PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas (AP) — Chrislyn Carr scored 19 points to help No. 6 Louisville beat No. 3 Texas 71-63 in Sunday night’s consolation bracket at the Battle 4 Atlantis, sending the Longhorns to their second straight loss in the tournament.
Morgan Jones and Hailey Van Lith each added 18 points for the Cardinals (4-1), who pulled away in the fourth quarter to bounce back from their first loss of the season.
Aaliyah Moore had 19 points and eight rebounds while drawing multiple charges to lead Texas (1-3), which lost for the third time this week and is off to the program’s worst start in nearly a quarter-century.
This was a projected matchup when the brackets were released for the second tournament at the Atlantis resort, though it came in an unexpected place: the consolation round after each lost its first-round game.
First it was Texas, which fell to Marquette 68-61. It was a performance that had coach Vic Schaefer saying his team had been “out-toughed,” had shown an “unwillingness” to play together and that he was having trouble getting his players to run the plays he called.
Louisville coach Jeff Walz was also in a blunt mood about after losing to Gonzaga in overtime, saying his team “just didn’t have all five competing at the same time.”
One night later, Walz’s team found a response, while Schaefer’s team fell to 0-2 in the Bahamas.
BIG PICTURE
Louisville: The rebounding, or lack thereof, was a particular irritation for Walz in the Gonzaga loss. After being beaten 50-31 on the glass, the Cardinals battled to a draw (32-all, 11-all offensive) with a big Longhorns team — and that included when the Cardinals got three offensive boards to set up Carr’s 3-pointer to beat the shot clock as Louisville made its move midway through the fourth quarter..
Texas: The Longhorns are still playing without star guard Rori Harmon due to injury, which had her watching from the bench with a gray protective boot on her right foot. The Longhorns are off to their first 1-3 start since the 1998-99 season without her.
UP NEXT
Louisville: The Cardinals will face South Dakota State in Monday’s fifth-place game.
Texas: The Longhorns will face Rutgers in Monday’s seventh-place game.
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Follow Aaron Beard on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/aaronbeardap
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AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25