Second Half Surge Powers Louisville Past Syracuse

The Cardinals out-scored the Orange 45-31 in the second half after trailing 36-34 at halftime.

Press Release from the University of Louisville:

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The University of Louisville women's basketball team bounced back with a 79-67 win over Syracuse Sunday afternoon at the JMA Wireless Dome. After trailing by two at the half, the Cardinals used a big third quarter to jump back in front and did not look back as they won their seventh road game of the season. The win stopped a two-game losing streak and gave the Cardinals their seventh ACC win of the season.

Nyla Harris led the Cardinals with a career high 18 points and three blocks to go with six rebounds. Mykasa Robinson had a career-high 12 assists and tied a career high with five steals to go with seven points and seven rebounds. The 12 assists were the most by a Cardinal player in a game since 2015. As a team, Louisville had a season-high 25 assists on 31 made baskets. Chrislyn Carr had 14 points and a season-high eight assists.

It was a new starting lineup for the Cardinals as Norika Konno and Harris earned their first career starts. Robinson was also in the starting lineup for the fourth time this season. The Orange jumped out to an early 6-0 lead but the Cardinals clawed back in it. Louisville forced seven Syracuse turnovers and finished the quarter on a 6-0 run to take a 15-13 lead. In Harris' first career start, she scored six points in the opening 10 minutes.

The Cardinals continued the run into the second quarter. Louisville forced two more turnovers and scored the first six points and Syracuse burned a timeout 1:51 into the second quarter. The Cards hit five shots in a row in the second quarter to build their lead to double digits. Syracuse bounced back with a 19-2 run to regain the lead with 1:34 left in the quarter. Louisville tied the game after a quick 5-0 burst but Syracuse hit the final bucket of the half and led 36-34 at the break.

Nine different Cardinals scored in the first half and Harris and Carr led the team with six points each. Louisville forced 14 turnovers over the first 20 minutes and tallied nine steals. Robinson led the Cards with five assists and three steals in the first half. The Cardinals tallied 11 assists on 15 made baskets in the first half.

The third quarter went back and forth for a majority of the time as both teams were unable to extend the lead. Over the final minute of the quarter with the scored tied, the Cardinals jumped out on a 7-0 run and held a 61-54 lead at the end of the third.

The Cardinals raced out on a 14-2 run to start the fourth quarter and extended their lead to 19 points with five minutes remaining in the game. Liz Dixon eclipsed the 1,000-point mark with her layup at the 4:58 mark in the quarter. The lead reached a game-high 21 points in the fourth as the Cardinals closed out the win.

The Cardinals return to campus for their bye week. Louisville will be back in action on Sunday, February 5, when it welcomes North Carolina to the KFC Yum! Center. The Cards will be having their Pink Game promotion against the Tar Heels and will face off at 12 p.m. ET and it will be aired nationally on ESPN2.

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