Louisville shook up the top of the conference with home wins over Texas Christian and Houston, both of which had been previously unbeaten in the league.

In Friday's 63-57 victory over TCU, Louisville rallied from a 15-point halftime deficit and held Conference USA leading scorer Sandora Irvin to 12 points on 4-for-18 shooting. Louisville forward Jazz Covington scored 18 of her 22 points in the second-half comeback.

Defense played a big role again in the Cardinals' 50-49 triumph over Houston Sunday. Louisville frustrated Houston's star player, Sancho Lyttle (15 points, six turnovers), and held the team to 35 percent shooting.

With the tight game tied at 49, Louisville's Angel Bradley grabbed a long offensive rebound and was fouled on her subsequent put-back attempt with three seconds left. She made her second free throw to edge Louisville in front for good.

A victim of the burden of lofty preseason expectations, Louisville began its season 2-3. The team found its form on the right weekend, however, and the conference title race is wide open.

Five teams have one loss in the conference, and South Florida and Marquette lurk closely behind.

Rampant Blue Demons

Since DePaul's loss at Marquette Jan. 9, the No. 18 Blue Demons, who had endured some inconsistency after Charlene Smith tore her ACL early in December, have refocused.

DePaul has won its last four games by an average margin of more than 34 points per game.

Jenni Dant's steady point guard play (85 assists, 32 turnovers) and Khara Smith's customary interior dominance (18.9 ppg, 11.3 rpg) have provided the backbone for the team's high flying offense.

Freshman Allie Quigley, who replaced Smith in the starting lineup, has become the second leading scorer on the team because of her impeccable long-range shooting (.490 3-point field goal percentage).

This article appeared in The Marquette Tribune on Jan. 25 2005.