No. 1 Louisville Pulls Away From Syracuse Ladies

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The 23rd-ranked Orange trailed #1 Louisville by three at the half before the Cardinals took control of the game late in the third quarter to win 67-54 on Thursday night at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville. Orange junior Emily Engstler recorded her third consecutive double-double, scoring 16 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. Syracuse is now 7-2 overall and 4-2 in the ACC, while Louisville improves to 13-0 overall and 6-0 in the ACC.

"They did a good job of transitioning out of our press, flattening us out, and getting corner threes," said head coach Quentin Hillsman. "We have to get back and get our defense set. When you're playing the number one team in the country on their home floor, you're minus-10 in three-point field goals, and you only lose by 13, that should be a 30-point loss. You have to give Louisville a lot of credit and we have to do a better job of making shots."

Louisville jumped out to a 14-6 lead with 3:29 left in the first quarter before Syracuse responded with a 6-0 run in the next two minutes to tie the game at 14. The teams played evenly for the rest of the first half, and the Cardinals led by three, 32-29, at the intermission. In the first 20 minutes, Engstler had 11 points and five rebounds and freshman Kamilla Cardoso added nine points and seven rebounds.

In the third quarter the Cardinals led 39-38 when guard Dana Evans led an 8-0 run that opened up the game, giving Louisville a 47-38 lead with 4:45 remaining the period. Syracuse cut the UL lead to five twice in the third quarter but could not match the Cardinals in the fourth period. Louisville's backcourt duo of Evans and freshman Hailey Van Lith combined for 39 points, including nine of Louisville's 12 three-point field goals.

Cardoso posted her second consecutive double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds while senior guard Tiana Mangakahia recorded 11 assists.

Of Note:

• Senior Kiara Lewis recorded her 100th career steal at Syracuse.

• Tiana Mangakahia's first field goal of the contest gave her 1,200 career points.

• Engstler is the first Syracuse player to post three consecutive double-doubles since Mangakahia accomplished that in 2018-19.

The Orange will close out a stretch of four games in eight days at Clemson on Sunday (12 pm, ACC Network).