Olivia Cochran explains how Louisville held off Boston College comeback in first ACC Tournament game

It was closer than Louisville would have liked, but the Cardinals did manage to win their first game of the ACC Women’s Basketball Tournament over Boston College. One of the key reasons why Louisville was able to survive and advance comes down to the play of Olivia Cochran.

Cochran was key in Louisville’s defensive effort at the end of the game to force turnovers in the final minute. After the game, she spoke to the ACC Network to explain how she and Louisville held off Boston College’s comeback attempt at the end of the game.

“Everybody on that staff and my teammates, they trust me,” Cochran said. “We work hard every day. We play in game situations like this every day in practice. So, in my head, I’m just taking it one step at a time, one foot in front of the other, and I got us a stop. My team encouraged me and it kept me uplifted, and I’m just looking forward to the next one.”

Louisville went into halftime with a four-point lead. Then, things looked dire after a bad third quarter. However, as Cochran explained the Cardinals knew they had to keep fighting to win.

“We [were] up and then we just couldn’t come up with a stop and they kept scoring, and we were just like, ‘We need it, we need it,'” Cochran said. ” And we just kept talking and the coaches just kept looking at us, ‘Are we gonna fold? Are we gonna fold?’ It was like, ‘No, we’re gonna keep fighting.’ I don’t think it was just a moment in the game. I think we all knew it was going to be a battle because Boston College played hard, and we knew it was gonna be a fight.”

In the end, Louisville finished on a good run to take the lead and hold it. A key moment during that run came off an offensive rebound by Nyla Harris, which she then put back up for two. It was a moment that Cochran also praised following the game.

“Nyla just came up with her role. She knows she can rebound, so just go get the rebound and go up with it strong. She wasn’t finishing great but she knew we needed that bucket,” Cochran said.

With the win, Louisville is advancing in the ACC Women’s Basketball Tournament. The Cardinals will be back in action on Friday, with an early game against Notre Dame, who Louisville went 1-1 against this season, including suffering a recent loss.