28-10 run sinks UofL on Wahoo Senior Day
The potentially bad thing for Louisville and the rest of the ACC is that the Wahoos (17-12, 7-9) graduate just one and have a nice recruiting class coming in for 2015-16. UK transfer Sara Beth Barnette the lone loss. We had originally thought Sarah Imovbioh was leaving (and wouldn't mind seeing that 22 point, 17 rebound performance from today disappear) but she'll be a redshirt senior next year.
Louisville led early in this one. Mariya Moore nailing an opening three a minute into the contest and Jude Schimmel's trifecta had the Cards up 8-7 five minutes in.
The homestanding Cavs went on a 6-0 run to regain the lead over a three minute stretch but the Cards did return the favor with their own 6-0 run...capped by a Dyer putback to lead 14-13 at the 9:27 mark. The teams battled evenly as the half wore down...Virginia leading 32-31 at the break. The Cards were having trouble containing UVA stars Faith Randolph and Imovbioh from scoring and Imovbioh owned the boards, especially on the defensive end.
Louisville saw Virginia go on a 11-3 run over the first five minutes of the final half but the Cards mustered one last rally over the next seven minutes...getting strong interior play from Emmonnie Henderson, Sara Hammond and Shawnta' Dyer.
It got ugly for the Cards after that. UVA shot 53% in the second half and made 20-25 free throws to pull away. The Cards starters (Sherrone, Jude, Dyer, Sara and Myisha) ended up with only 31 of UofL's 59 total points. The offensive uncertainly was glaring at times.
Henderson led Louisville with 13 points in 13 minutes. In typical "E" fashion, though...she committed five fouls in that space of time and watched from the bench as UVA pulled away. Dyer joined her in double figures with 12. the Cards shot 33% (25% in the second half) and were outrebounded 39-28.
In the final eight of the game, the Cards defense seemed a step slow and almost resigned to the defeat and Virginia scored time after time and grabbed the Cards missed shots. It got hard to watch, honestly. A memory one would like to forget as the regular season ends.
On an afternoon where Louisville hope to gain momentum going into the ACC Tournament on Friday, it was Virginia who climbed on the back of Uncle Mo and rode him to the wire to secure a #9 seed in the ACC Tournament and avoid a necessity to play on Wednesday. Louisville will have plenty of time to review and improve on this one....they'll play the final game Friday night against whoever emerges from the first and second round battles in their half of the bracket into the quarterfinals.
Imovbioh is now what we all believe Henderson could eventually be. Randolph is a top five guard in the ACC, maybe top 10 in the nation. Yesterday, they combined to pull off their biggest win of the season...and give Louisville something to ponder as they head to Greensboro.
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Softball stings Yellow Jackets series finale
Louisville softball finished their stay in Atlanta with a sweep of the Yellow Jackets Sunday afternoon. The Cards got the bats unpacked for this one, winning 15-2 in six innings.Madi Norman (3-4) got the win for the Cards, allowing the two runs on just two hits in 3.2 innings...Maryssa Becker finishing up with 2.1 inning of shutout ball and just one hit.
The Cards loaded the bags in the first but got just one run across. They atoned for that with four in the second, Hailey Smith with a two RBI single and Becker delivering the same.
Brittany Sims had a solo home run in the third to make it 6-1 UofL. It was her second round-tripper of the season.
The Cards tacked on two more in the fifth when Sydney Benz drove home Becker and Nicole Puhafl to make it 8-2 .They saved the fireworks for the end...the top of the sixth produced seven UofL runs...Becker blasting a three run homer with Kayla Soles and Smith on board and Whitney Arion sending one out that brought home Benz and Puhafl.
Louisville will open up play at home with the Louisville Classic March 6-8. Illinois State, Ball State, Massachusetts and Northwestern come to town.
paulie
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Asia Durr shooting & scoring can't get here fast enough. Bria played her worst game ever this afternoon. She couldn't do anything offensively and was getting beat bad on D. Point blank, if we want to make a run in the ACC and NCAA tournament Bria is going to have to play better. Hammond has also went away from the paint to shoot jumpers and 3's now.
ReplyDeleteThe player we will miss most next year will be Dyer. I hope DeGrate and Fuering can give us some solid minutes. Myisha and E are still struggling with D
Honestly can't complain too much I predicted 10-6. Finishing 3rd with a team this offensively challenged shows how good of a coach Jeff is.
I predicted 10-6 too so we did much better than I thought we were capable of. Have to give the players and coaches a lot of credit.
DeleteI agree, in retrospect. I never predicted the success we have had this season.
DeleteE was finally shooting the ball the way we thought she could. I didn't know it was possible to get five fouls in 13 minutes but E proved that it was. Had she not been doing her best "Bull in a China Shop" routine we might have had a different outcome. Once we lost her it was bleak based upon the uninspired play of the rest of the squad.
ReplyDeleteIf we had a bad game that we needed to get out of our system now was the time to do it. We'll just assume the shooting odds will catch up with us in the tourneys. It's hard to win in HSBB shooting 33% from the field so it sure won't work in this league.
Agree with prior comments, these kids overdelivered this year based on their skills and experience levels. Lots of folks thought we were going to get hammered in the ACC. Nothing wrong with third place with this club this season.
Faith Randolph is the real thing. She reminds me a lot of Odyssey Sims from Baylor a few years back. Same body style with surprising speed and amazing body control. I can't help but think that this team will be a force next year. We need to develop a bunch of freshmen quickly next season.
ReplyDeleteWow..that was ugly - both effort and execution. I agree with Paulie - it was painful to watch. We DVRd it and started watching at around 3:15PM. My wife eventually sneaked a look at the final score when we were still early in the second half. I wish she had told me and spared me that last 8 minutes.
ReplyDeleteNot much to like except Dyer's play and E's offensive game. Dyer would get the season MVP if I had a vote. Her play has really surprised me. Wish she could teach the other bigs how to play defense.
Another game like that means a short stay in ACC and NCAA tourneys. Maybe this will be a wake-up call -- this will never be a great or even good shooting team, but the lack of intensity is something that can be fixed.
The Cards shot 33% and you cant' expect to win too many at that %. Virginia hit their free throws as well. The 33% can be attributed to aggressive VA man-to-man defense. More scoring from our guards could have made a difference.
ReplyDeleteVA wanted that first round bye and they got it. They also now have to face Miami and then, if they get by them...ND.
They'll do well in the WNIT. They had UNC on the ropes...a Mavunga tip in at the buzzer save UNC. If they play going forward like they have in the last two...they could upset Miami. I don't see them getting past ND, though.
As for Louisville, looks like we'll get UNC in the quarterfinals unless Clemson or GA TECH can knock them again.
Paulie
One upset loss in a day full of them yesterday. Cats knock off USC...the key is that the team learns from it and doesn't make the same mistakes.
Paulie
ReplyDeleteIn the March Contest, give me Notre Dame beating Louisville in the finals. Total points of 144.
Curtis Franklin
March Contest. Syracuse over Fla. St. 141 points.
ReplyDeleteGuess who beat #2? The Kentucky Wildcat women's basketball team !! While your clipped winged birdies were struggling to fly in Virginia, the Cats were feasting on Gamecock in Memorial.,
Another example of why UK is #1 in the state and why Walz will end up a #4 or #5 seed. Early March is no time to go into the tank and the Birds just did, feet first.
Matthew Mitchell for Governor
Thank you for entering the contest,
DeleteKitties with a #6 seed and only a single bye. Face Miss. St. if they can knock whoever advances in the first day of play.
Matthew Mitchell needs to get back in the kitchen and bake a humble pie instead of serving up that hogwash...
Paulie
Ya know, against my better judgement I didn't previously bring up your recent three game conference losing streak after Old Miss spanked you but here you are talking your goofy smack again.
DeleteWe'll go ahead and take our 4 loss conference season and you can keep your 6 loss performance. In case you missed it, your win vs SC yesterday counts the same as a win over anyone else in the SEC and it doesn't magically give you a decent conference showing for the year. It does however appear to have saved you from what was looking like a disaster. Without that SC win you goofs probably don't even host rounds 1 & 2. Creme isn't my favorite guy but even with your win and our loss he still has us as a 3 and you as a 4 in the only tourney that matters.
Seriously, you look a little silly talking smack at tourney time given the kittens well documented and ongoing failure to advance to the NCAA late rounds as opposed to our Cards' NCAA performance.
Rather than trying to sell your magical thinking over here in Card Land I suggest you research home remedies for Epps' tweaked achilles. Those things don't get better without a bunch of rest & rehab and this isn't the right time of year to take it easy.
Funny you should mention the kitchen, Paulie. Did you tune in early on Fox Sports South before the UofL WBB game and watch the Matthew Mitchell Show that ran from 12:30 - 1:00? He actually does a segement in the show that has him in a kitchen cooking up a dish with a lady. Maybe a chef? I think he was making chicken sloppy joes on Saturday. What a hoot.
DeleteLOLOLOL....I DID see that cooking section of the show. I was checking to see if Fox Sports South was going to have any pre-game coverage (with Deb Antonelli involved and all -- I figured there might be a coronation or proclamation -- since she's all about the WAHOOS) and saw MM standing there in the kitchen. That's is one of the best comedy shows on TV....(unintentionally) Especially when they were adding the sloppy Joe sauce and Mattie wanted to know if the chicken had been cooked yet.
DeleteSalmonella isn't a pretty thing...he looked scared to sample the finished product.
Paulie
Just a quick NCAA Seeding Summary from Creme:
ReplyDeleteSEC - Five top 25 teams plus LSU @ 11 for 6 Total
ACC - Six top 25 teams plus Pitt @ 10 & Miami @ 12 for 8 Total
Notes to The Gov:
1) 6 is not "double digits"
2) 8 is more than 6
3) SEC WCBB superiority is a myth that only exists in the minds of folks like you