Asia Durr scored 33 points to help No. 5 Louisville beat Western Kentucky 102-80 on Tuesday night and get coach Jeff Walz his 300th career win.
Durr scored the first 11 points for the Cardinals (1-0) and had 21 by halftime as the team shot an efficient 56 percent from the floor and 47 percent from 3-point range.
Already the winningest coach at Louisville, Walz got No. 300 in the same E.A. Diddle Arena where he started his career as a Western Kentucky graduate assistant in 1996-97.
Tuesday also marked the head coaching debut of Greg Collins at Western Kentucky (0-1). The defending Conference USA Tournament champion Lady Toppers orchestrated two runs in the first half to trim Louisville’s lead to single digits, but Durr and the Cardinals never let it get close.
Louisville used a 26-2 run in the last six minutes of the third quarter to lead by 34 points going into the fourth.
Durr played just three quarters and finished 12-of-21 from the floor with seven 3-pointers. Arica Carter finished with 19 points and accounted for four of Louisville’s 16-of-34 shooting from behind the arc.
Alexis Brewer led Western Kentucky with 22 points in her first game since sitting out a season after transferring from West Virginia.
BIG PICTURE
Louisville had 10 different scorers with Walz emptying the bench in the fourth quarter. Pittsburgh transfer Yacine Diop had a double-double in her first game as a Cardinal with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Kentucky native Lindsey Duvall scored six points for Louisville in her collegiate debut.
UP NEXT
Louisville plays at UT-Chattanooga on Friday
Western Kentucky plays Oklahoma for the first time since 1985 in Norman, Oklahoma on Friday.
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