Return of Reid helps Cards defeat the Governors

CARDINAL COUPLE GAME REPORT:

-Monique Reid has 18 in win over Austin Peay

A Tuesday noon crowd of 12,736...buoyed by thousands of local elementary school children...was loud and rambunctious today as the Lady Cards put away a pesky Austin Peay squad 78-60 in the KFC YUM! Center this afternoon. Louisville used a 21-6 run over five minutes in the second half to bust open a 
36-36 tie and take a 57-42 lead with 11:25 remaining in the game. 

First graders from St. Margaret Mary prepare to sing
the national anthem.

The Cards had four in double figures...Reid's 18 led all scorers...and the Cards got 15 from Becky Burke, 13 from Bria Smith and 10 from Shoni Schimmel to improve to 4-1 on the season.

The top tier of the KFC YUM! Center was alive with the shrieking sounds of youth this afternoon, as Louisville invited over 6000 school kids for a noon matinee/field trip to see the game. The Cards employed that energy after a shaky start...falling behind 6-0 in the first ninety seconds after three balls from Meghan Bussabarger and Kristen Stanback. The Cards roared back, though and went on a 7-0 run to take the lead when Becky Burke sank two free throws with 16:46 left. Austin Peay would briefly regain the lead...but a 11-2 Louisville run, capped by a Shawnta Dyer basket from a Shoni Schimmel assist put Louisville in the captain's chair 18-11 with 12:15 remaining.

Monique Reid made her first appearance at the 11:29 mark and scored a bucket two minutes later to make it 20-16 Lady Cards. Louisville built on that and held a 32-23 edge when Burke took a nifty Shoni pass and banked in a layup with 2:42 remaining. Austin Peay trimmed that back to a three point advantage with 37 seconds to go...but Sara Hammond nailed a jumper with 13 second left in the first half to make it 34-29 after the first 20 minutes.

The Cards were shooting well in the first half, with 12-26 from the field and an excellent 10-12 from the stripe. Becky Burke led UofL with nine first half points, a perfect 3-3 from three point land and Cierra Warren had six points and five rebounds. Austin Peay was hanging around though...thanks to 4 for 10 long range bombing and 10 costly Cardinal turnovers.

A grade school dance team performs for the crowd

Louisville needed to exploit their height advantage inside and came out with the same starting lineup in the second half that began the game with Shoni Schimmel, Bria Smith, Becky Burke, Cierra Warren and Sara Hammond. The intentions were good to start, Warren scoring easily inside to give the Cards a seven point lead 18 seconds into the half. Austin Peay was not dismayed, however...and proceed to go on a 7-0 run to tie it at 36-36 on a Kristen Stainback three with 16:45 remaining. The Lady Cards retaliated when Burke nailed a three and Mo got a score and free throw and then scored again underneath to make it 44-36. It was part of a 21-6 run for the Cards...Reid responsible for 10 of the points...and threes from Burke and Shoni helped Louisville take a commanding 15 point advantage with 11:25 to go.

Austin Peay would get no closer than 11 the rest of the way. Shoni, Mo and Bria continued to score for the Cards...it was 62-48 with 9:50 left and 70-51 when Smith drove the lane for two at the 4:44 mark. Louisville enjoyed its biggest lead at 78-58 when Asia Taylor connected inside with 1:35 left.

Reid led the Cards with 18 points on 7 of 10 shooting and 4 for 4 from the charity stripe. 16 of her points came in the final sixteen minutes of the game.

The Cardinal scoring and minutes played:

Reid - 18 points in 16 minutes.
Burke - 15 points in 33 minutes.
Smith - 13 points in 27 minutes.
Shoni- 10 points in 32 minutes. (with 9 assists)
Warren- 8 points in 24 minutes (with 11 rebounds)
Taylor- 4 points in 11 minutes
Slaughter - 3 points in 15 minutes.
Dyer - 2 points in 7 minutes.
Hammond 2 points in 12 minutes.
Jude - 1 point in 6 minutes.
Vails - 2 points in 13 minutes
Harper - 0 points in 4 minutes

Louisville out rebounded the Governors 52-34 and had 40 points in the paint, compared to A.P.U.'s eight. The Cards got 18 points off turnovers, 16 second chance points and six fast break points. They committed 23 turnovers (Shoni 6) compared to Austin Peay's 18.

UofL had seven blocked shots (Warren 3) 11 steals (Shoni 3) and 16 assists (Shoni 9). The Cards shot 29-59 for the game (49.2%) and were 4-14 from the deep (28.6%).

Austin Peay was led by Scott County freshman Kristen Stainback's 15 points and Whitney Hanley from Bullitt East added 12. The Governors were 20-64 from the field (31.3%) and 8-27 from trifecta land (Stainback with 4-8) for 29.6%. 

Louisville returns to action Friday Nov. 25th. with a 7 p.m. game at Florida State.

THINGS WE LIKED TODAY:

- The return of Monique Reid. The senior has a knack for scoring inside and her stat line for just 16 minutes of play was impressive. She looked a bit sore in the post-game presser and here's hoping she recoups and is ready to go Friday against a tough Florida State Seminoles team. 

- Second half rebounding. Louisville held a slim 18-16 advantage on the boards at halftime, but ended up pounding the smaller Governors in the final twenty. Besides Warren's 11, Slaughter, Hammond and Smith had six each and Vails went strong to the defensive boards with four. Get the ball and you can score...

- Better bench play. The Cards reserves weren't exactly awesome against Xavier but Louisville held their own in the final three minutes today. Bench scoring accounted for 30 points today...even if you back Reid's 18 out of the numbers...Taylor, Slaughter, Vails, Dyer, Shelby Harper and Jude weren't outplayed at the end. 

THINGS TO IMPROVE ON:

-Turnovers. 23 is still too high a number to have against an OVC opponent. Granted...Smith and the Schimmels are high energy, creating guards...but 23 will get you beat in BIG EAST play.

- Fast breaks. Louisville managed only six fast break points against the smaller, guard-oriented Austin Peay squad. The transition game is Walz's bread and butter and Louisville needs to do a better job on hitting layups at the end of fast breaks.

-Starting strong. The Lady Cards came out kinda shaky to start each half today...falling behind by six to begin the game and letting A.P.S.U. go on a 7-2 run beginning the second half. They rallied well...but spotting Florida State a 13-2 advantage when play begins on Friday may not be the best way to secure a win. 

THEY SAID IT: 

(Monique Reid...on her return)

"It feels good to be back. I hated sitting out."

(Becky Burke...on the game plan)

"The game plan was trying to get better... for us. We feel like if we come out and play hard every single game...we're going to win I can't say it was to make them beat us from the outside..we're working on trying to guard and stop dribble-drives..that's one of our things we work on. Today it was about us...getting ready and getting better." 

(Shoni Schimmel...on Austin Peay)

"They kinda of surprised us. We didn't know they could shoot threes like that. Watching film on them, they didn't seem to shoot the ball well, so it was surprising."

(Bria Smith...on her game)

"I think I've been playing well. We get out there and kinda push each other to do our best. Getting to know each other, in practice and games, really helps."

(Jeff Walz...on getting Mo back)

"My goal was to get her out there and play her 10-18 minutes, depending on how she felt. I was very pleased how she played, I thought she finished well around the basket. She was 7 for 10 and missed a layup in the first half. She didn't look tentative at all. Got fouled hard and got back up and knocked down two free throws." 

(Walz on his 100th win...)

"it's one more than 99 and one less than 101. I don't keep track on the number of wins I've got. They're important, though...because if you don't get enough, you lose your job.

But, I haven't made a shot in the five years I've been here. I've been fortunate enough to coach some really good players and have some really good teams. We try to play hard. We try to get the kids in here and not just teach them about basketball, but teach them about life. Things are not always fair and that's what we try to get them to understand. You have to be prepared to face adversity.

Steph Norman and Michelle Clark-Heard have been here all five years with me and I'm very fortunate to have them and to have a great staff as well."

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