Only being down three going into halftime, Northern Kentucky battled with Louisville. Even with the height difference, the Norse kept it even on the board and shot a stellar 50% throughout the first two quarters.
With some back-and-forth play in the third quarter, the Norse came down, scored off a Mia Jordan three-pointer that put them up by one, 38-37, but the Cardinals didn’t want to go away
Louisville’s Reyna Scott stole the ball from Mya Meredith. Scott pushed it up the floor and bounced passed it between two NKU defenders to find Tajianna Roberts. Roberts took one hard dribble, brought the ball up and scooped up the ball for the underhanded lay-up. It banked off the glass and went in, putting Louisville up by three.
After that, Louisville went on a 10-3 run, and the Norse started to fade away. The fourth quarter is where things got out of hand for the Norse.
The Cardinals dominated the fourth quarter, going on a 20-0 run, while shooting the ball at a 72% clip from the field and 80% from three, pushing the game out of reach for NKU, as the number 20-ranked team in the nation won 89-61. Moving NKU’s record to 0-2 on the season.
National player of the year candidate, Roberts, was the star for Louisville. She put up 23 points on 10-16 shooting. She started slow for Louisville as NKU was able to contain her well, only putting up six points through the first two quarters, but the second half is where she came alive. Roberts put up 17 points in the second half, getting to her spots.
Kamora Morgan didn’t back down in the bright light of the Yum Center. She had 13 points, three rebounds and three assists. In the third, Morgan stepped up, going for six points, two rebounds and two assists. She also had multiple plays where she finished through contact.
Maddie Moody also played well for the Norse, kicking off the game with two made three pointers. She finished the game with 11 points and three rebounds, shooting 4-7 from the field.
For the first three quarters, the Norse held strong, having six ties and six different lead changes. Louisville had the size on NKU, with no player on the Cardinals roster under 5 ’10. This wasn’t a huge factor until the fourth quarter, when Jeff Hans believes it really got to them.
“We kept it pretty close for about three quarters. I think just their size, their athleticism, their speed, just wore us out a lot on defense, especially,” Hans said.
Even with this hard loss to Louisville, Hans believes the team learned a lot and can take a lot of things to their next game against Ball State.
“I think it’s a major growth. Every day is a growing experience. I mean, we’re trying to really compete for the Horizon League regular season, Horizon League tournament championship, and when you can give that effort like we did there tonight, then I think we’ll see more games as we go to Ball State,” Hans said. “It’s just a growing process. When you have new team, our second game, Louisville’s second game. So I just, I think you just gotta keep growing and keeping staying together.”
Jeff Walz, Louisville head coach, played basketball for Northern Kentucky. He was a letter winner and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in secondary education in May 1995. It meant a lot to him to play against his alma mater.
“It’s fun. It’s always a good time. I appreciate Jeff, his willingness to come down here and play us,” Jeff Walz said.