By Rob Schabert, Assistant Athletic Director for Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee Tech hung tough through the third quarter Friday night, but Louisville took advantage of a deep bench, effective ball-control and a defense that converted every Golden Eagle mistake into points on the way to a 76-54 non-conference victory in Eblen Center.
The Cardinals (6-5) forced 27 turnovers and held a 40-16 advantage in points off mistakes, along with a 44-12 margin in the paint to fend off a Tech (3-7) squad that had one of its best shooting efforts of the season.
Myisha Hines-Allen topped Louisville with 20 points and eight rebounds, one of three Cardinals in double digits. Mariya Moore and Brihanna Jackson netted 11 points each, and all 11 players who saw action put points on the scoreboard. Arica Carter had a solid game, as well, with nin points, five assists and four of Louisville's 11 steals.
Senior Samaria Howard scored 17 of her team-leading 20 points in the first half to lead the Golden Eagles. Hannah Goolsby added 10 points, while Alliyah Smith finished with a game-high 10 assists.
Louisville shot a blistering 58 percent in the first quarter, but couldn't shake the pesky Golden Eagles. After a 1-for-5 start, Tech went 5-for-7 and kept the margin within six through the first eight minutes, heading to the first break trailing 23-17.
Tech zeroed in on the rim from long range in the first half, hitting 7-for-10 to keep things close. The Cardinals used effective ball-handling and crisp passing to push the lead to 14 points, 37-23, with 3:39 remaining before the half.
A 5-for-6 effort from outside the arc, two by Howard and one from Goolsby, pulled the Golden Eagles back to within five at halftime, 39-34. The Cardinals owned a 20-13 advantage in rebounds and outscored Tech 24-4 in the paint in the first 20 minutes.
The UofL lead grew to 13 in the third quarter, but Tech was within nine to open the fourth quarter, trailing 57-48 with 9:17 remaining in the contest after a layup from Smith.
A 14-4 run over a six minute span moved the Cardinals out to a 19-point lead with three minutes left, Jackson and Arica Carter each hitting 3-pointers in the stretch. The Golden Eagles had four turnovers in that span and managed just four shot attempts.
The final 22-point difference was the largest Cardinal lead of the night.
The Golden Eagles face three more non-conference games before opening Ohio Valley Conference play on New Year's Eve day. Tech visits Middle Tennessee Sunday for a 2 p.m. contest in Murfreesboro, then heads back to Eblen Center to host Wichita State Tuesday night at 6 p.m. The final non-league game comes on Dec. 28 with a visit to Athens, Ga., to take on Georgia in a 6 p.m. contest.
