Fuerhing’s perfect day, big run highlight Cards’ romp
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Louisville didn’t have its head coach nor its starting senior point guard to tip off play at the NCAA Tournament Friday.
Robert Morris found out quickly it didn’t matter.
The host Cardinals, the top-seeded team in the Albany, used a 27-0 run over a 14:22 stretch in the first half to dominate the Colonials in a 69-34 first-round rout. Senior forward Sam Fuehring and senior guard Asia Durr led the way for UofL (30-3) with 19 points each.
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It was a career day for Fuehring, a 6-3 forward, who used her size to dominate the smaller Colonials. She went 9-for-9 from the field and grabbed 11 rebounds. She needed just 23 minutes of action to post her seventh double-double of the season.
It also served as a sweet comeback since Fuehring missed most of the ACC Tournament Championship against Notre Dame after spraining her ankle early in that contest 12 days ago. Associate head coach Stephanie Norman said Fuehring only had one practice with the team during the break.
“It’s just exciting to come back because like leaving your team, it’s not a good feeling,” Fuehring said. “You always want the best for them and that’s something that I’ve wanted, and I sat out like a week trying to get better as best as I could.”
She almost certainly would have topped her career high of 21 points, but Norman, who coached the team while Jeff Walz served a one-game suspension for his remarks during last year’s Final Four, sat her the entire fourth quarter.
Cardinals dominate with defense
A team that played great defense for most of Atlantic Coast Conference play had its best day by far on Friday.
The 34 points scored by the Colonials (22-11) marked the fewest Louisville has given up since it held Middle Tennessee to 26 points on Dec. 9, 2017. Robert Morris’ 12 field goals and 23.1 shooting percentage were also season bests for the Cardinals.
“We had a game plan put together and they executed it,” Norman said. “I thought we got good and valuable minutes from a lot of people.”
Walz, who was not allowed to be in the arena during the game, ended up watching it from a bar next door. He even called the Cardinals radio announcers to give his thoughts about how the first quarter went.
Norman said her boss’ final words to her were, “Have fun.”
Judging by the outcome, she and the Cardinals did.
Arica Carter missed her second straight game for the Cardinals because of her knee injury. However, this time, Louisville had more time to prepare for the senior’s absence. Rather than put Dana Evans in the starting lineup, freshman Mykasa Robinson started. That allowed the sophomore to stay in her award-winning sixth person role, and she added 13 points, six rebounds and a team-high five assists.
It also wasn’t an executive decision by Norman.
“When it happened against Notre Dame, it was like a game-time decision, so we really weren’t prepared to think about it as much as we did having this whole week off,” she said.
With the win, Louisville will play Michigan Sunday at the Yum Center for the right to advance to Albany for the Sweet 16. The Wolverines (22-11) blew out Kansas State 84-54 Friday afternoon.
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