LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - The scoreboard showed No. 8 Louisville put on an offensive show. Defense got everything started Friday night.
Asia Durr scored 20 points and the Cardinals routed the College of Charleston 86-58.
The sophomore guard scored 14 points in the first half for the Cardinals (10-2). Myisha Hines-Allen added 14 points and 12 rebounds, with all but two of the rebounds coming in the first half.
The junior forward said that even with the Cardinals’ offensive output - Louisville broke the 80-point plateau for the sixth time this season - that’s not what will lead this team to its goals.
“Once we start getting to ACC play, and further into NCAA tournament play, defense is going to start to win us games,” Hines-Allen said. “If we start now and focus on possibly holding teams to 10 points, and under 10 points each quarter starting now, it is going to help us in the long run.”
The Cardinals held the Cougars (2-6) to 23.3 percent shooting, forced 18 turnovers and outrebounded them 32-19 in the first half. The hosts worked their way to a 49-19 halftime lead despite shooting just 39.5 percent.
“Louisville is ranked as high as they are for a reason,” Charleston coach Candice Jackson said. “Their first five, six, seven players, they can do it all.”
Brianna Boyd led the Cougars with 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting and 10 rebounds. Darien Huff added 11 on 4-of-7 shooting.
Mariya Moore added 12 points for Louisville, and freshman reserve Bionca Dunham had a career-high 10.
“I thought we did a really nice job the first 24 minutes,” said Louisville coach Jeff Walz, whose team led 62-22 with 6:26 left in the third period. “I was really proud of the effort. I thought we followed the game plan.”
BIG PICTURE
Charleston: In losing for the fifth time in their last six games, the Cougars once again found it difficult to find their stroke. Louisville held the Cougars to just 29.6 percent shooting, the fourth time this season Charleston failed to shoot better than 30 percent. On the bright side, the Cougars committed just four turnovers in the second half
Louisville: Once again, the Cardinals got a chance to get its bench players significant amounts of playing time as Durr was the only player to get 20 minutes on the floor. Walz emptied his bench, with 13 players scoring.
STAT OF THE NIGHT
9:58 - The Cardinals got off to a hot start Friday, jumping out to a 7-0 run. Charleston did not score until Dajah Logan hit a three-pointer with 7:38 remaining in the first quarter. That meant the Cardinals were two seconds away from holding opponents without a field goal for the equivalent of a college quarter. In Louisville’s 83-30 win over South Dakota State Wednesday, the Cardinals forced the Jackrabbits to miss their final nine shots over the last 7:36.
POLL IMPLICATIONS
Louisville won its fourth straight. If Louisville takes care of business this weekend, the Cardinals should stay right where they are in the rankings.
UP NEXT
Charleston will stay in the Bluegrass State as it travels to Western Kentucky on Sunday.
Louisville will host Evansville on Sunday to end a six-game homestand.
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