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Louisville, KY — There was no way for Georgia Tech to anticipate the fury that Louisville came out with at the start of Wednesday night’s game. Louisville, ranked 9th in the nation, gave Georgia Tech a taste of their own mascot, attacking them like a swarm of Yellow Jackets.
Three-pointer after three-pointer set a quick fast pace for the impending blowout.
“When we play that hard, there’s results,” said Cardinal junior Mariya Moore. “Coach asked us why we don’t just play like that all the time.”
The aggression on the court was apparent and led the Cardinals to a 91-51 victory over the Yellow Jackets, marking the 100th win in the KFC Yum! Center.
After taking a quick lead in the first 24 seconds of the game, Louisville never allowed the Yellow Jackets a chance to catch up. Cardinal starter, Asia Durr, had 13 points in the first quarter—tied with the entire Georgia Tech team. Briahanna Jackson showed off her cheetah speed, while strategically distributing the ball to her teammates, whom each had at least one shot in the first half.
“Briahanna Jackson’s spot at point guard has been a bright spot for us,” said Louisville coach Jeff Walz. “[She] came in this year not playing point and has done a great job with it.”
While Louisville continued to drop 3-pointers, Georgia Tech struggled to shoot the ball in the paint and capture rebounds, shooting just 20 percent from the field in the first half. An early technical foul called on Kaylan Pugh certainly didn’t help turn around the game for the Yellow Jackets, as the first half ended 50-15.
Heading into the second half, Georgia Tech came back ready to fight, putting up more points in the third quarter than they did in the entire first half. However, it wasn’t enough to dig them out of the trench Louisville put them in.
With twice as many 3-pointers, over double their field-goal percentage and almost twice their rebounds, Louisville kept the pressure on. Moore reached her seventh consecutive game with double-digit points, finishing with 13.
The Yellow Jackets pushed through to the end of the game. Pugh and Francesca Pan led their team with nine points each. Despite their efforts, Louisville never felt their sting.
The depth of the Cardinals’ team allowed them to score 37 points off the bench, contributing to the victory. The Cardinals fly away with the win and improve their season record to 17-4.