GAMEDAY Womens Basketball

Louisville 79, Miami 76

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Dana Evans scored 20 points, including Louisville's final 12 capped by two free throws with 6.5 seconds remaining, helping the top-ranked Cardinals survive Miami 79-76.

Louisville (15-0, 8-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) led throughout in winning their third consecutive game as the No. 1 women's team, but had to hold off a furious late rally by the Hurricanes. Evans took over for the final nine minutes, making all eight free throws around a couple of baskets to give the Cardinals just enough space.

The senior All-American's last four from the line were particularly huge, with the first two with 13.8 seconds left giving Louisville a 77-71 cushion that offset Kelsey Marshall's 3-pointer five seconds later. Evans was fouled after inbounding the ball and made two more to make it 79-74, a safe margin to withstand Taylor Mason's layup at the buzzer.

Elizabeth Dixon scored a season-high 21 points off the bench while Elizabeth Balogun had 14 for Louisville.

Marshall scored 19 points and Naomi Mbandu 17 for the Hurricanes (7-6, 4-6), who fell to 0-8 against the No. 1 team. They outshot Louisville 47%-46% but finished 2-3 on a five-game road stretch.

BOX SCORE

Associated Press

January 26, 2021