Monday Cardinal Couple - Louisville WBB faces UTM

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MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-Cards fly into SkyHawks nest in battle of birds

***************GAME RECAP*************

Cards survive a scare in the second half and defeat UTM 79-61 Monday night in Martin, TN. Louisville jumped out to a 18-4 lead in the first six minutes and led 41-22 at the half. The Cards stretched that to 52-26 in the second half with 15:16 left...but the SkyHawks cut the lead to 68-57 with 4:56 to go.

Shoni Schimmel's three with 1:40 remaining was the death knoll for the SkyHawks...making it 77-61. The Cards were able to outscore UTM 11-4 the final 4:56 of the game to get the "W" and and go to 7-0.

Five in double figures for Louisville, led by 16 each by Bria Smith and Shoni Schimmel.

We'll have much more on the win in the Tuesday edition of CARDINAL COUPLE.

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They may not be as well known as a couple of the teams in their state like the Vols or Commodores, but Tennessee-Martin hopes to gain some national name recognition with a defeat of the University of Louisville tonight in women's college basketball. Playing the #6 Cards shouldn't give the SkyHawks any jitters or anxiety...they've already faced Baylor and Stanford this season.

UTM ran the gauntlet of fearsome opponents in their recent trip to Hawaii for a tournament. Having to face the home team....Hawaii...and national powerhouses Stanford and Baylor probably gave the SkyHawks all the preparing for a big game lessons they'll need for the rest of the season. Although UTM failed to win any of the three contests, they didn't get pulverized by the trio either.

UTM (1-4) was picked to win their division in the Ohio Valley Conference in a preseason coaches poll and will have the home court advantage tonight against the Cards.

Jasmine Newsome, a junior guard from Millington, TN. was named the adidas Ohio Valley Conference Co-Player of the Week for her efforts in the Jack in the Box Rainbow Wahine Classic in Hawaii last weekend.

(Don't you just love how awards and events always seem to have sponsors now? Maybe WE need to become The 'That's a Good Dog!' CARDINAL COUPLE Website"...)

Newsome put up 20.3 points, six rebounds and 5.7 assists in the three games. 25 points against Hawaii, 24 against Baylor and 12 against Stanford. She played against Louisville last year in the KFC YUM! Center and had 11 points in 38 minutes in a 70-57 loss to the Cards.

Another UTM player to keep an eye on is Heather Butler. She and Newsome combined for 135 of the SkyHawks 204 points in Hawaii. Butler played against the Cards last year also and led the SkyHawks in scoring with 13 points.

Louisville goes to SkyHawk Arena (capacity 5000) to face their second OVC opponent of the season. The Cards travelled to Clarksville, TN to play and defeat Austin Peay back on Nov. 15th. They are 2-0 lifetime against the SkyHawks, as is Jeff Walz. We've never made the trip to Martin, TN....so we can't give a lodging and restaurant recommendation report if you're headed down to the game. It's a college town, probably a few nice bistros and chain hotels.  

Louisville struggled in the first half last year against UTM and led by only 35-30 at half-time. In the Cards' defense, it was a game played three days after Christmas and the Cards first in nine days...after returning from their west coast swing against Portland and Washington State. The SkyHawks put up a eye-popping 30 three-pointers against Louisville last year (sinking 6). Our guess is Butler and Newsome will launch the majority of the trifectas again tonight against Louisville...they went a combined 11-19 in a win over Arkansas State earlier this year.

For Louisville, it's a road trip that comes at the end of a stretch that has had the Cards on the road for games since Nov. 11th. At 6-0, Louisville has a busy week ahead, hosting Eastern Kentucky on Wednesday and Kentucky Sunday in the KFC YUM! Center. Mix in Cardinal Volleyball on Thursday and Friday nights and the KFC YUM! Center looks to be a busy place this week.

The game will be on the OVC Network if you want to watch it online. Link is below. You have to register for the site, but it's free. Tip is 8 p.m. E.S.T. We'll have the full report shortly after the action for you.

Cards vs. SkyHawks

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TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-UT Martin comes to Louisville remembering last year

-Report from the road...It's raining in Charlotte

The University of Louisville women's basketball team returns to the
KFC YUM! Center on Wednesday noon...looking to avoid a repeat of
last season. The Skyhawks ran into a Louisville team that was looking
for some redemption after losing two out of three games in the Duel In The Desert holiday tournament in Las Vegas. The 9-5 Cards had no troubles with
Tenn-Martin, winning 92-67. Shoni Schimmel led the way with 24 points and
Monique Reid added 20. Louisville led at the half 50-25 and shot 39-78 (.500)
for the game.

It was the last non-conference game, as it is this year, before the Cards went into mainline conference play. Let's look at the 2011-12 Skyhawks:

Record: 6-5

Wins: Belmont, Air Force, So. Miss, St. Louis, Evansville, S.Ill-Carbondale

Losses: Purdue, Ind. State, Memphis, Vandy, Central Arkansas

Current Streak: 2 wins in a row.

Who to watch:

-Heather Butler, a 5'6" soph. guard who averages 21.1 points per game. She had 29 against the Cards last year, playing all 40 minutes and going 7-14 from three point range.

-Jasmine Newsom, a 5'7" soph. guard that is good for 18.9 points per game. Newsome had 16 points against Louisville last year in 29 minutes.

-Jaclissa Haislip, a 6'0" soph. guard/forward who leads the Skyhawks with 6.0  rebounds a contest. She grabbed six vs. Louisville last year and had six points in 22 minutes.

The Skyhawks play in the Ohio Valley Conference and shoot .389 from the field, allowing opponents
.434. They are 98-289 from three point range (39%).

Louisville looks to carry on with their current four game win streak. At 11-2, the Cards are #13 in the nation. Faced without the prospects of having last year's leaing scorer Monique Reid the rest of the season, Louisville will look for alternative ways to score in the paint. One candidate who may challenge for that role is redshirt freshman Shawnta Dyer. She's had two big games in the Lady Cards last two outings and is playing with more confidence and talents each time out.

The game is the first of two in the KFC YUM! Center on Wednesday, the men face BIG EAST foe Georgtown later that evening.

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(From the road, 10 a.m. Charlotte)

CARDINAL COUPLE has troops on the ground (soaked ground) in Charlotte. Here's what we've seen so far...

It was an eight hour drive from the Highlands to Charlotte. Mostly uneventful, passed lots of Cardinal decked out vehicles on the journey and arrived here around 4 p.m.  The Marriott that we're camped in is nice...full service bar with Phil Leotardo (Sopranos) twin brother as our congenial bartender. Beer prices reasonable ($4.50 for 12 oz. Bud Select) and some sort of mini-eggroll appetizers. The game plan is to get over to the Epicenter downtown and go to the UofL Fan Appreciation party on the rooftop. Light rail is the way to do this, from what the locals tell us...our advance scouting party has tested it and it comes recommended...so after a few pre-party suds, we say good-bye to Phil, and the hotel van takes us to the light rail stop about a mile down the road.

Louisville needs a light rail system. We were going uptown to the downtown and I had a pocket full of $1 coins, generously dispensed from the automatic ticket machine. We got there in about 10 minutes, passenger cars packed with Cardinal fans and a well dressed man carrying a big briefcase and looking especially nervous. Unibomber in Charlotte? Nah...just an uptight businessman.

We're about an hour early for the free food and drinks, so we go to an adjoining bar and meet and greet Cardinal fans. We see plenty we know. Bill and Barb, Dana, Ralph, Brucie and the Sportsman Supper Club boys...including the legendary Tasso Harris. The rooftop is packed with Cardinals. It's good to see Valerie Owens Combs. She always smiles and laughs when I tell her she's the fifth best Lady Card in history. She never asks about the four in front of her. 

Denny Crum is here, posing for pictures and signing hats and such. He seems genuinely happy and pleased to be here. I mention we're Facebook friends and he nods and smiles. I think I could have told him that I was Johnny Van Zant and I wanted him to join Lynyrd Skynyrd and he would have smiled and nodded.

Wonder what a signed UofL Belk Bowl hat with Denny's autograph would go for on E-bay? 

The party was a big affair. Hot Sauce is supplying the music, switching from rock to country and hip-hop effortlessly. We Cardinal fans are a dancing bunch. The lead singer refers to the crowd once as the "Kentucky Cardinal fans". We forgive him. It was well intended, if a bit misguided. Things are still going full speed when we decide to head back to the light rail around 10:30 or so. We call ahead and the Marriott van is waiting to haul us back to the hotel. We stumble off the light rail, pile into the van and amuse the driver with our tales of the evening as he barrels down the street to get us back to the lodging. 

Tillie the tour guide has long since disappeared and her twin Flo has surfaced. She's still doing "the Elaine dance" from Seinfeld and I'm trying to convince a
group of dis-interested Charlotte citizens that we will beat N.C. State on Tuesday. A group of teenage girls are giggling in the corner of the rail car. We must be the comic relief.

A final nightcap with Phil, we nod to Tony, Syl, Chris and Paulie in the corner, and it's off to bed. A sound night's sleep. Awaken to the pitter-patter of rain.
Meander down to the lobby for coffee, Internet access and more coffee. Still raining. Breakfast is a fun affair. Tilly needs aspirin, our waitress is from Peru and named Nelly. Lil Wayne, 50cent and Dr. Dre are no-shows. Still raining.
A lively discussion develops concerning the origin of grits and we're informed by a couple at the table next to us that Susan Sweeney Crum was there lat night (I didn't see her) and works for Public Radio now. Still raining. Several of us leave breakfast and return to our rooms. Kickoff is 10 hours away...high wind advisory for this afternoon and rain is supposed to be gone by 3 p.m.

Go Cards!

Paul
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Breaking down the win over UT-Martin

WEDNESDAY @ CARDINAL COUPLE:

-Inside the numbers of the 25 point Lady Card win.

The Evan Williams Bourbon Bar. located under the seats behind the Louisville women's bench in Sec. 115, is a nice facility to relax with friends before, during or after a Lady Cards basketball game. I wonder how it would go if CARDINAL COUPLE covered a women's game from there one evening? (Photo by Cardinal Couple)

The University of Louisville women's basketball team improved to 10-5 with a 92-67 win over UT-Martin Tuesday night in the KFC YUM Center. Louisville led by 25 at the half (50-25) and reached the 90+ point plateau for the fifth time this season with the win. Let's take a look at some of the stats:

-The Cards shot 50% for the game (39-78) and went 40% from three point range (10-25). Free throws still a bit short of Walz's expectations at 50% (4-8) including a dismal 0-4 first half performance. Shoni Schimmel (24 points) led the way with 10-16 from the floor and 4-7 from beyond the arc. Monique Reid (20 points) produced 9-15 on Denny Crum Court with no three point attempts. Tia Gibbs (11 points) went 4-10 from the hardwood and 1-5 from trifecta land.

Becky Burke (10 points) had a 4-6 shooting night nailing 2-4 from the deep. The Cards outshot UTM 78 to 57 in attempts but UTM had 33 threes, making 12 of them. UTM shot 42.1% for the game. 33 of their 57 attempts were three pointers.

-Louisville won the rebounding battle 41-37 with Keisha Hines leading the way with eight. Reid grabbed seven, Asia Taylor five and Burke and Shelby Harper 4 each. The Cards won the offensive rebound war 17-12 but the SkyHawks took the defensive grabs 25-24.

-Schimmel led the way with 31 minutes played last night. Reid logged 26 minutes, Burke 25, Harper 22, Hines and Gibbs 20 each. Sherrone Vails played 18 minutes, Asia Taylor 17, Antonita Slaughter 16. Rachel Story saw 4 minutes and Polly Harrington 1. The Louisville starters played only 57 minutes combined in the second half out of a possible 100. Freshman guard Heather Butler saw all 40 minutes on the court for UTM.

-Louisville swept most of the other stat categories...23 assists (Schimmel 11) to 17 for UTM. The Cards committed only 13 turnovers (Harper, Reid and Taylor three each) compared to UT-Martin's 26. Louisville committed 12 fouls (Reid with 4) and UTM was whistled for 11. Louisville had an impressive 17 steals in the game (Schimmel seven, Gibbs five) and UTM five.

-The Louisville freshmen totalled 37 of Louisville's points but only four of them played, three of them with significant minutes. Antonita Slaughter, despite the defensive woes that Jeff Walz preached about after the game, turned in a good offensive performance with 9 points...all from three point range...and 2 steals in 16 minutes.

-Louisville used runs of 8-0 and 15-0 in the first half to build a 27-5 lead with 11:42 remaining in the first half. A 6-0 UTM run cut it to 27-11 but a 9-0 Louisville run made it 36-11 with 7:59 left. The teams battled to a 14-14 standoff the final eight minutes of the first half....so when you look at it, they played basically even for 28 of the 40 minutes of basketball last night.

-The Lady Cards largest lead came at the 17:44 mark of the second half after a Becky Burke layup made it 60-27. UTM would cut it to 18 points twice in the second half...73-55 with 8:59 to go after a Rickiesha Bryant jumper and 80-62 with 4:57 left following a Jasmine Newsome jumper.

-A lot of credit to the UT-Martin guard trio of Heather Butler, Jasmine Newsome and Taylor Hall. They accounted for 50 of the 67 Skyhawk points and went a combined 10-24

from beyond the arc. Butler and Newsome are freshmen, Hall a transfer playing her first year at UTM. Take out Hall's stats and you've got 47 points on 9-17 three point shooting and 15-31 from the floor total. Butler gets our MVP Award for the game (no offense, Shoni). 40 minutes, 29 points, no fouls, four assists, 7-14 from three point range and 4-4 on free throws. Martin. Tennessee residents are gonna love her over the next four years and OVC opponents are going to groan when they see her get off the team bus..Not confirmed but the SkyHawks were still firing threes at I-64 East entrance signs down on 2nd. street long after the game. UofL was still failing to guard them...

-We like the fact that Louisville's Taylor, Harper and Slaughter saw extended court time last night. In Vegas, the three didn't. The caliber of competition was better, obviously, in the Desert Duel...but Walz will be best served to have a contingency rotation of 10 players he can count on when BIG EAST play begins. Walz has been starting Hines, Vails, Schimmel, Gibbs and Burke. Last night... Taylor, Harper and Slaughter looked to be ready to be a part of the second wave. When you figure Charmaine Tay will see minutes as a backup guard and Walz has no plans to change Monique Reid's role from coming off the bench...there's your 10. Rachel Story, Polly Harrington and a healthy LaToya Johnson could contend for any of these backup spots...the BIG EAST is brutal, physical hoops and there is strength and safety in numbers.

-Louisville gets a week off, returning to action next Tuesday in the KFC YUM Center against top 25 BIG EAST foe St. John's. They're big, aggressive, very, very talented defensively and have lost only once so far this year...to Kansas State. Shenneika Smith and Da'Shena Stevens rocked Louisville for 35 points and 16 rebounds last year in a 91-56 Red Storm win in "Little Louie" Arena in Queens, NY. Guess what? Both are back and playing just as good this year. Game time is 7 p.m and Louisville needs about 10,000+ in the YUM for this one to bring it home.

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-In the "You've got to be kidding me" category...longtime local sportscaster Bob Domine is growing facial hair. It's a scary proposition and Paul had to serve as a buffer last night, sitting between Domine and Sonja...with LSR/CSR's Howie Lindsey flanked to the left in a split backfield formation to shield fair Sonja from the horrid sight. First observation? t He looks like that Spanish guy who does the commercials for beer...("I don't drink beer often...but when I do...it's Dos (whatever).." Some guys just look better clean shaven. Paul, on the other hand, is sporting whiskers as well right now and looks equally ugly with or without them. A man's got to know his limitations...
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Early Lady Cards blitz keys 92-67 win over UT-Martin

CARDS STRIKE EARLY IN WIN OVER THE SKYHAWKS

No such Vegas problems tonight in the KFC YUM Center for Jeff Walz's Lady Cards. Louisville jumped out to an early 9-3 lead in the first 2 minutes of the game, increased that to 27-5 with 11:30 remaining in the first half and coasted home with the 25 point win over UT-Martin.

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The Cards were led by the efforts of freshman guard Shoni Schimmel, who had 14 of her 24 points in the first half...a half where Louisville doubled the score on UTM and led 50-25 at the break. At her side was Monique Reid, tallying 10 of her 20 points in the first twenty minutes. The Cards forced 15 Skyhawk turnovers in the first half and Louisville nailed 6 of 13 threes to lead by as many as 26 at 45-19 with 3:40 to go. Walz played ten players in the first twenty minutes, all scoring but Rachel Story and Shelby Harper. The suffocating 1-2-2 press Louisville employed early in the game was the difference and the Cards scored 21 points off turnovers and 28 in the paint.

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Walz experimented with a lot of different combinations in the final twenty minutes and Louisville saw its largest lead at 60-27 with 17:35 remaining. UTM battled on gamely, though and used a 7-2 run midway thru the second half to cut the Cardinal lead to 20 points at 73-53 with 9:24 remaining. Louisville got strong second half performances from Tia Gibbs and Asia Taylor, though...to keep Tennessee-Martin at bay and notch their 10th win of the season.

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Schimmel led the Cards with 24 points and also added 12 assists and 7 steals to her 31 minutes of work tonight. Reid lit the board for 20 points and 7 boards. Tia Gibbs (11 pts., 5 steals) and Becky Burke (10 points) rounded out the double figure performers for the Lady Cards.

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UT-Martin got another outstanding performance from freshman guard Heather Butler who had 29 points and sank seven three pointers for the SkyHawks. Jasmine Newton, another freshman guard contributed 16 points. The SkyHawks launched 33 trifectas against the Cards, who seemed a step slow at times to defend the long ball. UTM ended with 25 turnovers and gave up a whopping 17 steals to the ballhawking Cardinal guards.

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All 11 that dressed for Louisville played...Charmaine Tay was not at the game due to travel delays in getting out of New Jersey and the big winter blizzard on the East Coast. LaToya Johnson sat out with an undisclosed injury. For the Cards, impressive performances by Antonita Slaughter who nailed three from deep for her nine points. Asia Taylor turned in a sold 17 minutes with six points and five rebounds.

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FROM THE POST GAME:

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Shoni Schimmel on the fast start:

"I felt like we just came out with good energy and things went well. We had a lot of making up to do after Vegas and I thought we came out and played harder."

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Schimmel on the Vegas trip and Walz's reaction:

"We did some good things and some bad things out there and he talked about all of them. He told us what to do and what not to do so we cleaned it up...basically...for this game. We're fixing it. Slow steps...that's what he told me."

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Monique Reid on UTM's three point production:

"Yeah, it was definitely a discussion after the game. We did let them shoot and it was on the scouting report...us needing to get a hand out there and we didn't do it that good. So, it's something we need to work on."

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Reid on having a week to prepare for St. John:

"We're going to concentrate a lot on us. We need to work better on certain little things. Getting prepared for the BIG EAST coming up."

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Jeff Walz on Shoni Schimmel:

"I'm really pleased with the way she's playing right now. I thought she did a fantastic job of taking care of the basketball. The one things we've talked about over the break was just trying to cut down some of her turnovers. She's always going to have 3 or 4 it's a part of the way she plays but at the same time...you won't see a lot of kids get 12 assists either. (On the night Schimmel had 1 turnover and 12 assists.)

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Walz on Schimmel' s biggest transition from high school to college:

"I think it was the speed of the game. She's really had to adjust and I think she's done a great job getting used to the quickness and it's going to be another adjustment now that we start BIG EAST play. We're going to face some quicker and stronger players. "

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Walz on the 33 three point attempts by UT- Martin:

"They're a three point shootin' team. I wasn't pleased with the way we defended the three in the second half. She (Heather Butler) was 2 for 7 in the first half. She was 5 for 7 in the second half....and it's not like it was a big surprise who was going to shoot the ball. That's something that we've got to get better at...knowing where shooters are. Antonita Slaughter got beat twice on the same play. First time shame on me, second time shame on you. That's one of the things she's got to start doing a better job for us defensively. She gives up back to back threes, then she makes a three...yeah, that's great but were still down 6-3. Hopefully, she starts to figure some things out because we need her to play some minutes for us....to give our guards some more breaks throughout the game. She does shoot the ball extremely well but for us she needs to figure out how to defend for us."

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