WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE
17-4 second half run leads Louisville past Scarlet Knights
A crowd of around 1800 saw Shoni Schimmel lead the Cards with 24 points, Asia Taylor added 19 and Sara Hammond finished with 17 for the Cards...who are only the second team this season to score 80 points against C.Viv Stringer's club. UofL out-rebounded RU by three in the game and forced 19 turnovers.
Louisville (or Shoni) actually got off to a good start in this game for once, leading 8-3 on eight points from Shoni. The Cards still led 21-15 after a Shoni three with 11:23 in the first half. A Bria Smith layup made it 34-28 with 5:09 remaining...but Rutgers went on a 10-2 run to go up 38-36 after Betnijah Laney hit a free throw with 10 seconds showing to take a two-point lead into the half. The Cards shot 39% in the first half...Rutgers 50%. The Cards needed to stop Tyler Scaife, the freshman guard had 15 first half points and was basically doing anything she wanted against the Cards defense.
The Scarlet Knights would not let the Cards acheive a double digit lead, though...and Scaife and Laney tried to get Rutgers back into the contest. It was not enough.
A Sara inside move gave the Cards a 70-63 edge with 3:30 on the clock. Shoni tallied four of the next six Louisville points and her two free throws put it out of reach at 76-68 and 1:04 to play. Four Asia Taylor free throws in the final minute finished out the Cardinal scoring for the nine-point 80-71 "W".
THE FINAL WORD
-Free throws? Sit down before you read any further.
-UofL showed a lot of poise in the second half to overcome Rutgers lead and not allow them to regain it. Asia, Shoni and Sara scored all but seven of the UofL second half points. Louisville outscored RU 44-33 in the half.
-Shoni has now hit 20 threes in the last three games. That ties for a NCAA WBB best for a three-game stretch this season. She had all of Louisville's tonight except one...a wide open trifecta from Sara in the second half.
-Asia was huge in the final minutes...crashing the boards and converting on the line. Clutch free throws in the final minute by A-Tayy to ensure Rutgers wouldn't send it to O.T.
Six of her seven made charity tosses came in the final five minutes.
Nice prep work, Deb.
Plus that, you could hear the excitement drain right out of her voice when the Cards put the Scarlet Knights away. Homerism is for campus/student radio announcers, dear. Not for ancient TV talking heads. Sorry the Cards ruined your party, D.A. They are kinda known for that, though.
- Tyler Scaife is going to be something special for C.Viv. 25 points tonight and all of her 10 field goals looked effortless.
It was a Louisville team that went into a hostile environment, took a quality opponents best shot and emerge holding the trophy.'Shimmy' rocks.
The Cards come home to face the USF Bulls on SuperBowl Sunday. Roll out for this one, fans...a bit of unfinished business to transact in regards getting some payback on the win USF took on Denny Crum Court last year.
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Just a reminder, the Louisville Lacrosse banquet is this Saturday at the PNC Plaza in Papa John's Cardinal Stadium. Cash bar opens at 4 p.m. We've also heard that a ticket to it will get you access to the Volleyball banquet across the way in the Brown-Williamson room.
Our Jeff McAdams will be over there. Sonja and I will be hanging out with the gals who carry sticks with nets.
Attend.
Go to www.gocards.com and get the ticket information. Lacrosse has a strong, talented team returning and you'll have a huge time at the pre-season dinner. Kellie Young's squad begins the season at #6 Duke. She has a mix of talented returnees and a group of very talented freshmen that will contend for playing time. Nikki Boltja, last year's leading scorer is back for her senior season and watch out for Kat Gordon, Kay Morrisette and Aussie freshman Steph McNamara.
paulie
