No. 4 Louisville pulls away from Wake Forest 73-49

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- There's something about Tobacco Road that brings out the best in Arica Carter.

Carter scored 12 points, Bionca Dunham had 10 and No. 4 Louisville used 3-point shooting and trapping defense beat Wake Forest 73-49 on Sunday.

Carter hit three straight 3-pointers during the first quarter after scoring a career-high 23 points on 7-of-10 3-point shooting at Duke on Jan. 9. She also made the All-ACC Tournament team last year in Greensboro.

"For some reason, I always seem to play well in North Carolina," Carter said.

The Cardinals (17-1, 5-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) broke it open with a 10-0 run in the second quarter, held off a brief Demon Deacons response and were in command the entire second half.

Louisville made 10 of 25 3-point shots and forced 26 turnovers and numerous hurried shots. Wake Forest (9-9, 0-5 ACC) used a 45-25 rebounding edge to avoid a blowout until the fourth quarter.

The Deacons played without their leading scorer, Elisa Penna, who injured a knee Saturday in practice. Alex Sharp, the team's No. 2 scorer and rebounder, missed her fourth straight game with a broken hand.

Jazmine Jones scored eight points and had eight assists for the Cardinals. Louisville committed just six turnovers.

"We took care of the ball," Carter said. "When we get our rebounding going, we're going to be hard to beat."

Ivana Raca led the Deacons with 11 points and grabbed eight rebounds to share team rebounding honors with Ona Udoh and Gina Conti, who added nine points and five assists.

"Turnovers are what they are," Wake Forest coach Jen Hoover said. "They really tried to speed us up, and it affected us."

Dana Evans' 3-pointer with 3:35 left in the second quarter gave the Cardinals a 31-15 advantage, their biggest lead of the first half. The Cardinals led 35-24 at halftime.

Louisville scored 12 straight points and raced out to a 19-9 lead after the first quarter as Carter knocked in her three straight 3-point attempts.

BIG PICTURE

Louisville: The Cardinals picked up a victory in their first road game since suffering their only loss on Jan. 10 at No. 1 Notre Dame. The Cardinals play Florida State on Thursday and Pitt in the next seven days before playing host to No. 2 UConn.

Wake Forest: The Deacons lost their fifth straight and dropped to 0-5 in the ACC. But their immediate schedule gets easier with games against Duke and Virginia, teams that had combined for only one ACC victory entering Sunday.

UP NEXT

Louisville: At Florida State on Thursday.

Wake Forest: At Duke on Thursday.

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