The RV/RV Louisville women’s basketball team (10-4, 1-0) jumped out to a fast start and held on for a 81-67 win over NR/RV DePaul (9-4, 2-0) at Wintrust Arena Wednesday night. With the win, Louisville finished the four-game road trip a perfect 4-0 and have won five games in a row heading into the Christmas Break.
Chrislyn Carr was the leader for the Cardinals as she scored a team-high 21 points and set a career high with 17 rebounds. It was her fourth career double-double and her first since she joined the Cardinals. The 17 rebounds were the most in a game by a Louisville player since Myisha Hines-Allen had 18 on January 18, 2018, against Pitt.
Four Cardinals scored in double figures as Hailey Van Lith added 17 points, Merissah Russell tied a career high with 11 and Morgan Jones added 10 points. Jones and Van Lith tied for the team lead with five assists each.
The Cardinals were red hot from the floor to start the game. Louisville started 9-for-12 from the floor and ripped off a 13-2 run to force an early timeout from DePaul in the first quarter. Carr hit two early threes and Cochran was 3-for-3 from the floor over the first five minutes of the opening quarter. Louisville’s shooting cooled towards the end of the quarter but Russell beat the buzzer with a three-pointer to give the Cards a 25-14 lead after one.
The Cardinals continued to keep the Blue Demons at arms length in the second quarter and extended the lead to as high as 20 points as the quarter was coming to an end. The Cardinals hit six-straight field goals from the floor and had a stretch of 8-of-9 made in a row as they shot 60 percent during the quarter. DePaul hit a three at the buzzer but the Cardinals took a 46-29 lead into the half.
Carr was all over the court for the Cards in the first half as she tallied eight points and 10 rebounds over the first 20 minutes. Coming off the bench, Russell led the Cardinals with 11 points in the first half to tie a career high in points. Van Lith was distributing for the Cards with five assists in the first half.
The Blue Demons tightened the game in the third quarter. DePaul went on a 10-0 run and cut the lead to single digits until a Liz Dixon 15-foot jumper ended the Blue Demons run. With 10 minutes remaining in the game, Louisville led 58-49.
DePaul continued to fight in the fourth quarter and trimmed the Louisville lead to four with 6:30 remaining. Van Lith responded with a corner three and the Blue Demons never got closer than five the rest of the game. Van Lith had 11 of her 17 points in the fourth quarter as the Cards put the game away.
The Cardinals next game will be after the holiday break when they have their first home game in over three weeks. Louisville comes back from break to face Syracuse on Thursday, December 29. The Cards and Orange will square off at 7 p.m. ET from the KFC Yum! Center and the matchup will be streamed on ACC Network Extra.
by Matt Paras
