Louisville weathers technicals, snaps Hokies' 11-game win streak

Louisville, KY -- The Cardinals snapped Virginia Tech's 11 game win streak in a 56-45 victory over the Hokies. Louisville and Virginia Tech battled for the lead in the first period, ending it tied at 13.

Louisville held the advantage on the boards, pulling down five in the first 10 minutes. But, it was Virginia Tech's Hannah Young, who stole the show in the first period. Young connected on two from beyond the arc and one field goal, posting eight of the Hokies' 13 points.

The Cardinals scored the first six points in the second period forcing a Virginia Tech timeout. Four of Louisville's points came from Myisha Hines-Allen. Coming out of the timeout, Louisville continued to dominate, picking up five more points to extend the run, 11-0.

The second period was the Myisha Hines-Allen show. Hines-Allen connected on 4-of-9 from the field, 1-of-1 from the line, posting nine points in eight minutes. The Cardinals smothered the Hokies, limiting Virginia Tech to 1-of-6 from the field, 0-2 from beyond the arc, a crushing five points in the second period.

Louisville entered the half with a comfortable lead, 31-18. In the first half, Louisville dominated the glass, pulling down 22 rebounds, 12 defensive. The Cardinals converted 12 Virginia Tech turnovers into 16 points. The game was physical from the tip, but the tempers flared in the third period.

The Cardinals struggled out of the half, scoring only five points. Myisha Hines-Allen and Virgina Tech's Chanette Hicks, picked up technical fouls that offset. But, Asia Durr got T'd up almost immediately after, sending Vanessa Panousis to the charity stripe to shoot two.

Louisville connected on an unimpressive 2-of-14 from the field. The Hokies outscored the Cardinals, 13-5, in the heated third period.

"We missed a lot of open shots. We were very stagnant offensively," Coach Walz told the media. "Defensively I thought we did a great job. We held them to 13 points. When you can hold a team to 45 points and their most productive quarter is 14, you've done something defensively."

But the Cardinals pulled it together in the final 10 minutes, out scoring the Hokies' 20-14. Hannah Young and Dominique Powell tried to bring the Hokies back, each connecting on a three.

However, the damage had been done. Louisville ended Virginia Tech's 11 game winning streak, handing the Hokies only their second loss of the season. Myisha Hines-Allen picked up her fourth double-double on the season, racking up a team-best, 18 points and pulling down 10 rebounds.

Two other Cardinals hit double-figures: Briahanna Jackson tallied 13 points, while dishing out two assists and taking it away from the Hokies three times. Jackson hit a milestone in the match, picking up her 1,000th career point.

Star-studded freshman, Asia Durr, picked up 10 points while grabbing two steals. The Hokies held Louisville stand out, Mariya Moore, to a low six points. On the game, the Cardinals attacked the glass out rebounding the Hokies, 37-29, while forcing 21 turnovers. Louisville shot 34.5% from the field in the victory.

Louisville improves to 11-5 on the season, 3-0 in the ACC.

"It's a big start for us. Especially back in November we started off 1-4 and really weren't playing that well. I'm not sure anyone expected us to be 3-0 right now," Coach Walz said in his post game press conference. "We're not going to sit here and be all excited that we're 3-0. We know we have a lot of work to do to keep this thing going."

The Cardinals go for their ninth consecutive win as they face the No. 18/16 Duke Blue Devils on Sunday at 1 PM EST at the KFC Yum! Center.