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Louisville, KY -- The No. 14 Cardinals sit alone at the top of the ACC with 14-consecutive wins as Louisville defeats the Wake Forest Demon Deacons, 78-54.
Wake Forest won the tip and struck first on a pair of shots from the charity stripe as Cortnee Walton fouled Ariel Stephenson. Myisha Hines-Allen put the Cardinals on the board driving to the basket for two.
Hines-Allen was fouled by Milan Quinn on the play giving her a chance for a three-point play. Hines-Allen missed the bucket, but Walton grabbed the offensive rebound, and Mariya Moore laid it in for two, putting the Cardinals up, 4-2. Ariel Stephenson struck on a three-pointer, putting the Demon Deacons up by one.
Louisville and Wake Forest battled for the lead in the first period. The Cardinals held the Demon Deacons scoreless in the final 2:57 of the first as Louisville went on an 8-0 run to close out the first period. The Cardinals led 14-13 heading into the second period.
The Cardinals connected on 5-of-22 from the field in the first period, shooting 22.7% from the field. However, Louisville struggled from the three going 0-of-8.
The Cardinals struck first in the second period, on back to back buckets from Moore, including a three-pointer, extending the run to 11-0. Louisville's run sparked a Wake Forest timeout.
Out of the timeout, Ataijah Taylor fouled Asia Durr sending her to the line to connect on 1-of-2. Amber Campbell fired off a shot beyond the arc and nailed it, cutting the Louisville lead to one midway through the second period. However, Moore responded with a three of her own followed by a Hines-Allen jumper to put Louisville up, 25-19.
The Cardinals began to pull away from the Deacons with 4:41 left in the half. Briahanna Jackson connected on a jumper and Moore fired off another three, putting Louisville ahead, 32-26 at the half.
Louisville only connected on 12-of-39 (30.8%) from the field, 3-of-16 from beyond the arc in the first half. But the Cardinals dominated the glass, outrebounding Wake Forest, 27-20. Louisville converted 13 Deacon turnovers into 11 points.
Going into the half, Mariya Moore paced the Cardinals with 15 points, putting up three from beyond the arc and six from the field. Briahanna Jackson was close behind with eight points, and Myisha Hines-Allen led on the glass with six rebounds.
Wake Forest entered the third period ready to rock. Briahanna Jackson struck first for the Cardinals, but Ariel Stephenson chipped in two and Campbell fired off a three to cut the Louisville lead to three.
The Cardinals went on another run by a Cortnee Walton bucket, plus one and another three from Moore. Elisa Penna picked up two for the Deacons ending Louisville's run. The Cardinals went up by 11 points and never looked back. The Cardinals entered the final period with a comfortable 54-41 lead.
The fourth was all Louisville. Myisha Hines-Allen up for the Cardinals followed by an Asia Durr three. Ariel Stephenson missed a three-point bucket and Walton grabbed the rebound for the Cardinals.
Durr got the ball in her hands on the outside, but was fouled in the midst of shooting a three, sending her to the line for three shots. Durr fired off a clean shot from beyond the arc on the Cardinals next possession. Louisville quickly went up by 24 points.
The Demon Deacons gave it their best effort. However, the Louisville defense was too much for Wake Forest. The Cardinals walked away with a 78-54 win over Wake Forest.
The Cardinals had four players score double-digits: Moore paced the Cardinals tallying 26 points and three steals. Moore connected a team-high five shots from beyond the arc.
Durr racked up 18 points for the Cardinals, connecting on 4-of-9 from the field, 2-of-5 from the three-point line and 8-of-9 from the charity stripe. Jackson and Hines-Allen picked up 10 points apiece. Hines-Allen led the Cardinals on the defensive glass, pulling down five boards.
The Cardinals extended their hot streak to 14-consecutive wins and improving to 9-0 in ACC play.