GAME REPORT...Louisville vs. Pitt
-Cards rally to force overtime
-BIG EAST Tuesday Night results
-Early Kentucky Derby peek
The Lady Cards came from seven down with 3:32 left in the game tonight and forced a 60-60 overtime...taking the Panthers in the extra session 71-66. Not a spectacular or impressive win by Louisville tonight, but a win against an inspired Pitt women's basketball team and a clutch effort by Shoni and Slaughter to secure it.
Shoni finished with sixteen to lead four Lady Cards in double figures. Her seven straight near the end of the game were key in getting the Cards back in the contest. Here we go...
Starters: Shoni, Taylor, Vails, Smith and Burke
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| BB was hot early vs. Pitt. |
Pitt rallied back and tied it at 10-10 after a Leeza Burdgess jumper with 14:06 to go. A inside score from Shawnta Dyer and a Nita Slaughter three gave Louisville a 18-13 lead and Dyer connected again in the paint to make it 20-15 Lady Cards with 10:53 remaining. Pitt rallied to get within one at 20-19...but a three from Shoni and two Sherrone Vails layups off passes from Shoni had Louisville up 27-19 with 5:54 left in the half.
Vails second layup was the last basket of the half for the Lady Cards.
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| Agnus Berenato had Pitt prepared for the Lady Cards |
Burke's 10 points...nine of them on 3-3 three point shooting led Louisville. Only four other Cards scored in the first half...Vails with six, Slaughter and Shoni with five each and Dyer getting four. All but Shelby played. Louisville was out rebounded by seven in the first half and was definitely having trouble stopping Pitt on the offensive boards.
The Cards also needed to find a way to get the ball through the net from the floor to begin the second half. It looked like they might have found the answer early...as Vails and Shoni scored early to put Louisville up 34-27. Pitt roared back, though, and a Dowd 3 made it a two point game at 37-35 with 16:32 remaining.
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| Sho-time magic late in the second half for the Lady Cards |
The Cards went to work. Two Dyer free throws, followed by two Bria Smith free throws got Louisville within three. It was Pitt 55-50, though, with 2:43 remaining and Louisville needed a scorer and a spark.
It became "Sho" time.
Shoni's jumper cut it to three. A Shoni three after a steal made it 55-55. Her third basket in a row capped a 7-0 Schimmel run and Louisville had regained the lead 57-55. Louisville fouled Burgess on a made basket, though, and her free throw gave Pitt a 58-57 advantage with 1:22 left.
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| I can do some pretty good shootin' myself, dag nabbit!! |
Anderson scored to start the overtime but Slaughter returned the favor with a jumper. She connected again with 3:25 left in the overtime to make it 64-62 Louisville. Kiesel put Pitt ahead with a 3-pointer at the 2:52 mark. Bria Smith drove and scored on the next possession, though, to give Louisville a 66-65 lead. An Anderson free throw tied it at 66-66 with 2:14 left. She had missed two charity tosses two seconds earlier...but grabbed her own rebound and got fouled again....making one out of two the second time around.
Shawnta Dyer put the Cards ahead to stay with a free throw at the 2:13 mark. Then Bria Smith scored on a drive to the basket to give the Lady Cards a 69-66 lead and 1:30 to go.
Pitt would not score again and Anderson fouled Burke - who cashed in two free throws with 16 seconds left for the final....71-66.
Cards win! Cards win!
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| The Irish are next for the Lady Cards on Monday, 2 p.m. |
They kept Pittsburgh scoreless in the final 2:13 of overtime - Smith and Shoni doing the job on defense against Anderson (who fouled out with 16 seconds left) and Kiesel.
Sophomore Schimmel ended with 16 and was joined in double figures by Slaughter(15), Burke (15) and Dyer, who had 11 points and 13 rebounds. Vails ended up with eight and Smith six. Bria's points all in the final three minutes of the second half and overtime. Taylor, Hammond, Jude and Shelby Harper played but did not score.
Pitt got 22 each from guards Kiesel and Anderson. They're a freshman and a sophomore and they were spectacular tonight for Agnus Berenado's Panthers tonight.
So, the Lady Cards survive on the road. Eight conference wins now, a number that Coach Walz feels will get them in the NCAA Tournament.
Six days to prepare for Notre Dame. Based on tonight's hap-hazard performance, they'll need those days. We're very proud of the way the Cards fought back tonight and got a come-from-behind win in front of anywhere from 500-1555 in attendance (depending on whose numbers you want to adhere to). The Louisville swimming and diving team - competing in the BIG EAST Tournament in Pittsburgh was there, helping boosting the number and providing vocal support.
This was an ugly game. An effort like this against the Irish and the #4 team in the nation will wipe the floor with the Lady Cards. But, it's a "W" and this is the BIG EAST, where anything can happen.
We wonder if the BIG 12 will be like this?
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In other BIG EAST WBB Tuesday action:
--Georgetown got 17 points from Sugar, Sugar and gained a road win over Villanova 60-54. Sweeney finished with 16 for 'Nova.
--Norte Dame defended Purcell Pavillion with a 66-47 win over Providence. Skylar Diggins with 19 for the Irish, Rachel Barnes earned 16 for the Friars. Notre Dame was 1-5 from 3-point range in this one.
--USF travelled to Milwaukee and knocked off the Marquette Golden Eagles 61-48. They held Katherine Plouffe to single digits and "the Russian Rocket" Inga Orekhova had 14 for Jose Fernandez crew. Sasha Bernard contributed 10 for the Bulls.
Only one BIG EAST match-up for Wednesday night...but it should be a great one...Rutgers and WVU in Morgantown.
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We like our buddy J.J.'s blog on horseracing. In the money.
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| J.J knows horses. Way better than we do. |
She put up her weekly entry yesterday and it is chock full of great information about the three year olds. GIve it a click.
We think you should go over there and read it if you have an interest in thoroughbred racing. She covers the best three year olds all around the nation this week and there is some very good information and insights about the "road to the roses" for the contenders.
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Glad the ladies figured it out and won a much needed game tonight. No way it should have been that close. A win is a win though. Does anyone have any idea what BETV is and how to access it. I am going to be out of town for the DePaul game and U of L's website shows that it will be on tv on BETV.
ReplyDeleteIf your travelling to a BIG EAST city, one of the local channels there will usually show it. The BIG EAST web site also had a link to BIG EAST TV but it may be a pay-per-view thing. Not sure. UofL's Cards TV sometimes shows these on the Internet also but thiers is usually pay-per-view also.
DeleteBig East Television. Usually WHAS locally.
ReplyDeleteUgly win but we'll take it. Good teams win games like this. Really looking forward to Monday.
ReplyDeleteYou think we are BIG 12 bound?
ReplyDeleteI think we'll get the invite by early fall.
ReplyDeleteI agree, this had the makings of humiliation all over it. The Ladies pulled out, though. There was some serious clutch play down the stretch by Shoni, Nita and Bria offensively and some huge defense late by Bria and Shawnta specifically that won this game.
ReplyDeleteMy biggest take from this game is the growth. Granted, the ladies should not have let themselves get into this position, but....
early season Cardinals would have rolled over, hung their heads and taken the loss. Late season Cards dug in, gritted it out and got the Win! THAT is something to be proud of! Way to go Ladies!
Your sentiments are pretty much how Walz viewed it in the post-game radio recap. And, we have to agree. They put in the work and got the paycheck. Louisville is the second youngest team in the BIG EAST (next to Pitt) and we could go in to the injuries, defections and blah, blah, blah...but the point is this.
ReplyDeleteYoung teams need to grow as the season progresses if they want to still be around for post season play. This Lady Cards team has. At times, the growth pattern has been supplemented with some pretty rough losses and head-scratching narrow wins, but it's still growth.
And, like knowledge...growth is good. Let's hope they keep growing. The next two tests are gonna be tough ones, no doubt...but they're KFC YUM! games and the Lady Cards play light-years better there than on the road.
Get out there and give them your backing, cheers and love. All part of the growing process.
A Lady Card player (name held by request) mentioned to us not too long ago that she'll remember this incredible fan support for Lady Cards basketball years after she's finished playing here. "It's like rock-star status. Off campus, in the malls, out eating, even at stop lights. I'm known better here than in my hometown where I grew up. I love it."
Let's create a few more memories for her, Lady Cards fans. Rally up and get to the final two home games.