Louisville Beats Longwood 100-37

Nov 25, 2022 - 9:49 PM

After dropping a couple of games in the Bahamas, Louisville was ready for a good old-fashioned thrashing of an opponent. Longwood came to the Yum and played hard but they didn’t have the goods to seriously challenge the Cards today. At the end of the 1st quarter Louisville was up 35-10 and they kept their foot on the gas until the final buzzer.

Hailey Van Lith was out with a small injury. Coach Walz said that she could’ve played if they’d needed her to but he decided to give her a few extra days of rest since they have a big opponent coming to town next Wednesday. With Hailey out her teammate stepped up. Six players scored in double figures. In only 24 minutes of play Chrislyn Carr led all players in scoring with 17 (with 9 of those coming in the first 5 minutes of the game). Olivia Cochran had another double-double with 10 rebounds and points apiece. Payton Verhulst had 16 points.

Norika Konno returned to play in the Bahamas but she played her best overall game today. She finished with 10 points. Norika’s teammates heaped praise upon her. Olivia Cochran said, “Rik is awesome... she played so great today and I’m so happy for her that she’s finally in the mental space she needs to be to help this team because we really do need her. It brings me joy to see a teammate doing so well.” Payton Verhulst added, “We know Rik can score, she can knock down an open 3, but she comes in and gets 7 assists and 8 rebounds.... she plays with heart and that’s a lot of what I can take away from her game”

Coach Walz said, “IQ-wise Rik is without a doubt the highest basketball IQ player in terms of knowing where her teammates are... she sees the next pass before she gets the ball.” He added, “Hailey is by far our best scorer, Kas plays the hardest, O is our best rebounder, and Rik has our highest basketball IQ.... she makes others better.”

Next up the Cards take on #4 Ohio State in the Big 10/ACC challenge. The game is in the Yum Center at 7:30 and can also be seen on the ACC Network. Coach Walz said this is the first home game in a long time where his team won’t be favored and he hopes to get 10,000-15,000 fans downtown to cheer on his squad.