PITTSBURGH — The Louisville women's basketball team extended its winning streak to four games in a row with the 77-53 win over Pitt on Sunday afternoon at the Petersen Events Center.
The Cardinals (9-4, 1-0) won their ACC opener for the ninth-straight season and are a perfect 9-0 since joining the league.
The win gave the Cardinals their 10th-straight conference opening win, dating back to the 2013-14 season.
Hailey Van Lith led all scorers with 20 points on 6-for-13 shooting and 3-for-5 from behind the arc. It was the fifth time in her last seven games that she has scored 20 points or more and she has scored 20 or more in seven of her 12 games this season. Olivia Cochran tallied 11 points and tied a season high with 13 rebounds. It was her third double-double of the season and she is tied with Van Lith for most on the team this season. Six players scored eight or more points for the Cards as Merissah Russell had nine and Lix Dixon, Morgan Jones and Josie Williams had eight points each.
Louisville had strong defense to start the game and it held the Pitt without a basket from the floor over the first eight-plus minutes of the first quarter. The Cardinals ripped off a 12-1 run as a result and caused the Panthers to burn an early timeout as Louisville took a 14-3 lead with over three minutes remaining. The Panthers closed the gap by the end of the quarter but Louisville held a 19-12 advantage after the first. Van Lith had eight points in the quarter and Russell added five off the bench for the Cards.
The bench continued to pay dividends for the Cardinals in the second quarter as Williams, Nyla Harris and Russell hit shots early in the quarter. The defense had another strong stretch as they held Pitt without a field goal for over five and half minutes in the quarter. Louisville finished the first half on a 14-2 run as Van Lith beat the buzzer with a three to close it out. She led Louisville with 11 first half points as the Cards held a 39-19 lead at the half.
Over the first 20 minutes of play, Louisville shot 58 percent (15-26) from the floor while it held Pitt to 23 percent (6-26) shooting. The Cards had 10 assists on the 15 made baskets and six different players had an assist in the first half.
The Cards extended its lead to 32 in the third quarter, the largest of the game. Defense was still key as Louisville limited the Panthers offense chances. Pitt made five field goals in the third and had just 11 made through the first three quarters. Cochran got her double double with her free throws in the final minute of the quarter. Through the first three quarters, Cochran had 11 points and 13 rebounds. Van Lith beat the buzzer again with a three at the end of the quarter to give the Cards a 64-34 lead with 10 minutes left.
In the final quarter, the Cards got valuable minutes from the bench as they closed out their fourth-straight win. 12 different players saw the court in the win and nine different players scored for the Cardinals. Redshirt-freshman Alexia Mobley made her collegiate debut in the fourth quarter as she returned from an injury in the preseason.
Louisville has one final game in its four-game road trip before Christmas break.
The Cardinals head to Chicago for their final non-conference game of the season this coming Wednesday.
Louisville will square off with former BIG EAST foe DePaul from Wintrust Arena on Wednesday, December 21.
The matchup is set for a 8:30 p.m. ET tip and will be aired nationally on FS1.
Story provided by Louisville Athletics.
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