Louisville women's basketball sweeps regular-season series with Pittsburgh Panthers
Pittsburgh didn't let Kiki Jefferson go off.
After her 27-point performance against Boston College, the Louisville guard was often the subject of double teams on Sunday at the KFC Yum! Center.
But U of L's depth showed up early and often in the No. 16 Cardinals’ 77-58 win over the Panthers (7-14, 1-7 ACC).
Jayda Curry was one of nine Louisville players to score in the first half — shooting 5-for-5 from the field for 12 points — as the Cards (18-3, 7-1) completed the regular-season sweep against Pitt.
"Jayda shot the ball extremely well today I thought we passed the ball (well)," U of L coach Jeff Walz said. "We found her in open areas, and she knocked down open shots, so then you keep feeding her. On Thursday night, it was Kiki in our Boston College game. So, I think that's who we're gonna be and we've got to be smart enough to know who has the hot hand."
After producing five double-digit performances in the first half of the season, Curry has had four in the last five games, finishing with a team-high 15 points in 26 minutes played. While she didn’t reach 20 points, Jefferson had another double-digit outing, ending the game with 12 points.
Curry led a Louisville bench that scored 38 points in the victory.
"With coach Walz, one thing he's consistently done with me is instill confidence, so it hasn't been something he's not giving me," Curry said. "It's more so just me being confident in my ability to be aggressive and do what I've done for the past few years at Cal. Today, the shots were falling, which is a good thing, too, but it's just the confidence piece and staying aggressive."
Although Lele Love is more known for her defense, which was on full display in the fourth quarter when she pocketed a steal and then forced another turnover in a one-minute stretch, she also made her presence known on the offensive end. Love’s four assists tied with Sydney Taylor and Olivia Cochran for a team high as U of L recorded 18 assists on 30 made field goals.
The Cardinals opened the game by holding the Panthers to three shots for nine points but gave up 20 points in the second quarter for the 36-29 advantage. Pitt came within six, 52-46, late in the third quarter but Louisville responded with a 10-2 run — led by Curry, Taylor and Merissah Russell — in the final 2:28 of the frame.
The Cardinals had no problem putting the Panthers away, holding them to 10 points in the final frame. For as well as they played defensively in the first and fourth quarters, consistency throughout games continues to be a point of emphasis. U of L forced Pitt into one shot clock violation and turned the Panthers over 18 times while holding them to 36% from the field.
"We've got to figure out a way to get that a little bit more consistent where maybe you're giving up 13 or 14 a quarter and not such big swings," Walz said. "I thought the third quarter, we really offensively played well, but we just didn't defend. Those are areas of concern because it's going to be fun here the next six or seven weeks."
Projected to finish fourth in the league, the Cardinals are back at the top of the ACC standings with only one league loss after recording road wins at Miami, Clemson and Pitt. They start the final month of the regular season at home at 7 p.m. Thursday against No. 22 Syracuse, which is No. 2 in the league standings.
Reach Louisville football, women's basketball and baseball beat writer Alexis Cubit at acubit@gannett.com and follow her on X at @Alexis_Cubit.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville WBB in ACC play: Jeff Walz, Cards sweep Pittsburgh Panthers
