Defense, Balanced Scoring leads WBB to 77-43 win over UTM -- Monday Cardinal Couple

FIVE STARTERS HIT DOUBLE FIGURES IN CARDS ROMP

With seven minutes gone in Sunday afternoon's game against UT-Martin, the Louisville women's basketball squad found themselves in the unenviable position of trailing the Skyhawks 8-7. The threes weren't falling and UTM was getting inside for easy baskets. 

Jeff Walz called a 30 second timeout and inserted Megan Deines, Shawnta Dyer, Sherrone Vails and Arica Carter into the lineup over the next minute. That sparked a 19-2 run over the next seven minutes that put the Cards ahead 26-10 after a Mariya Moore free throw with 5:50 remaining in the half. The Cards finished the half on a 13-4 run, including a Sara Hammond three, to push out to a 39-14 halftime lead.

Defense did the job, especialy the Cards full court trapping which forced 17 UTM first half turnovers. For Louisville, it was just getting back to what they do the best...applying pressure and creating fast break, transition opportunities.


Consider this...Louisville had 22 points off turnovers and 24 points in the paint...while playing all eleven players available at least three minutes in the first half. Sara Hammond led all players with nine first half point. The Cards held the Skyhawks to 20% shooting and just 1-8 from the three point arc in the first half. 

Louisville would push that lead to 37 after two Moore free throws made it 57-20 with 11:52 left in the game...a 18-6 start to the half. 

Shoni (top center standing)

From that point on, it was Walz trying multiple combinations on the floor...the SkyHawks actually outscoring Louisville 23-20 the rest of the way...buoyed by five second half threes. 

The Cards held a whopping 46-8 point advantage in the paint, 28-6 advantage in points off turnovers, 20-4 edge in second chance points and 10-0 points off fast breaks for the game. 

Bria Smith and Myisha Hines-Allen led Louisville in scoring with 14 points each, Mariya Moore added 12, Sara Hammond finished with 11 and Jude Schimmel totaled 10. Off the bench Sherrone Vails, Shawnta Dyer and Megan Deines were good for four points each and Arianna Freeman and Emmonnie Henderson ended with 2 each. Arica Carter played but did not score. 

The minutes were pretty equally distributed...Moore 31, Smith 25, Hines-Allen and Schimmel 24, Hammond 19, Carter 18, Henderson 15, Deines 13, Dyer 12, Vails 10 and Freeman 9.

Louisville shot 27-66 for 40.9% and went an encouraging 21-26 from the charity line for 80.8%. Threes were rough...just 2-11...one each for Hammond and Moore. 

Attendance was announced at 7862..not bad for the home opener. Former Cardinal great Shoni Schimmel was in attendance to watch lil' sis and her teammates...#23 surrounded by adoring fans at halftime and during breaks requesting autographs and welcoming her back to the KFC YUM!. She almost seemed shy and embarrassed to stand up when Sean Moth introduced her during a timeout. 

WHAT WE LIKED

- Myisha Hines Allen goes to the boards with aggression and runs the court well in the transition game. Her 7-11 shooting showed a nice touch inside, especially on followups. 

- UTM got only one steal against the Cards while committing 23 turnovers. Louisville had 11 steals and turned the ball over only eight times.

- 21-26 from the foul line. Moore led the way...going 7-8, proving Walz's observation that she's a player that can go inside and get the foul and score to be a correct one. 

WHAT NEEDS WORK


- Better recognition of shot selection in the early stages of the game. The Skyhawks were packed back in a 2-3 zone and Louisville was settling for outside shots early instead of passing and trying to score inside. 

- Three-pointers. The Cards were 2-11 in trifecta land and most of them seemed hurried and early into the shot clock. 

Louisville hits the KFC YUM! Center again Thursday night for a 7 p.m. tip against Belmont. The Cards welcome back former assistant coach Cam Newbauer...who has all five starters back from last year. Belmont was picked to finish atop their conference in the preseason coaches poll. 

It's "Thirsty Thursday" too...where selected draft beers and soft drinks are only $2. 

What else do you need to get out there? 

LOUISVILLE VS UTMARTIN HIGHLIGHTS

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The latest CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO SHOW is up and running on the archived SoundCloud. It's a good one...we cram a lot of sports into the hour. Hoops, Field Hockey, Volleyball, Cross Country and audio of Justine Sowry and Jeff Walz discussing the 2015 class.

Link below:

CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO ON WCHQ 100.9 !!



paulie

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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Lady Cards defeat UTM 70-57

CARDINAL COUPLE GAME REPORT:

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Thursday with the Couple & cast...

-Lady Cards down Tennessee-Martin 70-57.

-Reports from Sandra, Phil and Jenny on the game.

-Let's go to the movies...

(Special thanks to Sandra, Phil and Jenny for the coverage. Arrived back in

Louisville at 7 p.m. tonight. Trying to get 3G coverage in the Appalachian Mountains....spotty at best. Louisville did win by 13. Good to be home. The fun and excitement of attending bowl games never grows old...but I won't be back to this particular one if the Cards draw the invite again. Paul's new bowl philosophy #1. Bowl games need to be played in warm weather. That is where I'll attend them from now on.)

OK, to the reports...

From Sandra: 12:35 p.m.

Starters Shoni, Asia, Sherrone, Bria and Becky. He (Coach Walz) started the same game of musical chairs with players  One mistake and out. Becky dropped a pass early and we just now saw her return again at 6:58.

Sara (Hammond) might be having a better game. Looks stronger. More confident.

From Sandra: 1:31 p.m.

We will win but no blow out. Jeff keeps messing with combinations that are not his best players. Bewildering.

From Phil: 3:50 p.m.

So, I watched the game this morning (I've signed up for that pay per month service) and have my laptop connected to my TV. I have to say that I think Walz proved my point again. What should have been a blowout was much closer than it should have been until the very end.

Here's what we got out of the game from the effectiveness per minute ratings:

Starting at the post, Warren (1.0) and Vails (.83) were both very effective but they only played a combined 26 minutes.

Dyer (.79) and Hammond (.65) were both very effective but played only 24 minutes combined. Dyer's minutes ( 11) came at the "5" .

You have four "bigs" who play a combined 50 minutes.

Why was this game close? Burke with a negative (-.17) in 29 minutes and Harper with a negative (-.06) in 16 minutes. Those two played only four minutes less than the "bigs" we mentioned above. Go figure. 

I could go on about some bizarre substitution patterns and lineups. The bottom line is that the Cards are doing something here that I'm obviously
missing. Someone please explain it to me.

Jenny's game article below...

The Lady Cards took to the hardwood today after a brief holiday break On the sidelines were both Tia Gibbs and Monique Reid. Tia, who had surgery after exams, was sporting some kind of sling keeping her arm/shoulder immobilized. Mo was obviously favoring her leg, but was standing and walking unassisted. Last report we had on Mo from the west coast had her on crutches, so it was good to see her able to bear weight.

While the Cards came out of the game with the win, it was a rusty effort at best. Sherrone Vails easily won the opening tip off, getting it to Bria who drove to the hoop and drew a foul. She cashed in on 1 of 2...UT-Martin held Louisville without a basket until the 16:51 mark when Cierra Warren finally connected. Bria Smith picked up two early fouls, but Walz let her play through it for a few minutes. Once she left, she stayed out the rest of the half. The Cards did eventually go out two first half runs of 10-0 and 8-2. UT-Martin stayed close though - by hitting five three-point attempts. The Cards did force 17 Skyhawk turnovers in the first twenty and had a 35-30 lead.

The second half started with two quick fouls on Smith. She left at the 19:04 mark and and returned later in the game before fouling out with 3:01 left in the game. The Cards could never pull away from UTM in the second half. Shoni sealed the win by leading Louisville in a late run for the 13 point victory. 

UTM played their starting five 180 of the 200 minutes available. Those five had all the Skyhawk points. Heather Butler had 13 and Perica Glenn and Jaclissa Haislip added 12 each and had double-doubles with 10 boards each. 

The Cards got 16 from Shoni Schimmel and 14 out of Cierra Warren. Sara Hammond grabbed a team high 9 rebounds to go with 8 points. A strong game from the freshman, nearly getting a double-double. Louisville was out rebounded 43-41. Second chance points was won by the Skyhawks 15-2. The Cards forced 26 turnovers while committing 19 of their own. Louisville also won the assists stats 15-12 .

WHAT JENNY LIKED ABOUT THE GAME...

-SARA!  I've thought from the beginning she was a baller. She got off to a slow start this season, but today I saw the confidence and strong play that won her Kentucky Miss Basketball last year. She did have a few defensive breakdowns, which netted the usual sideline reprimands from Walz, but overall it was a good game for her and hopefully a sign of good things to come.

-SHAWNTA Dyer also had a nice stat line today. Seven points in 14 minutes. 3 grabs, 3 steals, an assist and block.

-STEALS. 15 today. Active hands. I liked it. Keep it up.

JENNY'S THINGS TO WORK ON:

-Slow starts. Another one today. In the BIG EAST, these will put the Cards in a big hole early.

-Rebound, rebound, rebound. Two of our four "bigs" had only 3 rebounds each. an embarrassing 13 offensive rebounds and two second chance points. I know you can do better.

The girls will hit the film room Thursday to review and discuss. One game at a time is the current Walz credo. Without Tia and Mo, it's a wise one. Each contest a challenge now that the non-conference schedule is complete.

Louisville begins BIG EAST play Tuesday, Jan 3rd. in the friendly confines of the KFC YUM! Center against Marquette. Hope to see you there!
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(A nice report from Jenny and photos, too!)

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(After getting a good night's sleep and reviewing everything we could find about the game yesterday, Paul and Sonja have come up with five things that Coach Walz may want to hit the pause and rewind button on when the team reviews the film.)

-The lack of blocking out on the boards. Should have quite a few opportunities
to review the lack of this from what we've heard and read.

-Freshman fouls. This segment could star Bria Smith, but it's a good teaching tool to show players how to avoid significant "pine time".

-Catch, set, square and shoot. Burke isn't going to shoot this badly each time out. Maybe a review of the three point attempts will teach "how not to."

-"Sho" them how it gets done. Shoni Schimmel put the team on her back and carried them to the win late. Maybe the rest of the team could pick up a pointer or two on "ready for prime time" basketball.

-Five pictures. Walz should pick his five starters for Tuesday this morning, put their pictures on the screen and challenge the rest of the team to play good enough to grab one of these spots. We'd go with Shoni, Sherrone, Sara, Jude and Cierra. Make Burke, Nita and Bria prove they want it. Good, challenging competition. Challenge Asia to pick it up. Have Shelby ready for a few back-up minutes. Make Shawnta your first off the bench and get 25 (minutes) 10 and 10 (rebounds and points) from her each night.

BIG EAST is around the corner. Grab your lunch pail and go to work, Lady Cards.  

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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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