No. 7 Louisville relies on defense early to beat Stetson, 87-35

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Imari Berry scored 16 points for seventh-ranked Louisville and the Cardinals took advantge of 30 Stetson turnovers in an 87-35 victory Wednesday night.

Taijanna Roberts added 14 for the Cardinals (2-0), who had four score in double figures.

Louisville never trailed, but Wednesday’s victory was much more of a grind than their season-opening 119-47 win over Bellarmine on Monday, especially in the first half. They converted the turnovers by the Hatters (1-1) into 40 points.

The offensive struggle started early for Louisville, which missed its first six shots and made just 2 of 10 late in the second quarter, until Roberts’ 3-pointer with 19 seconds left extended the host’s lead to 40-20. That lead came despite the Cardinals making just 11 of 31 (35.5%) from the field and committing 12 turnovers themselves in the first half.

The shots started to fall for the Cardinals after halftime as they went on a 28-2 run, hitting on 12 of 13 during a 5:42 stretch in the third. A Roberts jumper extended the lead to 68-22 with 90 seconds left in the third.

The Cardinals shot 57.1% (20-for-35) in the second half and committed just five turnovers. Four of those came in the final 5:32 as coach Jeff Walz emptied the bench.

Zam Jones added 11 for the Cardinals, as did freshman Ariyana Cradle, who also finished with a team-high five steals.

Amiya Joyner, who transferred to Louisville from LSU, had nine points and 14 rebounds. That’s the most rebounds the 6-foot-2 post player has grabbed since she pulled down 20 for East Carolina against North Texas on Feb. 22, 2025.

Louisville played without two starters, Elif Istanbulluoglu and Mackenly Randolph. Both were banged up in the win over Bellarmine on Monday.

The Hatters, who lost their top five scorers off last season’s 20-win squad that made the WNIT, shot just 23.6% (13-for-55) and were led by Sierra Driessen’s 10 points.

Stetson travels to Miami on Sunday.

Louisville plays at Southern Indiana on Sunday.

Sign up for Top 25 poll alerts here , visit the Top 25 here and see AP’s full college basketball coverage here