Louisville, Kentucky: No. 7 Cardinals Beat Stetson 87-35 as Berry Scores 16

No. 7 Louisville beat Stetson 87 to 35 on Wednesday night at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Kentucky, in the first meeting between the two women's basketball programs. The Cardinals never trailed, improved to 2 and 0, and won with defense on a night when their shots did not fall early.

A slow start, then a run

Louisville missed its first six shots and led only 17 to 8 after the first quarter. The Cardinals reached halftime ahead 40 to 20 despite a cold first half, and head coach Jeff Walz pointed to the missed chances afterward. "We just missed a ton of shots, especially at the start," Walz said. "We had layups, point-blank layups that we could not get to go in."

The game broke open after halftime. Louisville outscored Stetson 28 to 6 in the third quarter and 47 to 15 in the second half, shot 57.1 percent after the break and took a 68 to 26 lead into the fourth quarter.

Defense does the work

Louisville forced 30 turnovers and collected 21 steals, reaching both marks for the second straight game. The Cardinals turned those turnovers into 40 points and held Stetson to 23.6 percent shooting, 13 of 55 from the field. Louisville also won the rebounding battle 51 to 32.

Imari Berry led Louisville with 16 points. Tajianna Roberts added 14, and Zamareya Jones and freshman Ariyana Cradle scored 11 each, with Cradle adding a team-high five steals. Amiya Joyner finished with nine points and 14 rebounds in 16 minutes, and Carys Baker added nine rebounds, three steals and two blocked shots.

Depth tested without two starters

Louisville played without starters Elif Istanbulluoglu, who has an ankle injury, and Mackenly Randolph, who is in concussion protocol. Both were hurt in Monday's opener against Bellarmine. Joyner and Baker moved into the starting lineup in their place. Walz said he hopes to have both starters back next week but will not rush either one.

Driessen led Stetson with a career-high 10 points off the bench and made all six of her free throws. Desireck Nieves and Jorah Eppley added six points each for the Hatters, who fell to 1 and 1 in the first game of a five-game road stretch. Stetson lost its top five scorers from last season's 20-win team that reached the WNIT.

The win followed Monday's school-record 119 to 47 rout of Bellarmine. Louisville has scored 206 points and allowed 82 in its first two games. The Cardinals play at Southern Indiana on Sunday at 4 p.m. Eastern, and Stetson continues its road stretch at Miami on Sunday.