:22 left in the game a 4-point deficit,  71-67, after the Cardinals led by 20 points late in the second half.

“(Banghart) made a good point to us and said, ‘we gotta start delivering the first punch,'” Koenen said, “because we are a good team and we are respected, we just have to play like that we can’t keep thinking about, ‘Oh! let’s see what they do to us and we’ll respond. We gotta throw the first punch and get out there and play how we play instead of responding to what they do. ”

North Carolina junior center and leading scorer Janelle Bailey shot 6-9, 66.6 percent, from the field and finished with 16 points. Bailey didn’t attempt a shot in the first quarter when the Cardinals jumped out their first-quarter lead.

“They switch everything,” Banghart said when asked about the team’s struggle getting the ball to Bailey. “They were really aggressive not letting us get the ball inside very much, and we weren’t able to penetrate the defense and made it for a really hard pass. … Those passes are too long.”

What’s Next

Louisville ( 18-1, 7-0 ACC) host the Virginia Cavaliers Thursday, Jan. 23, at 8 p.m.

North Carolina (13-5, 4-3 ACC) travels to Atlanta to play the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets at 6 p.m.