Before No. 17 Louisville women’s basketball played No. 3 South Carolina, Cardinals coach Jeff Walz opted to have forward Laura Ziegler try running the point.
When he asked her if she had a problem with that, the Saint Joseph’s transfer said, “No, sir.” Walz’s request goes to a bigger challenge for his team: contribute everywhere on the floor, not just in scoring.
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The Cardinals’ reward for being more receptive to the challenge on Saturday was an 89-65win over No. 18 Tennessee during the Women’s Champions Classic at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
“Our effort was elite,” said Walz, who’s now two wins from 500 career victories as a head coach. “I thought our effort was what separated us: rebounding, diving on the floor after loose balls. In the first half, there’s a loose ball. We dive on the floor, we end up getting it, we kick it to Laura, she hits a 3. Plays like that are what gets everybody excited.”
Louisville (12-3) finished nonconference action with a 2-3 record against top-25 teams. It’s the only team in the ACC to have played five ranked opponents in the first two months of the season. The challenging stretch will be key when conference action resumes Jan. 1, when Louisville hosts SMU.
Ziegler has been one of the main Cardinals to have embraced being a do-it-all player. When her scoring wasn’t there, she still rebounded the ball, leading the team with 7.4 boards per game. If either of those two categories were lacking, she relied on her ball-handling skills, going back to her days of playing point guard in Denmark.
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“When I got to the States, I was tall. My coach was like, you’ve got to get in the paint a little bit,” Ziegler recalled after the Cardinals’ win over Eastern Kentucky. “I was like, dang it. But I’m good. I’ve been playing stretch ball a lot, which means I often have been handling the ball. It’s definitely been different. … I see it as a challenge.”
Ziegler had a well-rounded game of 10 points, eight rebounds and six assists, with rebounding playing a key part in Louisville’s success. The team had 12 second-chance points on six offensive rebounds during the second quarter for a 41-36 halftime lead. Elif Istanbulluoglu led the battle of the boards with a career-high 14, helping the Cards outrebound the Vols (7-3), 59-37.
“In practice, he said five to the glass every single time, and if we could do it, push it or go back up and shoot it,” said Imari Berry, who finished with a double-double (15 points, 13 rebounds) to go along with four steals and three assists against her home state university. “We executed really well.”
Ziegler later played the role of a cheerleader, pumping up the team after a layup from Reyna Scott that put the team up, 68-52, with 8:21 left in the game.
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“She’s positive all the time, no matter what,” Istanbulluoglu said of Ziegler. “She doesn’t do just one job. She basically does every job on the court, which she can do. When things (are) going down, I know she’s going to be the first person to communicate (with) all of us. I think she’s a great leader on the court and off the court also.”
Scott, who scored 12 points, has been part of a Louisville bench that averages the fourth-most points per game in the country (35.5). And on defense, Berry and Skylar Jones combined efforts to pocket four steals during a third quarter in which Louisville forced 12 Tennessee turnovers for eight points. Berry’s final steal came in the final seconds, preventing the Vols from cutting into Louisville’s 63-52 lead.
Similarly, Louisville’s turnover troubles allowed Tennessee to stay in the game early. The Cardinals had three consecutive turnovers midway through the opening frame for the early 10-all game. They finished with 20 turnovers, well above their average of 11.8 per game. But unlike the Volunteers, UofL found other ways to make up for the miscues, heeding Walz’s words of being all-around contributors.
“It’s a great win,” Walz said. “We are playing some pretty good basketball. I wish we weren’t going on break right now, just how we’re passing the basketball, how we’re sharing the ball, everybody’s involved, the attitudes.”
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Reach Louisville football, women’s basketball and baseball beat writer Alexis Cubit at acubit@gannett.com and follow her on X at @Alexis_Cubit.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville WBB benefits from Laura Ziegler position switch vs Vols
