Louisville "Slaughters" Gardner Webb 92-27

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CARDINAL COUPLE SPECIAL SATURDAY REPORT

-Nita Slaughter sinks seven three-pointers in WBB romp

The University of Louisville got 7 for 9 three-point shooting and 23 points from sophomore Nita Slaughter and easily handled Gardner Webb Saturday afternoon in the KFC YUM! Center 92-27 in front of 8453 fans.

Career highs for the Christian Academy wing...who also added six rebounds in 25 minutes of playing time. Her seven threes is second all-time in most threes made by Lady Card in a game.

Louisville took control of this one early...racing out to a 10-0 lead in the first four and a half minutes. Five different Lady Cards scored in the onslaught and the defense was just as impressive...forcing the Bulldogs into seven turnovers in the stretch and allowing no GWU shots on goal in the first 3:23 of action.

Louisville led 22-4 after a Slaughter three with 12:03 left and bumped that to 35-7 when Becky Burke scored on a fast break layup with 7:38 remaining. The Cards took a 44-14 lead into the locker room...holding the Bulldogs to just 17 first half shots and forcing them into 19 first half turnovers. Slaughter's four first half threes led Louisville in scoring with 12 points...Monique Reid added eight points in just eight first half minutes of action...her points coming all in a row over a four minute stretch in the half. All twelve of Walz's charges played and nine of them scored in the first twenty minutes.

Slaughter had just 16 points in nine
games coming into the contest today
and was 2 for 11 from beyond the
arc. The slump is...OVER!

The teams were pretty evenly matched for the first few minutes of the second half until a Sherrone Vails layup started the Lady Cards on a 27-6 run over the next ten minutes...giving Louisville a 78-23 lead when Shawnta Dyer nailed a free throw with 6:21 left. From there, it was just a question of whether Louisville could get to the century mark.. the Cards managed only 14 points the rest of the way...but held the Bulldogs to just four. 

Defense, rebounding, hustle and shooting all looked better than it did last Sunday...given the nature of the opponent...that was certainly expected .

Louisville shot 49.3% for the game and held GWU to 28.2%. The Cards got 46 points in the paint...and allowed just 16...ten of those to the Bulldogs center Catrina Green. GWU was 0-7 from trifecta land...Louisville 9-25. The Cards out rebounded the Bulldogs 40-25 (Reid 8) and forced them into 36 turnovers while just making 14 of their own.

Starters were Burke, Cierra Warren, Shoni, Bria Smith and Asia Taylor. They had 42 of the UofL points and 10 of the Cards 21 steals.

All 12 Cardinals played...Slaughter's 25 minutes the most and Jude Schimmel's 10 minutes the least. Jude did have six assists, though and two steals.
Scoring:

Slaughter           23
Shoni Schimmel  12           
Smith                10
Vails                  9
Taylor                8
Dyer                  8
Reid                  8
Burke                6
Warren              6
Hammond          2
Harper               0
Jude Schimmel    0

The Cards get a feel good, expected blowout today and head to Cincy next to open BIG EAST play on Wednesday.

WHAT WE LIKED TODAY

-Slaughter's big-time performance. The shot mechanics and release have been there and today it finally paid off. She was much more than just a shooter today, though...hustling on defense, going to the boards with authority and with only one turnover in 25 minutes. We "needa" more 'Nita like that !

Cierra Warren six points in
11 minutes today.

-On line at the line again. Louisville went 15-18 from the charity stripe for a very good 83.3%. Five Cards attempted free throws and three (Warren, Smith and Reid) were perfect. 

-Bench points. Led by Slaughter's heroics...the bench out-scored the starters 50-42. Calling Reid a "bench" player really doesn't seem right...maybe we should just re-classify this as starters vs. non-starters. 

-Asia's influence. Ms. Taylor got the start today, in Walz's quest to find the ideal starting lineup, and turned in a very solid performance in 11 minutes. Four steals, four for five shooting, NO TURNOVERS, and just one foul. Keep it up, #31...

THINGS TO WORK ON.

Relax and let the game come
to you...Sara.

-Paint defense. GWU's center Catrina Green had eight boards and 11 points in 35 minutes. She was the Bulldog's only offense for the the first 13 1/2 minutes of the second half with nine points and the Cards are going to see a lot better than her once BIG EAST play starts.

-Hammond. The talented freshman needs to just learn to relax out on the court. 1 for 6 shooting and four fouls in 15 minutes. She did grab six boards, though. All part of the freshman learning experience. She did battle with gumption and determination in the final stages of the game when GWU brought in bruiser Breynna Winkler to the post and Sara shut her down on rebounds. Look out for those elbows, though. Winkler can swing them...

WE'LL HAVE...players' and Coach Walz's comments in the Sunday edition of CARDINAL COUPLE. Due to commitments and deadlines, we're "booked up" for the rest of the day today...but wanted to get this information to our readers before going out on the holiday circuit tonight.   
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