The evening was far from over for University of Louisville women’s basketball team following a 78-62 loss to Notre Dame on Monday. They would have the rest of the night to think about it.
There were mechanical problems with the airplane on which they were scheduled to return to Louisville. The charter flight would be cancelled and they would have to scramble to get transportation.
“We got two 15-passenger vans and a mini-van in South Bend, and we rolled in here around 5:30 on Tuesday morning,” said Coach Jeff Walz during his Wednesday afternoon press conference. “We took Tuesday off and will practice today.”
The cancelled flight made a hectic week even more so for the women. They will play Boston College Thursday night and then leave Saturday for the final season game at Virginia. The players also must squeeze in school classes and accompanying homework and tests along the way.
The Cardinals, with their 11-3 conference record, are on the verge of earning a double-bye in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament, which begins next Wednesday at Greensboro, N.C. They are one game ahead of Duke and two in front of Syracuse with two games remaining in the regular season.
“The double bye is big,” said Walz. “We have some tired kids. This three-game stretch has been pretty grueling and taxing for them.”
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Thursday night’s game against Boston College has been dubbed “Native American Night” and the coach is anticipating a good crowd to honor graduating seniors Sara Hammond, Shawnta Dyer, Sheronne Vails, Bria Smith and Jude Schimmel.
The coach indicated that some 9,500 seats are have already been sold, and he wants all three levels at the KFC Yum! Center to be needed to honor the seniors at their final home game. The seniors will be featured in the starting lineup.