Only one Top 25 NCAAW game yesterday, but it was noteworthy. Louisville was on the road at NC State. In the first half, the Cardinals looked pretty road-weary, even with a small lead. But then the Wolfpack got hungry and started shooting. They went on an 18-8 run, with Aziaha James getting it going with a pair of 3s. She scored 16 of her 28 points in the first quarter. Things got no better for Louisville, who were outscored in the second quarter 19-8, which widened the NC State lead to seventeen at the half.
The first couple of minutes of the third looked dismal for both teams until Louisville started finding the rim. You could see Jeff Walz’s expression begin to change, looking a little more convinced that his team was back on track. Conversely, Wes Moore looked visibly frustrated, watching his team let Louisville back in the game. There was not an overabundance of turnovers.
Louisville – NC State and the second half
The problem was they were not the result of good defense, but rather sloppy play and a fair number of fouls, resulting in many trips to the stripe. Louisville went 13-17 and NC State 17-24. Halfway through the third, the Wolfpack regained their composure and started playing better ball. Louisville cut the lead down to ten by the end of the third quarter, outscoring NC State 19-12.
The fourth quarter wasn’t quite a slugfest, but a pretty good sparring as Louisville only got as close as six, but just couldn’t get over the hump, with the Wolfpack winning 77-67. James led the way for NC State with 28 points and seven boards.
Madison Hayes, who along with James played the entire 40 minutes, scored 12 points and had 10 boards. River Baldwin added ten points. For Louisville, Olivia Cochran scored 17 points with 12 boards, Kiki Jefferson scored 16, and Jayda Curry 10 off the bench. The game was Louisville’s second conference loss and NC State’s eighth conference win.
Purdue and Michigan State win in Big Ten NCAAW action
Purdue beat Illinois in overtime 77-72. Illinois sits in a three-way tie for eighth in the Big Ten and Purdue is tied with Wisconsin and Northwestern for eleventh. Minnesota lost to Michigan State 76-65. It was another tale of two halves, with the Spartans outscoring the Gophers 47-24 in the first half, and Minnesota taking the second half 41-29. The absence of Mara Braun for the Gophers is huge.
For the Spartans, Moira Joiner led with 21 points and 9 boards, with Julia Ayrault adding 16 points and 7 rebounds, and DeeDee Hagemann added 13 points. Off the bench, Theryn Hallock added 10. The Gophers were led by Janay Sanders with 23, Mallory Heyer with 14 points and 11 boards, and Sophie Hart adding 10 points and 11 rebounds. The Gophers went on a tear during the non-conference schedule, losing only to UConn to make it an 11-1 run.
The next loss was to Iowa, and then the losses started to accumulate. At the moment, Charlie Creme’s Bracketology has the Gophers as the first team out, so if they have any hopes of making the tournament, they are going to have to dig deep and find a way to make it work with Braun. Michigan State sits at an eighth seed, sitting fourth in the Big Ten conference standings.
And that, my friends, as they say, is that.’ — Martin Ruben.
Follow Beyond Women’s Sports for more from the world of sports.
