Cards fall at Syracuse 53-45

THURSDAY at C.C.

-Poor shooting, lack of rebounding sink Cards at Carrier Dome.

-From the locker room.

-Breakdown of the game and numbers.

-Golf finishes 13th in Palos Verdes

-Women's swimming leading in BIG EAST Championships after Day 1.

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The Lady Cards overcame a seven point deficit late in the second half to tie the contest 45-45 at the 3:25 media timeout in the second half...but Syracuse free throw shooting was clutch down the final stretch for the Orange. Tia Gibbs had 16 for the Cards in the losing effort.
Shelby Harper, pictured here, gave the Cards some good minutes off the bench for the second game in a row,

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Louisville gained the early lead against Syracuse and led 9-7 after a Monique Reid jumper with 11;54 to go in the first half. The Orange then ran off a 12-0 run the next six minutes to go up 19-9 before Becky Burke hit a shot inside to stop the bleeding with 5:53 left. Five different Syracuse players scored in the run and Louisville could not score against the aggressive Syracuse 2-3 zone.

The Cards would rally, though, over the final 3:17 of the half...erasing a 23-11 Orange lead to make it 23-19 at halftime...getting two 3 -pointers from Tia Gibbs in a 8-0 run to cut the margin to four at the break.

Louisville went 8-33 in the first half for an embarrassing 22.4% and 3-15 from 3-point range. Shoni Schimmel was 1-12 from the field and 1-8 from beyond the arc. Gibbs led the Cards with eight after twenty minutes.

The Cards fell behind 28-21 early in the second half before going on a 10-5 run that cut it to 33-31 Syracuse with 13:02 to go. Asia Taylor had six of the Cards points in the rally. A few minutes later a Burke 3 made it 35-34. Louisville stayed within one until a 6-0 'Cuse run made it 43-36 after a Morrow three. Once again, though...the Cards responded...a 7-0 run keyed by two Gibbs baskets tied the game with 5:08 on the clock and a Burke jumper in the lane made it 45-45 right before the media timeout and 3:25 left.

The Cards failed to score after that...Syracuse getting six of their final eight points from the line as Louisville fouled trying to regain ball possession.

Louisville (16-10) ended 16-58 from the field (27.8%). What is amazing about this is that Schimmel went 1-17, Reid 3-12 and Burke 3-10. Syracuse out-rebounded Louisville 51-33 and Erica Morrow led them with 17 points.

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WALZ on the loss...

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"It's effort. We gave up 19 offensive boards to West Virginia also. Unfortunately, that's my fault. I've got to try to get our mentality changed...but, we won. We beat West Virginia. So the players are like...'What's the big deal? It doesn't matter, Coach...it's all right.' I told them that Syracuse had not beat a team if a team holds them to under 14 offensive rebounds. Under 14. So, I told them that under 14 rebounds and you're going to win this game. There's no pride. No pride. It's a tie score and we get beat on a free throw line box out. Then, we're going to make up an excuse that my line partner didn't pinch. You've got to have some toughness...it's just unfortunately an embarrassing effort for us when it mattered. Four minutes left in the game and you've got to come up with some plays. We don't come up with them."

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On 4 of 29 shooting by Reid and Schimmel:

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"I talked to Shoni at halftime. In the first half she's 1-12 and she took that one shot, a fade away on the baseline that was not a good shot. The rest of the shots she took were within the offense, ball got reversed, she had her feet set...you know, it's a difficult place to come in here and shoot sometimes. We tried to get in here and get as much shooting as we could...with all the distance there is behind the baskets and you're shooting in the dome. In the second half, I didn't think she took bad shots either....I don't worry about those shots...it's the hook shots we're trying to shoot in the paint. We've been telling them for two weeks..don't shoot that. It's a bad shot and it doesn't go in...but we're not willing to learn from it. They keep doing it and then they look over like what's wrong with that shot. It's frustrating."

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On Tia Gibbs spark at the end of the first half:

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"We came out of the media timeout...with 3:17 left and I told them that we just need to make a little run and we're going to be OK....and I told them...if you'll do what I ask you to do, we'll win this game. One of the things I asked them to do in the locker room is rebound. We had held them to seven offensive rebounds in the first half. Give up twelve in the second that leads to 21 second chance points. It's impossible to win a basketball game if you're not dedicated and physical enough to box out. Unfortunately, we're not right now. But...Tia drills two 3's and those were clutch shots. I was proud of her for that."

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On Gibbs leaving late in the game...limping:

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"She justed twisted her ankle. She's fine. We'll get back home, get treatment in the morning before class for her, get to class and get back and practice because we've got to go on the road to South Florida next. "

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Louisville had their worst shooting night of the season with the 27.6% effort. You can't win games with 5-26 3-point efforts or 16-58 from the field. Was it a case of intimidation from the aggressive 2-3 Syracuse zone...or poor shooting sightlines present in the cavernous Carrier Dome? We like the fact that the cards did go 8-10 from the foul line...but Syracuse cashed in on their much more plentiful attempts at the line (14-24) late. No bias here...the Cards had to foul late to retain possession...and Kayla Alexander did Louisville a favor by missing five straight late in the game.

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The Louisville starters combined for 36 of the Cards anemic 45 points...Gibbs with 16, Reid 7, Taylor 6, Hines 4 and Schimmel 3. Burke came off the bench for 7 and Vails produced 2 in 14 minutes. Harper, Tay and Slaughter all played but failed to score. The four Louisville freshmen that played were good for only five points last night.

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We hate the stat that Reid, Schimmel and Burke were a combined 7 for 39 for the game...but Louisville was still in this thing with 3:17 to go. They simply disappeared on offense at the end and Syracuse hit their free throws. Louisville had Hines foul out, Taylor gathered four and Schimmel and Gibbs ended with three each.

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Louisville got pounded on the boards...51-33. Hines had seven for Louisville and Reid 6. Walz mentioned it in the post game and Liz Sherwood, who filled in for Paul Sanderford on the broadcast last night, kept saying throughout the game that Louisville was not blocking out. It's a basic feature of the game that players are taught ion the grade school level. Keep the opponent away from the basket. Unlike Walz, we think Louisville has the talent and strength to accomplish it...it's a matter of desire and going back to the fundamentals...then following through when the lights come on and the crowd files in.

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1343 announced in the Dome last night for the game...a little higher than we expected. The radio feed was next to the Louisville bench and you could hear Walz most of the game shouting out instructions and talking to the referees. Anyone who questions Walz ability as a coach needs to reconsider. No one works harder than him on the sidelines...calling out plays, situations, sets and mixing in personal comments to the players...all while carrying on a sometimes comical and slightly "R" rated dialogue with the officials. Quentin Hillsman, head Syracuse coach, was rather tame in comparison to some of the antics he's pulled in the past in this series. One bull rush to mid-court to contest a call...but no fainting, fighting or fall-de-rah. Maybe "Q" has mellowed...

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Liz Sherwood does a passable job as color commentator...still needs to get rid of the "yeah's" and "you knows" that plague our society in public speaking...but for a graduate assistant...we give her a passing grade. She understands the game, knows what Louisville is trying to do out there, is able to explain what goes right and wrong and why and offers solutions and observations. We'll see who is next to Kelch on the broadcast in Tampa. Early money is going on Paul Sanderford...

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The UofL womens' golf team ended their final round in the Northrop Grumann Challenge with a 313...good enough to land them in 12th. place for the three day event. Sara-Maude Juneau fired a closing day round of 71 and finished with a 222 total...placing her 11th overall. Anna-Karin Ljungstrom carded a 78 yesterday...230 total and a 34th place finish. Laura Anderson's 77 totaled her out at 243 and 57th. overall. Maria Castellanos toured the final round with a 87 and her 249 total was good for 65th. Candice Wiley took 71st. with a third day score of 90 and total of 262. Tara Lyons had a 86 and finished 65th and 249, competing as an individual.

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The Cards head to Weston, FL. beginning Feb.27th. to compete in the Sir Pizza Cards Challenge next.

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A great start in the BIG EAST Championships for the Louisville womens' swimming team in Ralph Wright Natatorium last night. Louisville is in first place with 145 points...leading Notre Dame by by 13. The Cards won both the 800-free relay and 200 medley relays. In the 800, Lindsay LaPorte(pictured right), Breann McDowell, Esther Povaszay and Sarah Andrews turned in a time of 7:11.10 to down West Virginia, who finished at 7:11.32.

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The 200 saw Kristina Brandenburg, Therese Bergstrom, Raine Thompson and Aileen Cole touched the wall first at 1:38.97. Notre Dame finished second..

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"Setting the school record in the 200 medley was really nice for this team but we have to remember that this is a seven session meet. Our women need to keep thier heads on straight and take this one swim at a time." commented head swimming coach Arthur Albiero. "From this point on, nothing is going to hinge on anything we did tonight. It will hinge on how we approach each and every swim from here on out."

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A full day of events starts this morning at 10 a.m. Thinking of popping in for a view? Better have a ticket, today is sold out. The finals are scheduled for 6 p.m.

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