Wednesday Cardinal Couple - WBB: By the numbers

WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

- LOUISVILLE WBB: By the numbers


With the #5 University of Louisville womens' basketball team not playing again until Sunday in Tampa against USF, the news is slow lately. This does not mean the team is sitting around eating chocolate cake and catching up on soap operas. Coach Walz and the staff are utilizing this time to work on player skills, conditioning and it is also a chance to let a few players "heal up" before the Sunday-Tuesday/Wednesday grind that is conference play gets into full operational mode.

With the Cards at 15-1...who are the leaders in the major categories? We present the numbers to you:

Points per game

Shoni Schimmel leads the way here with an average of 16.4 points per game. Sara Hammond scores 10.8 a contest and Bria Smith totals 10.0. Asia Taylor has dropped to below double digits...but a couple of big games could have her up there competing for second and third place. What is interesting is that eight WBB players average over 8.0 a game. Shut down one and another will get you...

Total Points

Shoni has 263. Sara 173 and Bria 160. Did you expect any differently? Shoni scores. Angel McCoughtry set the school record with 901 in a season. #35 is also second and third in school history in points scored per season. Shoni probably doesn't have a shot at surpassing the 754 that Angel put up in 2006-07...but if the Cards go deep in the tournament...you never know.

Field Goal %

Cortnee Walton leads the way with a .583 shooting percentage. Sara is close behind at .579 and Shawnta Dyer not far behind with a .571 number. Given the number of close-in misses the Cards seem to have each game...all three of these players could easily be over 60% if their accuracy can improve in the next 16 conference games. Nell Knox holds the record with a .628 in 1991-92.

Three-point %

We see Shoni atop the list again with .375. Nita Slaughter isn't far behind (and back!) at .361. Tia Gibbs takes third at .340. They've got a lot of work ahead of them to beat Jill Morton's .535 in the 1999-2000 season.

Free Throws

Much has been made about the Cards woes at the charity stripe. Don't blame Shoni, she is at 83% for the season. Asia Taylor is knocking down 76% of her free tosses and Tia is good 74% of the time. No one will probably ever match Kristin Mattox's 92%...which led the nation back in 1995-96.

Rebounds

This one just might go down to the wire this season. Asia has 106 and Sara has 105. Angel's 362 for a season is in no danger of being topped. Will the Cards ever get another double-digit per game board grabber?

Assists

Whose the best at "lending a hand"? Jude Schimmel averages 4.3 a game. Shoni follows at 3.8 and Bria gives out
2.2 a contest.

Stats being what they are...it is evident that this year's team has a wealth of players that can hurt opponents in a lot of different ways. Over the past several games, Shoni has shook her early-season slump and is averaging over 20 points a game. With Nita back...the Cards now have four threats from beyond the arc.

Are there any season record setters in the offing? Probably not...but, as we all know...teams, not individuals, win titles and games in college basketball.

The national media will tell you from time-to-time that this is Shoni's team. Shoni will tell you that it's a team effort. I like Shoni's version. My guess is she could out-shoot any national media representative out there...

paulie

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