Evans helps Louisville survive Miami 79-76
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Louisville hasn’t had it easy as No. 1, but what’s important is that the Cardinals have answered the challenges.
Having the ball in Dana hands has certainly helped.
Evans scored 20 points, including Louisville’s final 12 capped by two free throws with 6.5 seconds remaining, helping the top-ranked Cardinals survive Miami (Florida) 79-76 on Tuesday.
Louisville (15-0, 8-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) led throughout in winning their third consecutive game as the No. 1 women’s team, but had to hold off a furious late rally by the Hurricanes. Evans took over for the final nine minutes, making all eight free throw attempts around a couple of baskets to give the Cardinals just enough space.
The senior All-American’s last four from the line were particularly huge, with the first two with 13.8 seconds left giving Louisville a 77-71 cushion that offset Kelsey Marshall’s 3-pointer five seconds later. Evans was fouled after inbounding the ball and made two more to make it 79-74, a safe margin to withstand Taylor Mason’s layup at the buzzer.
For Evans, the finish came two days after her three-point play in the final seconds rallied Louisville past Wake Forest 65-63. She finished with 25 points, which followed a 21-point effort that beat then-No. 23 Syracuse 67-54.
Evans logged 40 full minutes in those two contests before playing 37 against Miami and asserting herself over the critical final moments.
Elizabeth Dixon scored a seasonhigh 21 points off the bench for Louisville.
Marshall scored 19 points and Naomi Mbandu 17 for the Hurricanes (7-6, 4-6), who fell to 0-8 against the No. 1 team. They outshot Louisville 47%46% but finished 2-3 on a five-game road stretch.
“We played tough and it was a heck of an environment,” Miami coach Katie Meier said.
No. 9 Baylor 82, TCU 49:
Evans’
NaLyssa
Smith had 18 points with a career-high 16 rebounds, Moon Ursin scored 21 points and No. 9 Baylor beat TCU, completing another regular-season series sweep against the instate rival Horned Frogs.
The Lady Bears (11-2, 6-1 Big 12) have now handily won their two home games since a 75-71 loss to Iowa State on Jan. 16. That was their first game after a two-week pause because of COVID-19 issues, and ended their 61-game home winning streak.
Along with Smith’s fifth doubledouble in six games while going 6-of-7 from the field, Ursin had 21 points for her fifth double-digit scoring game in a row. Baylor freshman Sarah Andrews scored 18 points, all in the fourth quarter when the Lady Bears scored 22.
Big 12 assists leader DiDi Richards had six more in 17 minutes for the Lady Bears. But she never returned in the lopsided game after falling to the court with an awkward step only 1:24 into the second half.
Lauren Heard had 14 points to lead TCU (7-7, 2-7).