Olivia Cochran scores 15 and No. 17 Louisville women beat Southern Indiana 75-51

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Olivia Cochran scored 15 points, freshman Tajianna Roberts added 11 and No. 17 Louisville beat Southern Indiana 75-51 on Friday night.

The Cardinals improved to 16-2 in home openers under head coach Jeff Walz, including their last nine dating to the 2015-16 season.

Louisville (1-1) lost its opener 65-59 to No. 5 UCLA on Monday despite Roberts becoming the first Cardinal freshman since the 2020 season to score 20 or more points in a college debut.

Louisville only led 22-21 after the first quarter against Southern Indiana before scoring the opening 18 points of the second to take control at 40-21. Southern Indiana's first field goal of the second quarter came with 3:41 remaining before halftime — after missing its first six shots.

Louisville also scored the opening 10 point of the third for a 28-point lead.

Ali Saunders scored 15 points and Meredith Raley added 10 for Southern Indiana (1-1). The Screaming Eagles are coming off a 25-7 season, including 17-1 in conference play and the Ohio Valley Conference tournament championship.

Louisville plays at UT Martin on Tuesday before facing No. 22 Kentucky on Nov. 16.

___ Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball