No. 4 Louisville rattles Syracuse women’s basketball, 100-64

The Syracuse Orange lost to the No. 4 Louisville Cardinals 100-64 Sunday.

Coming off of a six-point road loss to Miami, Syracuse was back in the Dome for their second match-up this season against the Louisville Cardinals. In their first meeting, the Orange lost 84-71.

Syracuse was outsized, outrebounded and outscored. Lousiville led by as many as 39 points and didn’t trail in the game.

The Cardinals rebounded on offense and scored off their boards – that was the key to Louisville’s 50-39 halftime lead.

The Orange shot 50% from beyond the arc in the first half which helped keep the game within reach, but Louisville also shot the deep ball, hitting four of seven, which kept the game out of Syracuse’s hands.

In the first half alone, the Cardinals outscored SU 30-10 in the paint. Acting head coach Vonn Read said it was tough to combat the second chance points Louisville had.

“32 points, second-chance points and then 60 points in the paint so I’ve got to figure out a better way to try to help us inside,” Read said.

After keeping Lousiville in reach through 20 minutes, the Cardinals pulled away in the second half.

“Our defense was a little better when it was going right and we were passing the ball more – when it got late, we got tired and we kind of gave in,” Chrislyn Carr said, “Down the stretch, we have to do a better job sustaining that [defense].”

The Cardinals shot 66% from the field in the fourth quarter and outrebounded SU 55-26 on the afternoon.

“Louisville’s just good. They’re not ranked four in the country for no reason,” Najé Murray said, “They’re an offense that’s going to make the defenses not look so great.”

Murray led all scorers with 16 and was one of only three players to score in double figures for the Orange.

“It obviously wasn’t our best shooting game in terms of totality and for the five of us, people under their averages,” Murray said. “In terms of scoring, we need all five. We need even six, seven if we can.”

The Orange will hit the road to play at Virginia on Feb. 8 at 6 p.m.