Louisville WBB: Walz and Crew Off To A 3-0 Start
Head Coach Jeff Walz enters his 16th season at the helm for the Louisville women’s program with a hot start. His team, led by junior guard Hailey Van Lith, has now won all three of their matchups up to this point defeating Cincinnati, IUPUI, and Belmont.
Granted, the Cardinals have not begun in-conference play yet. But they are winning the games they should win. Basketball is a unique sport in that typically the best teams win with an exception for March Madness.
Whereas with a sport like hockey, any team could win on any given night. So the fact that these ladies are proving their dominance as a top 10 team thus far is a good sign for Coach Walz.
Louisville is outscoring their opponents up to this point 246-200 with Hailey Van Lith leading all scorers recording 65 points thus far. Van Lith has received great offensive help from Florida State graduate transfer Morgan Jones (25) as well as Syracuse graduate transfer Chrislyn Carr (27).
Yesterday, Van Lith and the Cardinals held off the Belmont Bruins with a 75-70 victory handing the Bruins their first loss of the season. The score was tight all game long but the better team came away with the win and the Cardinals have officially moved up to the Number 6 team in the nation.
If the win was based on the statistics from the game, then at first glance it would make sense that Belmont won because the Bruins recorded a better shooting percentage than Louisville did in both field goals and three-point shots. However the main difference on the stat sheet was that Louisville recorded a better percentage from the free throw line, only missing one free throw the entire game.
The only missed free throw was by junior forward Olivia Cochran. But her impact on the game was felt heavily in other areas on the floor. She recorded the second double-double of the season for the Cardinals with 13 points and 13 rebounds following Hailey Van Lith’s double-double in the previous game against IUPUI.
If Coach Jeff Walz and Louisville continue on the pace they are on, then there is a conceivable chance that the Cardinals may find themselves in the Final Four for the second consecutive year.