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Sights and sounds from Asia Durr’s career night for Louisville

By Steve Bittenbender

COLUMBUS, OH - MARCH 30: Asia Durr #25 of the Louisville Cardinals attempts a jump shot against the Mississippi State Lady Bulldogs during the second half in the semifinals of the 2018 NCAA Women's Final Four at Nationwide Arena on March 30, 2018 in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
COLUMBUS, OH - MARCH 30: Asia Durr #25 of the Louisville Cardinals attempts a jump shot against the Mississippi State Lady Bulldogs during the second half in the semifinals of the 2018 NCAA Women's Final Four at Nationwide Arena on March 30, 2018 in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /
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TALLAHASSEE, FL – JANUARY 24: Asia Durr (25) guard Louisville Cardinals attempts a free throw against the Florida State University (FSU) Seminoles in an Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) match-up, Thursday, January 24, 2019, at Donald Tucker Center in Tallahassee, Florida. (Photo by David Allio/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
TALLAHASSEE, FL – JANUARY 24: Asia Durr (25) guard Louisville Cardinals attempts a free throw against the Florida State University (FSU) Seminoles in an Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) match-up, Thursday, January 24, 2019, at Donald Tucker Center in Tallahassee, Florida. (Photo by David Allio/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

A remarkable night, even by Asia Durr’s standards.

LOUISVILLE, KY — Louisville hosted North Carolina State in a matchup of top 10 teams Thursday night, and the third-ranked Cardinals showed why they might just win it all this year. Led by a career night by Asia Durr, UofL shot 52 percent against the Atlantic Coast Conference’s top defense and routed the No. 10 Wolfpack 92-62.

Durr made Senior Night a night to remember for Louisville fans. She tied her career-high and school record with 47 points and set an Atlantic Coast Conference record with 11 3-pointers.

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About the only person who didn’t realize how big a night Durr was having was the senior guard herself. The player of the year candidate tied her game record on a 3-pointer with 5:47 left in the game and heard a teammate tell her “one more.” She had two chances to break the mark, but she missed both before coach Jeff Walz pulled her to a long standing ovation with 3:31 left.

"“It was so much fun,” she said. “Obviously, I had a great game, but I have to give credit to my team. They were great. They find me on the floor. They made great passes, and they just told me to keep on going.”"

Durr has had incredible stretches during her four years at Louisville (26-2, 13-2), but her first quarter performance against the Wolfpack (24-4, 11-4) night might top them all. The senior guard shot 8-of-11 and scored 22 points in the quarter, topping her 20.6 scoring average. That helped the Cards lead by as much as 36-11 in the opening period.

While the 5-10 guard has not been as consistent from deep this season as her sophomore and junior seasons, she was certainly feeling it on Thursday. She was 6-of-8 from beyond the 3-point arc in the first quarter. The last time she made more than six treys in a game was when she dropped seven at Western Kentucky in the team’s season opener on Nov. 6.

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The reigning ACC Player of the Year finished making 11-of-17 from beyond the arc, but that’s not the only way she helped beat the Wolfpack. They had no answer for one of the top players in the game, and after three quarters, she had 41 points.

N.C State had 43.

"“You take away the three, then she going to hit the pullup jumper,” N.C. State coach Wes Moore said. “Take away the jumper, she’s going to get all the way to the rim… She’s a great player. Obviously, she’s going to make a lot of money playing someday. She’s tough.”"

With each Durr bucket, the cheers from the crowd of 10,602 grew louder and the call by public address announcer Sean Moth grew longer.

Fellow senior Sam Fuehring, who finished with 12 points, 12 rebounds and five assists, said no one deserved the ovations more than her classmate, the second-leading scorer in the ACC.

“She’s always in the gym working,” Fuehring said. “So the game is going to come to her. It’s not like she’s forcing it… You put in the work, you’re going to get results.”

While Walz also praised Durr, he noted that the dominating performance was a team effort. Louisville made 36 shots Thursday and got assists on 23.

Thursday’s win marked the second straight game where the Cardinals shot better than 50 percent and scored more than 80 points. While UofL has remained in the top 20 nationally in scoring offense this season, the Cardinals did have a stretch earlier in the month when they struggled to find their shot at times.

“It gave us a little boost because we had been struggling a little bit at the offensive end with our rhythm,” he said. “I thought our flow was great. Our tempo was great, and hopefully, we’ll continue this over into Sunday’s game.”

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