Louisville women’s basketball entered the final two weeks with nothing to lose and everything to gain: reaching 30 wins for the first time since the 2018-19 season, a double-bye in the ACC Tournament and hosting the NCAA Tournament for the first time in four years.
The ninth-ranked Cardinals (23-4, 13-1 ACC) are also still in play to win the ACC’s regular season title, though it’s not fully in their control to win. But they did their part in taking a step toward the above-mentioned goals by taking care of business in a 86-67 win over Wake Forest (13-13, 3-11) on Thursday night at the KFC Yum! Center.
UofL head coach Jeff Walz’s concerns about the Demon Deacon’s 3-point shooting were soon relieved after the Demon Deacons missed four of their first five field goals attempts from beyond the arc. Louisville kept them off the glass, holding them to three second-chance points off two offensive rebounds in the first half.
The Cardinals turned their defense into offense and used a 15-1 run over a five-minute span to end the half with a 43-18 lead. They had six assists during the run, four of which came from Laura Ziegler. The senior continued to be Louisville's do-it-all player with 13 points, three rebounds and five assists.
Louisville had built its largest lead of the night (70-39) heading into the fourth quarter, firmly in control of the game. It was the first of five tests passed as the Cardinals didn’t let up at any point in the game with everything still in front of them.
Louisville will stay home to play Florida State at 6 p.m. Sunday at the KFC Yum! Center.
Reach Louisville football, women's basketball and baseball beat writer Alexis Cubit at [email protected] and follow her on X at @Alexis_Cubit.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville women's basketball vs Wake Forest score, UofL wins ACC bout