Post game UofL vs. WVU comments, observations

MONDAY MORNING at CARDINAL COUPLE:



-David Watson weighs in on UofL win.

-From the post game presser

-By the numbers...

-Softball falls to Texas in final

-Baseball Red and Gray Scrimmage

Our special correspondent David Watson, pictured right, weighs in on the Lady Cards win over WVU Sunday Night at the KFC YUM Center as only he can see it...



What causes a team to shoot barely 25% for a game? Defense from the opposing team. And, that is the story of last night's epic contest in the KFC YUM! Center. WVU's effort against Jeff Walz's crew when it came to putting the ball in the basket can be compared to someone
tying the bumper of a car to the Sears Tower in Chicago. You aren't going to move and the building isn't moving either. Trip after trip, time after time..the Mountaineers would get one, two and sometimes three straight and dead on looks at close-in gimmies and fail to bottom out the net. Hand in the face, body on the shooter and no easy path to payout...the Cards probably are nowhere the match for WVU physically but sometimes finesse beats strength.

This is a big win, in many ways, for this young Louisville team. WVU is deep, aggressive, experienced and well coached. They know exactly what they want to do when they take it court, accomplished a lot of it last night (except for putting the ball in the basket) and Louisville beat them at their own game. I'm pretty sure Coach Walz wouldn't want to play that style of hoops the rest of the way out this season. They'll probably have to against Syracuse later this week. Most likely the same is in store when DePaul comes calling on the 23rd. USF likes to bump you around as well. Let's hope Walz's kids are stocking up on the Aleve and Ben-Gay.

How incredible is Shoni Schimmel? I bet that if you gave her a bulldozer and put her on a shot clock that she could complete the I-69 Interstate from Indianapolis to Evansville seconds before the federal funding ran out. If there has ever been a freshman for the Lady Cards besides her perform at this level, please point her out to me. Also, hats off the an aggressive Sheronne Vails yesterday and Shelby Harper. Harper was in an unenviable spot yesterday by having to try and move the ball against and contain Liz Repella. Repella doesn't play nicely. Both fouled out. Wouldn't surprise me if they resumed the battle long after the crowd left under the streetlights on 2nd street beneath the Indiana bridge.

I did see Paul and Sonja several times covering the game from the end zone. Congrats, you're TV stars now! Paul, you've got to stop taking referee's calls so personally. I know they're bozos, you know they're bozos and why was one ref making well over 75% of the calls? Sonja, you looked beautiful, darling. Just keep "the big guy's" blood pressure from spiking.

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FROM THE POST GAME PRESSER:

We've got about 20 minutes of stuff we could put on here...fortunately Kim Pemberton and her S.I.D. staff has all the quotes over at http://www.uoflsports.com/ Here's a couple of our favorites from last night...

Shoni Schimmel on her three buzzer beaters:
"Nope. They definitely weren't called plays. I heard everyone call out the shot clock so I knew I had to get a shot off and that's exactly what I did" (We need to take her to the track with us for some "at the post" wagering.)

Tia Gibbs on when Monique Reid came into the game:
"That was just heart. We teach family. That's what we talk about and working for each other. I know she's in a lot of pain right now but she did it for us basically. She wanted to do whatever it took to help this team and that's what she did. That's what we needed."

Jeff Walz on the absence of Reid at the start:
"She sprained her ankle in shoot around and I wasn't sure if she'd ever walk again. (Pauses and smiles). But she made it thru it. She was with our doctors in the first half. Our trainer did a fantastic job. I told 'em not to bring her out during the game. I said just keep doing treatment. Hopefully she decides she might be able to play in the second half. They taped her up and just confirmed to her and made sure she knew nothing was broken, We did X-Rays, there's no real damage done. It's just a sprained ankle. She came out there. She told me she could go in the second half. I was just going to see how long I could go not playing here if I didn't have to. I thought she did a fantastic job the last eight minutes of the game for us. I was really proud of her."

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The numbers we're most impressed with from last night are as follows:
-Louisville 6-10 from three point range...WVU 1-12.
-Louisville 47.8% shooting in the final half from the field... and holding WVU to 29.2%
-Louisville 17-21 from thr free throw line...WVU 20-27
-Louisville out rebounded WVU 16-15 in the second half.
-27 points from the freshmen last night (Schimmel with 17, Vails eight and Tay two.)
-12 assists for the Cards, only nine for WVU.
-UofL holding starting guards Liz Repella to 1-11 , Sarah Miles to 2-10 and Vanessa House 1-4.

Not so great:
-Louisville out rebounded 39-29 for the game.
-Harper committing five turnovers and five fouls in 14 minutes with no points.
-Louisville's 27.3% shooting in the first twenty minutes.
-Losing the steals battle to WVU 9-7
-Madina Ali (WVU) getting to the line for 8-9 in the second half after no 1st half attempts.

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Louisville softball got bombarded yesterday in the finals of the Texas Invitational by host team Texas 14-4. The Longhorns did all their damage in the first two innings...five in the first and nine in the second. Louisville did manage to keep it close for the first inning..responding with a Taner Fowler three run homer but three responding Texas 4 baggers in the bottom of the second against Louisville pitching put this one out of reach. The Cards did add an additional run in the top of the fourth when Maggie Ruckenbrod came home with the bases loaded when Chelsea Bemis was hit by a pitch...but the Cards could do no further damage.

The Cards take off this weekend to head to 'sweet home Alabama' for the 'Bama classic...beginning Feb. 18th.

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Had a great time earlier yesterday at the Louisville baseball Red vs. Gray inter squad scrimmage at Jim Patterson Stadium. Made it thru 6 1/2 innings before it was time to go to the YUM.

Windy but not too chilly conditions for the guys...the Red team jumped out early with three runs in the bottom of the first when a Kyle Grieshaber triple scored Adam Engel, Greishaber scored on the sacrifice fly and Cade Stallings parked one way over the left center fence on Gray starting pitcher Dace Kime.

Red added two more in the third on a Ryan Wright homer and Stewart Ijames touching home plate after a Zak Wasserman single. Two nice innings of no-hit pitching by Red starter Mike "Nasty" Nastold. Gray got on the board in the top of the sixth when Drew Haynes scored on a Ryan Seis ground out. Red got the run back in the bottom of the sixth when Wright's sacrifice fly brought home Alex Chittenden. Haynes made it 6-2 in the top of the seventh...scoring on a Seis single. Final was 8-2 Red. Very nice crowd, probably over 500, for a preseason scrimmage against each other.

Special thanks to CARDINAL DOMINANCE managing editor Shannon Ruffra for coming out despite not feeling well and showing me the ropes around Patterson. Got to meet baseball, women's track and rowing assistant S.I.D. Garret Wall and spend some time yucking it up with
organist and pep band director Al Greener, too...at the game before sitting in front of him and the band at the ladies game. People may start to talk...
.