15-4 UofL run gives Cards 22nd win
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Two things happened that changed the outcome.
UNC star guard Allisha Gray went to the bench with her fifth foul and the TarHeels stopped scoring. Maybe related? Definitely a turning point.
Louisville outscored Sylvia Hatchell's squad 15-4 the rest of the way and took a hard fought 11 point win in ACC play in front of 13115 fans in the KFC YUM Center.
Mariya Moore hit a layup to give Louisville to tie it up and Sherrone Vails gave UofL their first lead since Moore had hit a three just 63 seconds into the game to make it 5-2. Emmonnie Henderson followed with a jumper at the 3:32 to make it 65-62 Cards. A Moore jumper stretched the advantage to 67-62. UNC's Stephanie Mavunga would counter inside to close it to 67-64...but the Cards got a inside jumper from Sara Hammond to go up 69-64 with 54 seconds to play and two Jude Schimmel free throws put Louisville ahead by seven with 30 ticks left on the clock.
Game over.
The star of this one for the Cards was freshman Mariya Moore. 28 points on 7-17 shooting (including all three Louisville threes) and 11-12 from the charity stripe. Myisha Hines-Allen was the other Cardinal in double figures with 13. Sara Hammond had eight points...six in the second half in a game where the three mentioned took 41 of Louisville's 62 shots and made 17 of UofL's 23 baskets.
Sit down for this next stat.
Louisville made 26-30 free throws for a 86.7%.
Unfortunately, Louisville was only 1-4 on chances to score after the missed free throw attempts...putting the Walzian Theorem of "3 is better than 2" to a stiff test in this afternoon contest. The Cards did go 3-for-2 one time. In the first half Moore was fouled while shooting at 3:11. After a TV timeout she made the first and missed the second. Dyer got the rebound, passed to Moore who missed a 3-pointer, Hammond got the rebound and passed to Moore in the post who made two free throws after being fouled while shooting at 3:02
Sorry, Coach. It was 25% effective today. But, the free throw shooting was divine.
The Cards were tested...big time...for 34 minutes by a Carolina team that outshot Louisville 38.7% to 37.1%, made 12 of their 14 free throws and scored 25 points off 21 Louisville turnovers. The Cards trailed by ten with 7:28 left in the first half and allowed 15 UNC steals and 6 blocked shots. The comeback was great to watch, though...and erased any earlier first half worries about UofL's inside efficiency.
They play the game for 40 minutes, though...and Louisville got scores from six different players over the final six minutes to win.
Bria Smith might have dug herself a bit out of the Walz doghouse with a useful and effective 15 minutes off the bench with 6-6 free throw shooting and eight points.
The Cards are still missing way too many point blank jumpers and putbacks in the paint underneath the basket...but when push came to shove in crunch time against the TarHeels...the Cards went seven for eight from the free throw stripe and hit four of their final eight shots.
And 22-3 and 10-2 in the ACC is a slam dunk...
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LAX BEATS BEARCATS BEHIND KOLOSKI'S SIX PACK
Nikki Boltja's playing days have ended but you can add a
The sophomore out of Lakeville, MN. scored the first goal for the Cards against UC and Kaylin Morissette followed to put UofL ahead 2-0 and the Cards got off 28 shots to UC's 5 to hold a 7-3 edge at the half. Koloski had three of the Cardinal scores...Morissette won seven of the 11 draw controls.
The Cards ramped up the offense attack in the final half...scoring four times in the first two minutes on two goals from Koloski and tallies from Morissette and Faye Brust. UC would offer a brief challenge with three straight to cut the Louisville lead to 11-6...but the Cards responded with six out of the next seven scores to lead 17-7.
Besides Koloski's six pack...Cortnee Daley had five goals and Brust, Morissette and Cat Gordon finished with two each.
Louisville (1-0) hosts Canisius next...a 1 p.m. draw on Feb. 21st.
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SOFTBALL FALLS 5-3 IN ORLANDO FINAL
The Cards ended regulation tied with the Blue Raiders 3-3...getting all three scores in the bottom of the fourth.
Maryssa Becker began the inning with a fence clearer and the Cards loaded the bases against MTSU after that...pushing home two more runs.
MTSU countered with three runs in the top of the fifth.
Louisville put Madi Norman on the mound to start the eighth after Shelby McCombs started the game...going five innings and giving way to Becker's two scoreless innings of relief.
In extra innings, a runner is put at second base to begin the
The Cards return to Kentucky and will play in the Eastern Kentucky Invitational next week...facing EKU, Kent State and Western Michigan beginning Feb. 21st.
paulie
Great Piece Paulie. Not much to add except it seems like E is getting it going at the right time of the year. Was really impressed with Bria coming off the bench and making things happen also. I understand she took five stitches in the chin after her face plant. If bleeding on the court without even uttering a peep doesn't prove toughness I don't know what does.
ReplyDeleteLots of walking wounded today. Hopefully nothing too serious. Jude clearly gimpy but toughed it out. Would be nice if she hadn't had to play 39 minutes but I guess it is what it is.
We need to finish up strong to get a top four seed in the ACC tourney so we can heal up a bit.
Great Win. We needed it. Looks like Walz is bringing them along at the right time.
What a great game and crowd! To be 22-3 and 10-2 in the ACC after losing 4 out of your top 6 players from last year is really impressive. If the Cards win the games they are supposed the rest of the way Coach Walz should be ACC Coach of the Year. Really impressed with how this team has improved throughout the year. Looking forward to seeing how this season plays out.
ReplyDeleteUNC Coach Sylvia saying they should have won and wants to meet UofL again in Greensboro. No problem.
DeletePaulie - one correction to your game summary. Cards did go 3-for-2 one time. In the first half Moore was fouled while shooting at 3:11. After a TV timeout she made the first and missed the second. Dyer got the rebound, passed to Moore who missed a 3-pointer, Hammond got the rebound and passed to Moore in the post who made two free throws after being fouled while shooting at 3:02.
ReplyDeleteThis was a win that the team needed after the hard-fought close losses to UK, FL ST and Duke. What more can you say about Moore? And Walz deserves a lot of credit for play calling - it looked to me like Cards scored off a called play first possession after halftime, and he called two late plays for Hammond that resulted in layups.
I thought this was "E"'s best game to date. She is really improving game to game. Cards would not have won without Bria today.
OK, I'll give the Walzian theory that one...even though there was a timeout involved,Coach and i did review mathematics in the post game presser again yesterday again...can't wait for my final exam...Coach has worked hard to make sure I understand that three is greater than two and my life has been enriched by his dedicated efforts to increase my knowledge of this vastly under-rated aspect of the game.
DeleteI'll change up the article. Grudgingly.
Paulie
I was critical of Bria for her play the last few games but her 15 minutes were huge today! We needed every single one of them. Cards played their best ball on both ends when she was in the game. The hardest I have seen her play in quite a while.
ReplyDeleteAlso, Moore is BIG TIME! She is going to only get better as she gets more talent around her to play with.
Will the snow storm get in the way of travelling to Blacksburg Thursday?
ReplyDeleteThat's hard to say at this juncture. Blacksburg is a tough place to get to even in good weather. Walz will probably have more on this on his weekly show Tuesday Night at Chili's .
DeleteIf they hold that. Louisville is getting pounded by the weather this morning. It took Paulie an hour and a half to make a normal 25 minute drive to work this morning. YIKES!
And, he just called me a few minutes ago and told me the internet is down at work.
Yes, Sonja is running Cardinal Couple this morning. Seems like old times. Fire away, readers. I'm here to answer. LOL
Sonja
Between her post game interview on national TV and articles like this Graham Hays piece on ESPNW I'd say that Mariya has now had her official coming out party. In addition to being well deserved it's hard to overstate how great this is for our national recruiting footprint. Bria even got some well deserved love in Hay's piece.
ReplyDeletehttp://espn.go.com/ncw/notebook/_/page/notebook_150215/weekend-wrap-mariya-moore-helps-louisville-cardinals-weather-storm-north-carolina-tar-heels
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DeleteHe manages a slam at one of Louisville's biggest employers and is ranking Moore up there with Shoni and Angel? Mariya is doing a great job and I'll be the first to agree with that. She's a freshman, though. Let's lay off the Shoni and Angel comparisions for a couple of years, right? Hays has been hot and cool toward UofL WBB over the years. I'm not ready to lay the red carpet out for him.
DeleteSonja
Oh I dunno...he could have lead with any of a number of WCBB storylines from the weekend and he picked U of L & Mariya. Thought he was more than fair particularly given how we stunk up the place early on. Much of his negative copy consisted of Walz quotes. I imagine that YUM Brands can withstand a questionable analogy or two from the press. Maybe Hays isn't a fast food guy.
DeleteWhile none of us is interested in putting undue pressure on Mariya I personally don't think the comparison of the three is out of line at all. I don't know if there is a U of L WBB stats archive out on the web somewhere but in my opinion now that she has twenty-five games under her belt an apples to apples comparison of the three would be pretty interesting. I'm betting that she wouldn't be substantially different than Shoni. I didn't follow Angel in college so can't speak to that. If anyone knows if that info is out there somewhere please advise.
As far as recruiting goes if I was a high potential HS baller being recruited now and I just watched a true freshman drop 28 points on UNC on national TV it would have piqued my interest in U f L. Most of these top recruits want to play immediately if they are good enough. Walz has always said that everyone gets the same chance to play and has proven it with M&M this year (and Shoni in the past). A kid might not get the same chance at other programs.
Angel had a rough freshman year. She wasn't a starter. Then, she was all-conference the next three years. She led Louisville to a Final Four final game agaisnt UConn. Shoni led the Cards to a Final Four final game. They are considered the top two in UofL women's basketball history.
DeleteMoore, although having a great freshman year, needs to do that IMHO to be mentioned in the same sentence as Shoni and Angel. Maybe she will, who knows? I am going to agree with Sonja, though, and will wait to see what she's doing as a junior before giving her Angel or Shoni type accolades.
Shoni drew nationwide attention for her unique style of play and showmanship. It is nice to see Moore getting early praise in her career at UofL. Time will tell if she gets a banner in the KFC YUM! Center.
Curtis Franklin
Hays was at the game Burn Brother so it was a storyline he witnessed live. Hays always finds something to slam in his articles. He could find fault with free hot coffee on a subzero day.
DeleteSo it sounds like the only reasonable comparison would be Shoni / Mariya on a frosh to frosh basis. I'm really just interested in the hard stats line. No doubt that Shoni was more of a media story coming in with the film and pre-U of L exposure. That said Mariya is doing it in a tougher conference. It would be really interesting to look at all shooting percentages, assists, turnovers, steals and of course PPG. Rebounds would be interesting too although I'm assuming Moore is higher than Shoni.
DeleteHays is just looking for eyeballs but he's a pretty good writer. I suppose there could also be some of that "I called her a big star first" thing going on with this piece too.
Hays is a hack who can't even cover softball with any accuracy. Assigning him to basketball coverage is like sending a blind man to write up a tennis match.
DeleteI'm indifferent to his softball reporting skills. That's BS about his basketball coverage skills. I've read him for some time and he's as good as most at doing what he does. If you don't like his take that's fine, you're entitled to your opinion but it doesn't make him a hack.
DeleteHe's supposed to be giving his take, which is exactly what he does.
Hey BurnBrother!
DeleteFor comparison purposes, Shoni as a freshman in the 2010-11 season...
Shoni started all 35 games and averaged 15.1 ppg. She shot 40% on the season, hit 97 threes (out of 266 attempts) for 37% and was 37-53 from the free throw line (70%) A total of 528 points.
Mariya's numbers through UNC (25 games) are 13.7 ppg, and 43%. She's 41 -121 from three point range (33%) and 100-129 from the free throw line. (77%). She has scored 353 points.
Two different styles but two impressive freshman seasons.
Paulie
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DeleteAppreciate the info. I eventually found the archive on the Card WBB site. I'm not interested in getting involved in a bunch of drama concerning Hays but a couple things:
Delete- He didn't say Moore was the "next" Angel or Shoni. He said "for an afternoon" that she "looked ready" to take her place alongside them as a big game performer. That is objectively true. She did look that good vs UNC.
- Although Moore still has 100 or so more games to play as a Card her first 25 represent a valid baseline for comparison and as you note both Shoni & Moore have had impressive frosh seasons. That doesn't mean Moore is the next Shoni but it's the only fair basis to compare them on right now.
So I ran the numbers. Won't bore you with the detail but they are very comparable. The biggest surprise to me is that Mariya's assist to turnover ratio is 1.63 versus Shoni's 1.20. Very good results for a small forward. Shoni's scoring average was slightly higher but she played slightly more minutes. Moore is a better free throw shooter than Shoni which is a big deal given how often she gets to the line. Although they played UConn and ND back in the day I'd say that Moore is doing her thing against better overall competition. Assuming Mariya continues to progress in her game her Card future is exceptionally bright which is an observation that shouldn't diminish Angel or Shoni's accomplishments in the eyes of any Card WBB fan. It's all Good.
A key ACC WBB game tonight with Duke at Notre Dame. ESPN 2 at 9 o'clock. Duke wins and then there is a 4-way tie in the loss column for 1st place. I never thought I'd say this but Go Duke!
ReplyDeleteBlue Lou
Paulie,
ReplyDeleteYou guys OK up there? Hearing you're getting hit by a blizzard.
The Real Joe Hill
Hey Joe!
ReplyDeleteYeah, we're good. Could use some Naples sun, tho.
Paulie
So to further understand Walz's theory on 3 is better than 2, he would rather have a second free throw attempt miss, Louisville get the rebound and then score again, right?
ReplyDeleteAnd if it happened just once in four opportunities yesterday, wouldn't it been better to just hit all four missed? That would be 30 points instead of 26 made + 2 more points for 28.
I don't get it.
At UK, Matthew Mitchell encourages all of his players to hit every free throw. It's probably why UK is the best WBB program in the state.
Matthew Mitchell For Governor
I do not think that Walz wants his players to purposely miss their second free throw, Gov. He is just pointing out the possible point bonus potential if the missed free throw is converted into a score.
DeleteI am in full agreement with Coach Walz that 3 is better that 2 in this potential situation. There are other aspects, of course, where 3 is not better than 2. Like fouls on your best player. Or the number of points a team is trailing by. Maybe people in front of you in the checkiout line at WalMart. Number of DUI's you have received.
The Walzian Theorum of Missed Free Throw Profitability Potential is one of the most relevant and groundbreaking revelations ofthe 21st century. It will get him in the Naismith Hall of Fame if his record doesn't. The simplistic nature of it is beautiful. 3 is better than 2. I'm a knowledge-enriched guy now that I get it.
Paulie
BUT!!! IN THE SHONI ERA, LOUISVILLE HAD ONE THE BIGGEST UPSETS IN SPORTS HISTORY!!!!! NO COMPARISON!
ReplyDelete