Tajianna Roberts leads No. 7 Louisville past Lindenwood 71-35

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Tajianna Roberts scored 15 points as No. 7 Louisville had little trouble dispatching Lindenwood 71-35 on Tuesday night.

It was a hot-and-cold night for the Cardinals offensively. They made their first six shots in the second quarter to take a 37-13 lead after Grace Mbugua's layup with 5:26 left in the first half.

Then after missing five straight, Louisville (4-0) ended the half on a 9-0 run, making their final four shots to take a 47-18 lead into the locker room.

The Cardinals shot 40.9% (27 for 66). While they overcame a 40.8% shooting performance Sunday at Southern Indiana by shooting 11 for 32 from the 3-point arc, Louisville also struggled from the perimeter on Tuesday going 6 for 29 from long range, including 1 for 12 in the second half.

Still, they locked down the Lions (1-3) defensively. The Ohio Valley Conference school located just outside of St. Louis went 2 for 21 over a 13-plus minute stretch from 1:22 left in the first half to 8:10 remaining in the fourth quarter.

Carys Baker scored 12 points for Louisville. A three-year player for Virginia Tech, Baker surpassed 1,000 career points with a first-quarter 3-pointer that came during an 8-0 run.

Amiya Joyner shot 5 for 7 to finish with 11 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, the first double-double of the season for the former LSU forward. Freshman Ariyana Cradle also scored 11 points, and Mbugua came off the bench to add 10 points and nine rebounds.

Louisville led 62-24 with 2:41 remaining.

Violet McNece led the Lions with six points. Lindenwood shot a season-low 26% (13 for 50) and posted its worst scoring total of the season. They also turned the ball over a season-high 21 times, leading to 25 Louisville points.

Lindenwood returns home to play NAIA school Stephens College on Friday.

Louisville travels to Ball State on Thursday night.

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