The No. 19 Louisville Cardinals were on the road in Miami for their ACC opener this year and battled their way to a 77-72 win over the Hurricanes. They have now moved to 10-0 in ACC openers.

Led in scoring by Jayda Curry who had 19 points, she was one of five in double-digit scoring. The Cards were 50% from the field against a good Miami team and showed improvement in three-point scoring. They went 5-9 from the arc thanks to Jayda Curry being a perfect 2-2 and Merissah Russell going 3-3. The fact of the matter is, Louisville does not win this game without Merissah Russell. She scored 11 straight points in the fourth quarter to secure the win in a tight race. 

Let’s be honest this game was messy; we saw 19 lead changes and 22 turnovers from Louisville. As a team, they were also struggling (again) with layups. We saw turnover issues from Miami as well, who tallied 20 that resulted in 17 Louisville points. There was not a shortage of sloppiness from either team through all 40 minutes. You can chalk this up to it being the first game back after the break, thrown in with a tough conference team on the road, but either way we were all frustrated. In the postgame presser, Jeff noted that they must get Syd Taylor going and I couldn’t agree more. She only had two points tonight, and she has far too much talent to not be this team’s leading scorer almost every night. 

Nyla Harris played 35 minutes and recorded her second career double-double, finishing with 13 points and 12 rebounds. We have been knowing all about Nyla Harris and now the rest of the ACC does as well. Despite being the president of the Jayda Curry fan club, I have to say Nyla was the player of the game for me. Disagree? Argue with your mom. Nyla fought every second she was on the court during this game, and she will continue to be a problem for opponents this season. 

Louisville will host Duke this Thursday, January 4th at 8p.m.. Don’t let their 9-4 record fool you, two of their losses came to Stanford and South Carolina. Be sure to make your way to the Yum! Center for what is sure to be an exciting ACC home opener. 

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Chrissy Banta

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