Lady Leps Tame Lions in Rout on the Road 68-39
FULL VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS
Louisville 68, Minerva 39
Brianna Libertore scored a team-high 19 points to help the Lady Leopards rout the Lady Lions 68-39 in a rare Saturday night contest at Minerva High School. Molly Brown and Mackenzie Storlie also each had 13 points for Louisville.
The Lady Leopards’ chemistry in the first half made their offense seemingly unstoppable. Storlie was instrumental in setting up Louisville points as she had at least 5 of her 11 assists in the first quarter alone. Minerva simply had no answer for Libertore who scored 12 first half points.
The Lady Leps roared to an 8-0 lead, but Lorin Clark would hit back-to-back three-pointers for the Lady Lions to cut the lead to a basket. Clark would hit a total of 4 triples for the contest and score a game-high 20 points for Minerva. She also opened the second quarter with a long ball and drew a foul in the act of shooting from beyond the arch. After she hit 2-of-3 shots from the line the Lions had held a slim 19-17 advantage.
It would be the last time in the game that the Minerva side of the scoreboard would have the higher score. The Lady Leopards answered back with a 14-0 run and held the Lions scoreless for almost seven minutes. Minerva would turn the ball over 4 times in the second quarter, while Louisville played perfect in the turnover department. The Leps also dominated on the boards, spearheaded by Brown’s 6 first half rebounds. She would end up with a team-leading 7 for the night and overall Louisville out-rebounded Minerva 28-19.
The Lions continued to play even with the Leps for the better part of the third quarter, but they still could not break the double digit deficit. Louisville made 63% of their shots from the field in the second stanza, which included making 3 of 6 from downtown. On defense, the Lady Leps forced 11 Lion turnovers and outscored Minerva 19-5 in the final period.
The Lady Leopards have now scored 68 or more points in the last three games after previously averaging 52 points per contest. The win is also Louisville’s sixth straight conference victory upping their record to 9-3 overall and 7-1 in the NBC. The Leps will face a tough road test at Perry Tuesday before hosting a possible season-defining game against West Branch next Saturday.
STATISTICS
LEOPARDS: Libertore 8 3-3 19, Brown 5 2-2 13, Storlie 6 0-0 13, Monnot 3 0-0 7, C. Lemmon 3 0-0 6, Rice 2 1-2 6, Minster 1 0-0 2, Risaliti 1 0-0 2, Radalia 0 0-1 0. TOTALS 29 6-8 68.
TEAM FG: 29-58 50%
TEAM 3PT: 4-15 27%
TEAM FT: 6-8 75%
LIONS: Clark 7 2-3 20, Blocher 2 2-4 6, Russell 2 1-2 5, Hardgrove 2 0-0 4, Miller 2 0-0 4. TOTALS 15 5-9 39.
TEAM FG: 15-44 34%
TEAM 3PT: 3-13 23%
TEAM FT: 5-9 56%
Team 1-2-3-4-Total
Louisville 17-14-18-19–68
Minerva 14-7-13-5–39
Rebounds: Louisville 28-19
Fouls: Minerva 9-8
Records: Louisville 9-3, 7-1; Minerva 3-8, 2-6
NEXT UP: The Lady Leopards will next travel to Perry to face the Panthers on Tuesday, January 17. JV will tip at 6:00 and Varsity will follow at approximately 7:30. The Lady Leps won both meetings with the Panthers last season, including a 53-37 Sectional Tournament win over them on February 24, 2011. Perry won the previous three meetings before that.
PICTURES
JV REPORT
Louisville 51, Minerva 26
Sydney Bartolet and Mackenzie Rankin each scored 8 points a piece for the Lady Leps JV squad as they trounced Minerva for the second time this season 51-26. Rankin hit 2 of the Lady Leps 4 three-pointers, while Bartolet and Keri Hupp also hit one each. The Leps built a 29-12 halftime advantage before cruising to victory. The Leopards defense forced 28 turnovers, while only turning the ball over 7 times themselves. Alexa Bates led Minerva with 6 points, while Hollyann Mullett, Emily Nees, and Morgan Paulus all matched that total for the Lady Leps. The JV squad is now 9-3 overall and still undefeated at 7-0 in the NBC.
JV PICTURES
JV STATISTICS
LEOPARDS: Bartolet 3 1-2 8, Rankin 3 0-0 8, Mullett 3 0-0 6, Nees 1 4-4 6, Paulus 2 2-3 6, Hamsher 2 1-2 5, Hupp 2 0-0 5, Noble 1 1-2 3, Hmeidan 1 0-0 2, Zeller 1 0-0 2. TOTALS 19 9-13 51.
3PT: 4 | Rankin (2), Bartolet (1), Hupp (1)
TEAM FT: 9-13 69%
LIONS: Bates 2 2-2 6, Diels 2 0-0 5, Jones 2 0-0 4, Rhome 2 0-0 4, Rodgers 2 0-2 4, Siedschlaus 0 2-2 2, Dunn 0 1-2 1. TOTALS 10 5-8 26.
3PT: 1 | Diels (1)
TEAM FT: 5-8 63%
Team 1-2-3-4–Total
Louisville 16-13-13-9–51
Minerva 7-5-10-4–26
Fouls: Minerva 10-9
