Jazmine Jones scored 24 points and No. 8 Louisville fended off pesky Texas-Arlington in the second half for a 76-67 victory in the Paradise Jam Tournament
Jazmine Jones scored 24 points and No. 8 Louisville fended off pesky Texas-Arlington in the second half for a 76-67 victory Thursday in the Paradise Jam Tournament.
Dana Evans added 19 points and Elizabeth Balogun had 12 for the Cardinals (6-0), who saw the Lady Mavericks fight back from a 16-point deficit in the fourth quarter.
Louisville had pulled ahead 70-54 on Evans’ 3-pointer with 6 minutes, 29 seconds remaining. But Texas-Arlington went on a 13-2 run over the next five minutes to pull within five points, 72-67, on Katie Mayhue’s tip-in with 1:33 remaining.
Jones and Evans hit four free throws over the final 37 seconds to seal the victory for the Cardinals.
The Lady Mavericks also gave Louisville fits in the first half, leading by as many as five points late in the first quarter before going out ahead 21-20.
Texas-Arlington was leading 26-25 with 7:01 left in the second quarter when the Cardinals went on an 8-0 run, capped by Jones’ jumper with 5:01 remaining, for a 33-26 lead that put Louisville ahead to stay.
Claire Chastain finished with 22 points and Marie Benson had 16 for the Lady Mavericks (4-1).
BIG PICTURE
Louisville: The Cardinals won their 101st straight game against a nonranked opponent, with their run dating back to the opening weeks of the 2015-2016 season.
Texas-Arlington: Despite the loss, the Lady Mavericks are still off to their best opening stretch since the 2017-2018 and 2016-2017 seasons, when they posted back-to-back 5-0 starts.
UP NEXT
Louisville gets the early game again Friday at Paradise Jam, taking on Oklahoma State.
Texas-Arlington faces its second straight top-10 opponent on Friday, playing No. 1 Oregon.
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