No. 15 Cardinals Collect Road Win Over Pitt, 74-44

Thursday, January 11

Pittsburgh, PA

6 PM

University of Louisville

14-2,3-0ACC

Pitt

6-11,0-4ACC

Louisville

Pittsburgh

January 11, 2024 | Women's Basketball

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Louisville wins its fourth game in a row, improve to 4-1 on the road this year

By: Matt Paras

PITTSBURGH, Pa. — The 15th-ranked Louisville women's basketball team (14-2, 3-0 ACC) earned another conference win on the road after the 77-44 victory over Pitt (6-11, 0-4 ACC) Thursday night at the Petersen Events Center. The Cardinals scored the first 14 points of the game and outscored the Panthers 26-6 in the final quarter to improve to 3-0 in ACC play.

It was a balanced scoring effort for the Cardinals as they had seven players score eight or more points in the win. Sydney Taylor led the team with 13 points and hit three three-pointers on the night to go with four rebounds and four assists. Nyla Harris had a team-best six rebounds with eight points while Eylia Love led the team and tied a career high with five assists and had eight points. The Cardinals had 20 assists on 30 made shots in the win over the Panthers. Olivia Cochran scored in double figures for the eighth-straight game with 10 points on 4-for-6 shooting from the field. Kiki Jefferson was the third Cardinal in double figures with 10 points and had four rebounds.

Louisville had a strong night defensively as they held the Panthers to 44 points. It is the second-straight game they have held an opponent to less than 50 points and the third time in the last four games they have held their opponent to fewer than 60 points. Liatu King came into the game averaging 20.3 points and the Cardinals held her to six points. It is the first game this season she has not scored 10 or more points.

The Cardinals came out red hot to open the game against the Panthers. They started the game on a 12-0 run and forced three turnovers in the opening 2:27. Taylor hit her second three of the opening minutes and forced Pitt into an early timeout. The Cardinals ended up forcing five turnovers before the Panthers scored their first points at the 5:42 mark of the quarter. The Cardinals limited the Panthers to just three made baskets the entire quarter and led 20-11 after the first 10 minutes of play.

Scoring was harder to come by for the Cardinals in the second quarter. The Panthers cut into the Louisville lead and trimmed it all the way down to two until the final minutes of the quarter. Merissah Russell hit a three-pointer to stop a Pitt run and Jayda Curry hit a three at the buzzer to give the Cardinals a 32-25 lead at the break.

Cochran led all scorers at the break with seven while Curry and Taylor had six points each. The Cardinals had eight players score in the first half and forced the Panthers into 11 turnovers over the first 20 minutes of play.

Another low scoring start to the third quarter until the Cardinals started to turn defense into offense. The Cards ripped off a 9-0 run over a 3:18 span that forced the Panthers to call another timeout and Louisville held a 42-30 edge. The Cardinals hit four of their last five shots in the quarter and took a 48-38 lead into the final quarter.

The Cards had a quick 5-0 burst to start the fourth quarter and forced another timeout from the Panthers just 1:37 into the quarter. The strong play continued for the Cardinals as they ripped off an 11-0 run that was capped by Taylor's third three of the game. Louisville made 10 of their first 11 shots in the fourth quarter and finished the game shooting 52.6 percent (30-for-57) from the floor.

The Cardinals will return to campus to get ready for a Sunday matinee. Louisville will welcome the Wake Forest Demon Deacons to the KFC Yum! Center on Sunday, January 14. The Cardinals and Demon Deacons will square off at 2 p.m. ET and it will be broadcast nationally on the ACC Network.