HINES-ALLEN'S 29 LEAD CARDS TO WIN
Hines-Allen recorded a career-high 29 points in the Cards win...and was aided by Mariya Moore's 21 points and a double-double (18 points-10 rebounds) from Cortnee Walton to push the Cards to 11-1 in ACC conference play and 19-6 overall. It was Walton's highest point total of her career and her first-ever double-double.
Louisville started the game strong with a 6-0 run in the first two minutes...but after a Pitt timeout, the Panthers rallied with a 12-3 run to grab the lead. Moore tied the contest on a three with 4:37 left in the first but Pitt would own the first quarter lead at 22-21. It was a sloppy first ten minutes overall for Louisville...with seven turnovers.
The Cards went about rectifying the sluggishness and regained the lead for good when Hines-Allen sank a layup to make it 25-24 with 5:39 left until halftime. The basket started a 17-5 UofL run to finish the half which gave Louisville a 40-29 halftime lead. Hines-Allen and Walton had 10 points for the Cards in the first 20 minutes and Moore had added nine. Louisville was finding success scoring in the paint and had seemingly shook off the cold beginning.
UofL started the third period strong and led 47-32 after Hines-Alllen hit a free throw and Walton grabbed the second attempt miss to stick it back in and perform a "three is better than two" sequence that had to please Coach Walz. What happened after that probably didn't set too well with the Cardinals coach...Pitt would go on a 8-1 run over the next three minutes and pare the lead to 48-40 after Yacine Diop's two free throws at the 4:46 mark. Hines-Allen gave the Cards a 58-44 advantage with 1:06 on the clock after two charity tosses...but Pitt would finish the quarter on a 5-0 run and trail UofL 58-49 after three. 
The Cards dominated the fourth. Hines -Allen recorded her 25 point after a jumper to start the final quarter action and two Moore three had the Cards up 72-55 with 5:51 remaining in the contest. A Moore three with 3:40 left set the scoreboard at 79-57 Louisville...and Walz turned the freshmen and Dakota Weatherford loose for the final three minutes to give UofL the 84-61 victory....Louisville winning the final period 26-12.HOW ABOUT FRED?
REBOUNDING. Louisville owned 34-18 and limited Pitt to just five offensive boards. A capital "R" justly deserved for the Cards.
EASY SHOTS. The Cards collected 38 points in the paint. Walton was 8-9 and Hines Allen 12-19. Moore was 7-11 and we'd award a capital "E" here except for too many missed drives by Briahanna Jackson and Arica Carter...so the lower case "e" is the designation.
DEFENSE. Pitt did shoot 46.8% from the floor and committed only 14 turnovers. The Cards were effective at stopping Pitt inside at times...but not enough to earn a capital D. We'll give up the lower case "d" because of the shutdowns in the second and fourth quarters.
WHAT WE LIKED
MHA CAME TO PLAY! 29 points in 30 minutes, eight rebounds and 5-6 from the free throw lines was one incredible effort for the sophomore. Despite her early first quarter defensive lapses, Hines-Allen was sharp from all over the court shooting tonight and was the main difference in this one. MAKE IT A DOUBLE FOR CORTNEE! What a spectacular performance from "Grandma" tonight...the double-double and seven offensive boards. She's developed more confidence in her jumper and it showed tonight.
HOW ABOUT THREE MOORE? Mariya was 4-6 from the trifecta line tonight and her outside shooting really helped open up the paint for the Cards. Three of her threes came when the Cards were pulling away in the fourth...sealing the deal.
WHAT NEEDS WORK?
INCONSISTENCY. Louisville had a few stretches where Pitt dominated play. The first and third quarters especially. 40 minutes of effort are what's needed to climb to the next level and Louisville was a few minutes short of that tonight.
All in all, a good win over a young Pitt team and maybe the best the Cards have played against Pitt on the road in the history of Walz's time here. No letdown overall after the loss to Notre Dame and a stellar effort inside for the Cardinal bigs. It's hard to remember, sometimes, that the M&M girls are just sophomores. Between them and Grandma tonight, the Panthers were tamed and Louisville stays in the ACC title hunt. First of the regular season final six-pack consumed successfully. Next, running with the (South Florida) Bulls Monday night in a 9 p.m. Big Monday tilt in the YUM!
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BATTER UP!
The Hawkeyes were 19-40 and ninth in the Big Ten last year. SHS finished ninth in the Southland Conference with a 19-28 record.
No live feed for this one...but live stats are available at the Texas A&M Corpus Christi web site.
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LACROSSE TRAVELS TO PHILLY FOR TWO
It's Temple today at 3 p.m. and then Duquense Sunday at noon for the Cards. Louisville goalie Brittany Read was named the ACC Lacrosse Defensive Player of the Week for her strong effort against Marquette in the season-opening 14-6 victory.
paulie
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I liked when Walz ripped Cortnee for not sealing off her side on double teams. She did better after that. I agree Paulie, M&M it's easy to forget they are just soph's. Terrific games by both
ReplyDeleteI live near the Bay Area and the word was Lindsey Gottlieb wanted Gabby Green and Marilka Cowling over Mariya Moore. She got both but I think Moore is better than both.
ReplyDeleteWalz had an early interest in Gabby but I think the Cards were much better off with Moore.
DeletePaulie
Cards got a great effort from the starters except for Carter. Lack of a take-charge point-guard is going to catch up with Louisville if they advance far in the NCAA Tournament. Who does Walz go with? I'm suggesting Cole. You have to pick one and stay with her through good and bad.
ReplyDeleteBlue Lou
Blue, I've got no issue with the splitting of time between Cole and Carter but they need to provide some consistency at the point. We have scorers, no doubt about that, but a leader, assist-creator, passer, press-breaker at point is what is needed to make the Cards a deep threat in the NCAA Tournament. If they can get that out of the two, great.
DeletePaulie
UofL took care of business in pounding Pitt in their arena. Was a horrible crowd from what I could see in attendance. Hines-Allen could be All-American if she could control her fouls.
DeleteCurtis Franklin
Hines-Allen is benefiting from Moore's ability to drive and dish for easy baskets. They work well together.
DeleteAnyone notice Mariya's improved ball handling?
DeleteHines-Allen is a baller. Agree with Curtis on the foul trouble. Hoping that the coaching staff is talking to her about trying to draw offensive fouls so often. She gets the calls sometimes but she also get whistled pretty often. Seems like she gets a couple blocking fouls like that per game. If she could knock that off it could totally change her game / playing time.
DeleteWould be interesting to know what her success rate has been so far this season when she's tried to draw the charge versus how many times it contributes to her sitting on the bench early in games. Burn
Megan Deines KState = 23 min 15 points 4 turnovers in home win over Kansas
ReplyDeleteChange of venue, philosophy and a chance to play has really made a world of difference for her. At 16-8, KSU has a shot at an NCAA bid but needs a few more in-conference wins. A solid nine points per game for Deines. Glad she is getting a chance to show her stuff.
DeletePaulie
Th crazy thing is that with the way we began the season and with the time it's taking some of our freshmen to get acclimated to the college game Megan would have probably logged decent minutes this year. But she made the decision that was ultimately best for her and her happiness and all you can do is respect that. I think she was ultimately a casualty of the program's ability to recruit and get the top tier recruits. Seems like she had some dissatisfaction with the program, but her and Freeman saw the writing on the wall with the new incoming class.
DeleteWith Freeman I see and understand why she transferred, but I look at Megan who had one year of eligibility left and you transfer to a program that if we're honest doesn't have a great chance to compete for the title this year. But I guess if you need a change, you need a change. Good luck Megan.