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No. 25 Women's Basketball Defeats Utah 60-55
Dec. 6, 2009 Louisville, Ky. - The Louisville women's basketball team defeated Utah 60-55 on Sunday afternoon in Freedom Hall, to improve to 5-2 on the season. The Cardinals were led by Becky Burke with 20 points and Monique Reid with 11 points and seven rebounds. Kalee Whipple led four Utah players in double figures with 16 points and six rebounds while Taryn Wicijowski finished with 15. Louisville and Utah started out the game going basket-for basket with each other using stifling defense on both sides of the court keeping the score at 4-4 at the first media timeout. The Cardinals jumped out to a 13-6 lead midway through the first half behind a 9-0 run, the biggest lead of the game for the Cardinals. The run included a missed three point shot by Becky Burke, who rebounded her own miss and knocked down a follow-up 3-pointer from the corner. Utah used a 9-2 run to tie the score at 20-20 at the 2:35 mark and claimed the lead with a 3-pointer from Kalee Whipple with 1:44 left in the half. Using an 8-0 run to end the half, Utah went into the locker room with their biggest of the game, leading Louisville 28-22. The Cardinals finished the first half shooting 36.0 percent from the floor, while Utah shot 40.7 percent. Louisville held a slight 18-17 rebounding advantage. To start the second half, the Cardinals were sparked by Laura Terry who scored Louisville's first four points of the half and the defensive hustle of freshman Shelby Harper covering Utah's best player Whipple, who scored 12 points in the first half. Burke proved to be an offensive threat in the second half scoring eight
points in the first eight minutes surpassing her entire total of the
first half. By the second media timeout of the half, the Cardinals had
used a 14-9 run to cut the Utah lead to one with the score 37-36.
Louisville retook the lead for good at the 8:15 mark off an offensive rebound and put back by Monique Reid. The Cardinals used the press to keep the pressure on the Utes turning them over 11 times in the second half. There was a seven minute stretch during the half where Louisville kept Utah from making a single field goal, which helped the Cardinals retake the lead. Utah stayed within striking range for the rest of the game cutting the Louisville lead to three at the 0:58 mark, but never got any closer. Louisville finished the game shooting 39.2 percent from the floor, while Utah shot 40.0 percent. Louisville outrebounded Utah 36-32 and only turned the ball over 16 times, which was the lowest output of the season for the Cardinals. Prior to the start of the game, the banner for last year's National Championship runner-up finish was raised, celebrating the best season in program history. The Cardinals will be back in action on Wednesday, Dec. 9 as they host Middle Tennessee at 7:00 p.m. in Freedom Hall. |
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