Coach Jeff Walz found the fight he was looking for out of the Louisville women’s basketball team. Now the Cardinals just need to find how to finish.
No. 21 UofL had a five-point lead, its largest of the game, with 4:23 left only to watch No. 3 South Carolina go on a 10-2 run to take the lead and hold on for a 79-77 win in the ACC/SEC Challenge.
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Taj Roberts, who led the Cards with 20 points, had a chance to give the Cards the lead late, but her 3-pointer with four seconds left clanked off the rim.
UofL squared up with South Carolina in ways that it just didn’t in its previous two games against top-20 ranked teams. The Cards were overwhelmed from the tip and trailed by 16 in their season-opening 79-66 loss to No. 1 UConn. They were bullied by then-No. 18 Kentucky into scoring a paltry six points the third quarter of their 72-62 loss.
There was no backing down Thursday night at the KFC Yum! Center.
Despite being outsized, they consistently challenged the Gamecocks’ 6-foot-5 center Adhel Tac and her 6-6 backup Madina Okot in the lane in totaling 30 points in the paint.
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UofL forward Elif Istanbulluoglu in particular epitomized their fearless effort, tying a season high with 15 points and adding a team-high nine rebounds. Istanbulluoglu, a career 20% shooter from 3-point range, shot with the confidence that belied the stats, also tying a career best with two makes.
This column will be updated.
Reach sports columnist C.L. Brown at clbrown1@gannett.com, follow him on X at @CLBrownHoops and subscribe to his newsletter at profile.courier-journal.com/newsletters/cl-browns-latest to make sure you never miss one of his columns.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville WBB displays fight, toughness vs South Carolina Gamecocks
