Balanced scoring against Blue Raiders leads Cards

SPECIAL REPORT:

-Balanced scoring leads Louisville to rout of Blue Raiders.

Six Cardinals in double figures this afternoon as Louisville wins 118-41. The Cards
were up 58-19 at half-time and had 84 points in the paint. Cierra Warren led the way
with 18 points and Shawnta Dyer with 16. The Cards led in rebounding 53-19.

All 13 Cardinals that dressed played and all but Nita Slaughter scored. The starting lineup was a bit of a surprise to us...Walz went with Shelby Harper, Tia Gibbs and Becky Burke at guards, Monique Reid at power forward and Cierra Warren in the paint. His first substitution was five players...Asia Taylor, Shoni Schimmel, Sara Hammond, Bria Smith and Shawnta Dyer. Charmaine Tay was not dressed for this afternoon games...no official comment on why but academics were later given as the reason.

Same for Ashley Rainey on LIndsey Wilson. She did not dress or play because of academics.
Monny Niamke looked good at the point for the Blue Raiders..getting in 32 minutes and scoring a team high 15 points but fouled out late and had nine of Lindsey Wilson's 29 turnovers.

The halftime parade of costumes was adorable!

The "Show" was up to her old tricks of no-look passes and eye-popping ball control. She had nine points and eight assists in 15 minutes. No Cardinal played more than 20 minutes in the game (Tia Gibbs) and Dyer had nine boards to go with her 16 points. 

The Cards grabbed control of this one early and led 11-5 with 17:28 to go in the first half after a Cierra Warren jumper in the paint connected. Louisville went on a 22-5 run after that and Bria Smith's fastbreak layup made it 33-10 with 9:26 remaining in the first half. The Cards closed out the first half on a 13-0 run to lead by 39...Cierra Warren getting 10 of her points and Bria Smith adding eight of her game total ten points in the first twenty minutes.

Charlie "Dracula" Meade with his father Mike

lindsey Wilson struggled against the Louisville defensive pressure the entire first hald and that did not change to open up the final twenty minutes. The Cards outscored the Blue Raiders 22 to 8 in the first seven minutes of the second half and led 80-27. A Jude Schimmel three sent the Cards over the century mark with 7:26 remaining in the game -making it 101-35 - and held the Blue Raiders to six points the rest of the way.

Lots of good things happened this afternoon for the hard working Cardinals. Bria Smith showed why she was one of the top-ranked guards in high school basketball last year...she has an explosive first step and drives the baseline well. Same old steady and dependable Monique Reid inside...getting nine points this afternoon in just ten minutes of action. Jude Schimmel pulling the string from deep and nailing both her three point attempts and ending with 10 points in 15 minutes of play. Cierra Warren was an absolutely dominating force inside against the weaker Blue Raiders and went 9-13 from the field.

Hello, princess!

Louisville head coach Jeff Walz spoke with the media after the game and was pleased overall with team's performance. No real goals or objectives for today...just to play hard and the Cards certainly did that..in a variety of lineup combinations and situations. He even jokingly suggested that he drew today's starting lineup from a hat. He loves Shawnta Dyer's work ethic and Warren's strength in the paint.

"It was nice to get out and play against someone you don't see everyday." Walz reflected after the game.

Walz on LWC's Monny Niamke:

"Monny is a strong player. She's a great on-ball defender and, even though she fouled out...she did it by playing too hard, which is something you like to see."

Walz on what needs work:

"We are going to go to work Tuesday on fundamentals. We've got to do a better job defensively. We have to get into the passing lanes. We have to do a better job blocking out. We did OK rebounding but that's just because we were bigger than them. We can't just rely on our size and strength. We have to do the fundamental things better."

We were impressed with the freshmen. Hammond is a hard working, give no quarter paint player who can also pass, drive and rebound. Jude Schimmel did get schooled a couple of times by Niamke but her shot is picture perfect...maybe even better than Shoni's...if that os possible. Smith is destined to be one of the top guards in the country down the road. She knows the game, her first step is soooo fast and she glides down the court effortlessly. 

The Cards even shot the ball well from the charity stripe with a 9-12 performance. This is going to be a fun and exciting team to watch this year. Strength galore in the paint, multiple guards that seemingly can score at will and, of course, the "Show".

 Louisville returns to action next on November 13th, with a trip to Springfield, MO. to take on Missouri State.

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