LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The University of Louisville women's basketball team continued its winning ways with a dominant 81-69 win over Clemson Sunday afternoon at the KFC Yum! Center.
The Cardinals (19-8, 10-4) got off to a blistering start in the first half and led 51-22 at halftime. Louisville hit 10 threes in the first half and had 16 assists on 19 made baskets to build the 29-point lead over the Tigers (14-13, 5-10). The Cardinals won their fourth game in a row with the new lineup they debuted before the Syracuse game on Jan. 29.
Hailey Van Lith led all scorers with 19 points on 6-of-12 shooting and had five assists, three rebounds and two steals. She set a season high with five three-pointers and it was her second game in a row she had five assists. Mykasa Robinson continued her strong play since being added to the starting lineup as she tied a career high with 10 points, led the team with nine assists and had five rebounds, two steals and a block. Olivia Cochran led the team with 12 rebounds, her fifth game this season with 10 or more boards. Norika Konno had a career game as she set career best marks with 12 points and four three-pointers while adding five rebounds.
The Cardinal defense got off to a good start as they limited early opportunities for the Tigers. They held Clemson scoreless for a four-minute stretch in the first quarter as the Cards took an early lead. Louisville ended the quarter on a 10-0 run and were up 20-8 after the first 10 minutes. Konno tied a career high in the first quarter as she hit three three-pointers and had nine points in the frame. The Cardinals forced Clemson into nine turnovers in the first quarter.
Louisville's run continued into the second quarter as it scored the first five points of the quarter and forced Clemson to burn a timeout. The Cardinals grew their lead to 25 points as Van Lith hit back-to-back threes and forced Clemson to use another timeout. The lead grew to as high as 30 in the second and the Cards went into halftime with a 51-22 advantage. The Cardinals were on fire in the second quarter as they were 7-for-11 from behind the arc and 12-for-20 from the floor. They outscored the Tigers 31-14 in the second quarter.
At the half, Konno and Van Lith led all scorers with 12 points each. Konno hit four first half three-pointers and Van Lith hit three of her own as the Cards had 10 threes over the first 20 minutes. Louisville forced 12 turnovers from Clemson and scored 20 points off those turnovers in the first half.
The Tigers dug into the lead in the second half but the deficit was too large to fully mount a comeback. Clemson got the lead down to nine in the fourth quarter but the Cardinals were able to put the game away for their fourth win in a row.
The Cardinals are back on the road for their final road swing of the regular season next week. The first game of the trip will be a pivotal matchup for ACC seeding as the Cardinals head up to South Bend to take on #10 Notre Dame. One game separates the Cardinals and Fighting Irish in the conference standings as the two teams will face off twice over the final two weeks of the regular season. Thursday's matchup from Purcell Pavilion will start at 7 p.m. ET and will be aired nationally on ESPN.
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