For the first time since last April, Oregon has lost a women's basketball game. The No. 1 Ducks were off to a 6-0 start this season and even beat Team USA in an exhibition, but on Saturday in St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Ducks couldn't top No. 8 Louisville.
Jeff Walz's Cardinals won 72-62 behind a stellar effort from Kylee Shook, who tallied 18 points, 15 rebounds, three assists and two blocks in the victory. Dana Evans added 17 points and six assists in the win. Evans and Shook combined for a handful of baskets on the night.
WOMEN'S HOOPS 2019-20: Essential guide | Predicting the bracket | 5 big questions
.@UofLWBB's Evans → Shook = Smooth as BUTTER pic.twitter.com/aOni6NEsD2
— FloHoops (@FloHoops) November 30, 2019
Some of what Louisville did on offense was impressive — like knocking down nearly 50 percent of all of its field goal attempts — but what should be heralded was the Cardinals' strong performance on the defensive end. The Cardinals held the Ducks to 17.6 percent shooting from three-point range and 34.7 percent shooting from the floor. Oregon star Sabrina Ionescu was held to just 13 points on 6-of-19 shooting, too.
Louisville also out-rebounded Oregon, 40-39.
Oregon led by 11 points to start the second quarter, but then was outscored 24-8 by Louisville in that period. Louisville would go on to lead by as many as 12 points in the third quarter before Oregon cut the lead to six points in the fourth.
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL BEST RETURNING: Shooters | Passers | Rebounders | Blockers
The Cardinals and Ducks have only met three times since 1995 and Louisville has won each matchup. Saturday was Louisville's first win over a team ranked No. 1 in the AP Top 25 Poll since 2013, when the Cardinals beat Baylor 82-81 in the NCAA tournament. The Cardinals are now 2-11 all-time against No. 1 ranked teams.
.@UofLWBB's Elizabeth Balogun showing some range DEEP in the corner vs Oregon at the @paradisejam! pic.twitter.com/rc0QwoKizc
— FloHoops (@FloHoops) November 30, 2019
Louisville's next game is on the road at Ohio State on Dec. 5, while Oregon will look to bounce back against South Dakota State on Dec. 8. This result, and a few others from the past few days, will surely shake up the AP Top 25 Poll.
SABRINA TRACKER: Where we left off with the Oregon star, what to expect in 2019-20
Louisville 72, Oregon 62. The Cardinals are impressive. The Ducks simply did not shoot well enough to win this game.
— Michelle Smith (McDonald), APR (@macsmith413) November 30, 2019
