Seniors lead No. 5 Louisville in 70-53 win over Va. Tech

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Jazmine Jones scored 18 points to lead No. 5 Louisville to a 70-53 victory over Virginia Tech on Sunday.

On senior day, the Cardinals (27-3, 16-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) got big contributions from their seniors, who set a school record with their 124th victory over their four-year career. Jones made 8-of-17 shots, and Kylee Shook added 15 points and 12 rebounds in the win.

The Hokies (21-8, 11-7) didn’t score for the first 5:40 and were down 14-3 with less than 90 seconds remaining in the opening quarter.

They used an 8-0 run to cut their deficit to 26-18 on Aisha Sheppard’s layup midway through the second quarter. However, they would never get closer than eight points the rest of the way.

A Yacine Diop putback jumper at the buzzer gave Louisville a 37-24 lead.

Sunday marked the return to the court for Louisville guards Dana Evans and Elizabeth Balogun since they both suffered ankle injuries in a win at Georgia Tech on Feb. 20. Neither started, but Evans, the Cardinals leading scorer this season, added 11 points.

Freshman Elizabeth Kitley led the Hokies with 17 points. Taja Cole added 12 points and 10 rebounds for Virginia Tech.

BIG PICTURE

Virginia Tech: The Hokies entered Sunday with a chance for a coveted double-bye in next week’s ACC Tournament in Greensboro, N.C., and a chance to bolster their NCAA Tournament resume. Still, their chances for making their first NCAA Tournament since 2006 remain very good.

Louisville: The Cardinals entered Sunday having already clinched the conference title outright and the top seed in the conference tourney. Getting Evans and Balogun back will only help their chances as they pursue a No. 1 seed in the NCAAs.

UP NEXT

Virginia Tech will start play in the ACC Tournament likely on Thursday.

Louisville advances to the ACC Tournament as its top seed and will play Friday afternoon.