Evans’ 27 points leads No. 5 Louisville past BC 81-70
BOSTON (AP) — Dana Evans was feeling so good, she took a shot that she never practices.
Off one foot, at the top of the key after up faking a defender. No problem, it ended up being nothing but net. It was that kind of night.
Evans hit seven 3-pointers and finished with 27 points, leading No. 5 Louisville to an 81-70 victory over Boston College on Thursday night for its ninth straight victory.
Evans’ highlight-reel 3 made it 70-55 with just under 8 minutes to play in the game. She faked her defender and stepped to her right.
“I don’t practice it. I’ll be honest,” she said, smiling while standing on the court after the game. “I was just feeling it and my shot was going in. I just took it.”
For BC, it seemed like she was hitting every big shot.
“Yes, I felt the same way,” Eagles coach Joanna Bernabei-McNamee said. “I was like, ‘Jeez, come on.’’’
Yacine Diop, Jazmine Jones and Kylee Shook each added 12 points for the Cardinals (17-1, 6-0 Atlantic Coast Conference). Jones added seven rebounds and seven assists.
The 5-foot-6 Evans nailed 7 of her 8 initial 3s and finished 7 for 10.
“She played well,” Louisville coach Jeff Walz said. “She hit some big shots.”
Makayla Dickens led the Eagles (9-8, 2-4) with 20 points, and Emma Guy had 19 points and seven rebounds. BC lost its second straight after winning two in a row.
Boston College pushed Louisville a bit in the third quarter, trimming a 10-point halftime deficit to 49-43 on a 3-pointer by Dickens.
And, whenever the Cardinals seemed to need a basket or two to pull away, Evans came up with a 3-pointer. Her 3 from the top of the key made it 60-48 with 3 ½ minutes left in the third. Louisville held a 64-52 edge heading into the fourth quarter.
The Cardinals had opened the second quarter with a 16-6 run, taking their first double-digit lead of the game at 35-24 on a 3 by Evans from the right wing.
Louisville led 40-30 at halftime.
POLL IMPLICATIONS
The Cardinals entered the week with two first-place votes in the latest AP Top 25, climbing two spots from the previous week. Unless there’s an upset near the top, they’re unlikely to move.
LOOKING TO IMPROVE
Evans came into the game hitting an ACC-best 42.9% on her 3-point attempts, but always wants to get better.
“It was flowing pretty good; about time,” she said. “I’m a perfectionist. I feel like all my shots should go in. That’s just how it is. I’m always in the gym.”
BIG PICTURE
Louisville: The Cardinals won their first two ACC road games by an average of 35.5 points and came into the night with the best defense in conference games, holding opponents to 53 points per game. … With their size, the inside play of 6-foot-4 center Shook and Jones, and the outside shooting of Evans, it lines up to be a strong season.
“It’s what we try to do,” Walz said of the inside-outside combo. “We weren’t able to go really big tonight because Boston College plays four guards.”
Boston College: The Eagles are building and staying with one of the nation’s top teams certainly can help that growth. … They didn’t look rattled and matched Louisville’s speed most of the game.
“What would be good in the building blocks is somehow if we would have won that game and had all that momentum,” Bernabei-McNamee said. “A loss hurts. It’s hard for a team that works as hard as we do to think, ‘Oh, they’re the number five team in the country.’’’
UP NEXT
Louisville: At North Carolina on Sunday afternoon.
Boston College: At Georgia Tech Sunday afternoon.
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