.FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE:
LADY CARDS WIN WITH SECOND HALF SPURT
-Gibbs out for the season.
-Women's soccer to battle Memphis tonight in 2nd round NCAA action
-Volleyball opens BIG EAST Tournament play tonight vs. Pitt
The University of Louisville women's basketball team struggled in the first half with an opportunistic and hot-shooting EKU team.
The Cards fell behind 4-0 early before Becky Burke got the Cards on the board with two free throws at the 18:06 mark of the game.
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| Cards warm up for the EKU game |
The Cards trailed 28-22 after Marie Carpenter nailed two free throws with 5:28
left in the half, but rallied to score eight of the final 11 points of the half to tie it at 30-30 on two Taylor free throws and go in down by only one at the half 31-30.
Shoni Schimmel led the Cards with seven points on 3-11 shooting and Becky Burke added six for the Cards...who shot only 32.3% in the first twenty minutes. Walz played nine players and all scored but Bria Smith, saddled with two early fouls and on the bench for 14 minutes in the first.
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| Did you know...EKU enters the court thru an inflatable tunnel? |
The Cards woke up in the second half and a 24-5 run that spanned over ten minutes put it out of reach for the Cards at 64-46 with 5:34 to go. Five straight points by Sherrone Vails and a three by Antonia Slaughter closed out the Cards scoring, as Louisville held the Colonels to just 10 points over the final 13 minutes.
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| Fans spell out SARA at the game (Photo courtesy of Jenny O'Bryan) |
Louisville takes the win 77-53 but at the 15:18 mark of the final half, EKU was still very much in the game, regaining the lead at 41-40 after two Alex Jones free throws. The Lady Cards took off on a 11-2 run, though, after that...getting a lane driving basket by Shoni Schimmel, put back by Bria Smith, a Shawnta Dyer score from the paint, Becky Burke three and layup by Smith off a nifty Shoni pass to make it 51-43 with 11:30 remaining. The Cards led 60-46 with 8:51 to go after an Asia Taylor tip-in and EKU had no answers left to stop the Cards...
Cierra Warren led all scorers with 15 points - 10 in the second half - and Becky Burke and Shoni added 12 each...Shoni's on 5-20 shooting and Burke's 4-11 efforts. Louisville ended up at 38%((27-71) for the game from the floor but did record a sparkling 78.3% (18-23) from the charity stripe.
Walz played all eleven players dressed for tonight's game...all scored but Shelby Harper. Starters were Shawnta Dyer (5 pts.), Sherrone Vails (5 pts.), Bria Smith (9 pts.), Becky Burke and Shoni.
Things we liked about tonight:
-Louisville took EKU's best punch in the first half (and for five minutes in the second half) and did not fall to the canvas. The Colonels nailed four 3-pointers in the first twenty minutes and seven for the game but Louisville out-rebounded EKU 50-30.
-Louisville had 18 assists tonight and forced 23 turnovers....while committing only 17 turnovers...and just 5 in the second half. They also had 16 steals and Shoni had 4 of them.
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| Cards radio crew Adrienne Johnson and Matt Andrews prepare for the game. (We're not exactly sure what the guy in blue is doing to their left...) |
-Sara Hammond thrilled the 100's in attendance from Rockcastle County with six points, seven boards and just two turnovers.
-Cards had 40 points in the paint, 25 off turnovers and 25 second chance points. The bench totaled 34 of the Cardinal points tonight.
Things that need improvement:
-Another slow start for the Lady Cards tonight. Becky Burke nailed it right on the head when she commented post-game that if Louisville comes out like tonight against Xavier on Sunday...they'll lose.
-Cards only had one blocked shot tonight...even though they had a clear height advantage. EKU swatted six Cardinal shots...four by center Jade Barber and two by Jones.
-Shoni, Sara and Becky went a combined 12 - 42 from the field. Those numbers need to get better...
-Worst part of the evening:
Louisville returns to action Sunday at 2 p.m. in the KFC YUM! Center against Xavier.
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| Here's hoping the women's soccer team can kick some kiddie kats around tonight! |
Karen Ferguson-Dayes will lead the University of Louisville women's soccer team into battle tonight against the Memphis Tigers in Memphis. The 8:30 p.m. start is the second game of the evening at the Mike Rose Soccer complex...#1 seeded Florida will face Portland at 6 p.m.
Memphis is 22-0-1 on the season and will be a tough test for the Cards. They got to the second round with a 7-0 win over Tennessee-Martin. Louisville downed Dayton 2-0 to advance.
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The University of Louisville Volleyball team goes in quest of defending their 2010 BIG EAST Tournament title with an opening round match vs. Pittsburgh today. The #1 seed Cards were upset earlier during the regular season by #8 seed Piit in the KFC YUM! Center. Key for the Cards, of course, is getting the ball to Lola Arslanbekova. Double and triple teams on her could also create some opportunities for Emily Juhl and Kaitlynn James to get some kills.
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louivilletook20moreshotsthanthecolonelsdidtonightandscored40pointsinthepaint
Very sorry to hear about the loss of Gibbs - UL's best defender. Hope the surgery goes well and that she has a complete recovery. Rehab from shoulder surgery is very painful and takes a lot of dedication, but I think she has the will to do it.
ReplyDelete--PDX Phil
Tia has a wonderful spirit and attitude and if anyone can pull the rehab off, our money would be on her.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations from a EKU women's basketball fan. I think my Lady Colonels just ran out of gas in the second half. We played the first 25 minutes on a lot of emotion and adrenaline. Plus, it was our second largest home crowd ever for women's basketball and you could tell the EKU girls were excited about that. Thanks to the Louisville fans who made the trip.
ReplyDeleteLouisville is a very good team. Jeff Walz has tons of talent, depth and skill. He'll find a way to get them motivated.
Sorry about your loss of Gibbs. Based on what I saw last night and what I saw when we played Xavier last week, you should handle the Xavier team easily if you can play like you did during that stretch in the second when you buried us.
Question. Why does Walz start Vails and Dyer when it's clear to me that Warren and either Taylor or Hammond need to be your primary post players?
Ellen B.
thank you cardinal couple for your report on the eastern game. i came up from rockcastle county last night to watch and cheer for sara. really glad she chose uofl. like your site and will check it all season long
ReplyDeletelarry the able guy
Thanks for reading and commenting Ellen and Larry! As I told your basketball SID Kevin Britton after the game last night, I'd love to see this become a yearly series again...alternating sites.
ReplyDeletei saw kevin standing by you for awhile and then kneeling next to you. was he trying to get you to leave. ha ha
ReplyDeletelarry the able guy
LOL !! No, Larry...I was having trouble staying on the EKU wireless network on my laptop and he was trying to assist me. We finally figured it out. You have a great basketball SID there in Kevin. Enjoyed meeting him. Get 'er done, Larry !
ReplyDeleteSee told you, just put Jude and Shoni in at same time ;-) I know it is EKU... lol But they played Xavier well... Schimmels accounted for 10 assists?? If Shoni was on it would have been a 35pt win, but a W is a W. Sincerely, Schimmel fan lol. --U23
ReplyDeleteQuestions about the line-up aren't going to go away, when even the fans of the Cards' opponents raise them. I've argued before in favor of three bigs and two guards, but if Walz goes small, then he should go with Jude, Bria, and Shoni, instead of Becky, Brian and Shoni. Hopefully Walz will figure this out soon.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of Bria - holy hops! - check out the photo of her airbone from the EKU game on the ULWBB site.
--PDX Phil