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Smith, Dixon lead No. 10 Louisville past Washington 61-53

NCAA Womens Basketball: Sweet Sixteen-Oregon at Louisville

Mar 28, 2021; San Antonio, Texas, USA; Louisville Cardinals head coach Jeff Walz reacts with forward Elizabeth Dixon (22) in the fourth quarter against the Oregon Ducks in the Sweet Sixteen of the 2021 Women’s NCAA Tournament at Alamodome. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

SEATTLE- Kianna Smith and Liz Dixon each scored 13 points for No. 10 Louisville, which beat Washington 61-53 on Saturday.

The Cardinals (3-1) led by as much as 16 late in the third quarter, but had to hold off a late charge by the Huskies to win their third straight.

Haley Van Dyke scored 15 points and had seven rebounds for Washington (2-1), and Alexis Whitfield came off the bench for 10 points.

Haley Van Lith made a pair of free throws with 2:42 left to stop the Huskies’ 11-0 run that had cut Louisville’s lead to 54-51. Emily Engstler then hit a turnaround jumper with 1:52 left for a 58-51 lead that Washington couldn’t erase. Van Lith finished with 11 points.

The Cardinals trailed by five early because of cold shooting, missing 12 of their first 18 shots and were 0 of 3 from the 3-point line.

Louisville forced five of Washington’s 14 first-half turnovers over less than three minutes. Then Smith hit the team’s first 3 with 4:10 left in the half to break a 19-all tie and start a 14-4 run.

Louisville led 52-36 with 3:10 to go, but the Huskies rallied to cut the lead to 54-51. Mykasa Robinson and Smith hit three free throws to finish the game.

BIG PICTURE

Louisville: Coach Jeff Walz improved to 14-4 against the Pac-12, but his team hasn’t had much fun against the conference this year after starting the season with a 61-59 overtime loss to No. 11 Arizona.

Washington: Until new coach Tara Langley finds a solution at point guard, something that may not happen this season, the turnovers will continue to cost Washington games. Louisville scored 17 points off turnovers.

UP NEXT

Louisville: At Cal Poly on Tuesday.

Washington: Plays VCU at the Goombay Splash tournament in the Bahamas on Thursday.