MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE
SUNDAY GAME REPORTS
-WBB wins over Villanova
-Softball takes two on Sunday...goes 3-0 in Classic
-Lacrosse wins Saturday over ODU 21-3
Nova, though...rallied to outscore the Cards 13-5 the rest of the way...Devon Kane's free throw creating a 28-24 halftime score.
Laura Sweeney tied the contest at 30-30 on a layup with 18:19 on the clock in the second half. Nova still led 42-40 before a Smith jumper....which sparked a 15-7 closing run for UofL over the final six minutes. Smith gave the Cards the lead at 45-43 at the 4:56 mark. Vails scored inside to make it 47-43. After a Laura Sweeney score cut the Louisville lead to two, Vails jumper at 1:33 gave Louisville a 49-45 advantage. Louisville then hit their final six free throws in a row...four by Slaughter and two by Smith to preserve the win.
55-49 CARDS ON THE ROAD!
Jude Schimmel went to the locker room hobbling with assistance with 44 seconds left in the game. Her sister Shoni did not play in the second half...ending up with two points.
Post game comments from Jeff Walz indicated that he challenged the team at halftime and asked Jude, Bria and Shoni if they wanted to play in the second half. Jude and Bria answered yes and Shoni did not reply to the question. Walz assumed this meant she didn't and did not insert her into the game in the final twenty. Shoni did go to the locker room when her sister was injured.
Walz also mentioned that Monique Reid was held out because of her knee but would mostly likely play against Seton Hall Wednesday...which is the Cards last home game of the regular season and Senior Night.
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SOFTBALL SWEEPS TWO SUNDAY
Louisville won both games Sunday in the Cardinal Classic at Ulmer Stadium. That gave the Cards a 4-0 weekend...they also defeated Kent State Friday and Buffalo 9-3 on Sunday
Louisville 3 - Kent State 2
In the re-match from Friday's game Rachel LeCoq went 4.2 innings an allowed two runs on seven hits and Caralisa Connell came in for the save for the one-run Louisville win over the Golden Flashes. Louisville defeated KSU for the second time in three days.The Cards scored twice in the second inning, getting three straight walks for Alicja Wolny, Hannah Kiyohara and Taner Fowler. A Whitney Arion single plated Wolny and Kiyohara.
After two Kent State runs in the fifth that sent Le Coq to the bench and tied the game....Louisville countered with a run in the sixth that proved to be the difference.
Hannah Kiyohara reached on a fielders choice and scored on a Maggie Ruckenbrod single.
Connell gave up just two hits in 2.1 innings pitched for the win.
Louisville 5 - Eastern Illinois 0
Connell was sharp in the shut-out win, going the distance and striking out 10 EIU batters while allowing just one hit in the Sunday nightcap.
Louisvlle got their first run in the fourth inning when Katie Keller walked and scored on a mishandled- Kiyohara grounder to second. The Cards tacked on four more in the fifth. Ruckenbrod singled, Mann reached on a bunt that advanced Ruckenbrod and Fowler's double scored both. Jennifer Esteban came in to run for Fowler and scored on a wild pitch. The Cards made it 5-0 when Kayla Soles singled and hit the plate on a Wolny double.
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LACROSSE DOMINATES OLD DOMINION
On Saturday, the Louisville Lacrosse team went to 3-0 with a 21-3 win over Old Dominion. Kaylin Morrissette had five scores for the Cards in the romp.
The eighteen goal margin tied a program record and three goals allowed tied the second best defensive performance in Louisville Lacrosse history.
The squad plays against Denver on the road next on Saturday.
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I was surprised that Walz went after Shoni so hard in a public forum like his post-game show. His call-in show with Matt Andrews on Tuesday should be interesting.
ReplyDeleteI noticed Shoni deleted her twitter. My guess is that some of the coaching staff retweets got to her. She is not buying into what the coaching staff is trying to sell. The staff have been talking fundamentals, passing, and good shots for the last month. That and her refusal to play any defense finally made Walz snap. We could deal with those stupid shots from Angel because she did so many other things well.
ReplyDeleteAnyone know Jude's injury?
An important point should not be lost today in the drama surrounding Shoni: Walz played "big ball" today instead of "small ball." Today, even without Reid, the bigs, including Slaughter, played 111 minutes. In the loss to USF, the bigs (including Slaughter and Reid) played only 92 minutes. Regardless of how much Shoni is playing, Walz needs to play those bigs close to 120 minutes a game.
ReplyDelete--PDX Phil
Walz is playing available bodies at this point, and each game is different. Counting out Mo and Shoni, that leaves eight players. Add to this the fact that Sara's foul troubles cut into her minutes played, and that leaves very few choices. Stats don't always tell the whole story.
DeleteSpeaking of--ever since I slighted Sheronne Vails, she has been coming through, at least fg percentage wise. Not missing bunnies like normal, and that is making a huge difference.
So very happy for Sherrone. She's needed a breakout game like this for decades. She probably read your comments, K-Man, and got motivated.
DeletePaulie
Coach has always been about being honest. I find it refreshing that a coach tells it like it is. With that said I see Shoni being in the starting lineup on Wednesday and the rest of the year. What happned to Shoni has happended to a lot of great players and they learn from it.
ReplyDeleteShe will be awesome the rest of the season come on shoni we need u.
ReplyDeleteOh, and can we get rid of the gray jerseys? We play AWFUL in them.
ReplyDeleteGood for Walz,this should have happened a long time ago.Good teams have no place for individuals "ego tripping."
ReplyDeleteSet Shoni the rest of the year if she won't buy in to the team concept, Coach Walz.
ReplyDelete"My team is out on the court."
-Gene Hackman, HOOSIERS
--Joe Hill--
How is Jude? Anyone know?
ReplyDeleteNo news as of 11 a.m. on Jude.
DeletePaulie
Let's look at this win for what it was. Bigs in foul trouble. Shoni and Mo on the bench. Cards come from behind with Vails, Smith and Slaughter to win, on the road, against a tough, talented and disciplined Villanova team. A huge win.
ReplyDeleteWalz for Coach of the Year. As far as the Shoni incident, lack of playing time makes one ajust and re-consider their priorities. She'll be back. If not against Seton Hall, where--honestly -- do the Cards need her in this one? then definitely against Syracuse, where she'll be needed.
Coach did the right thing. Hopefully, she's learned her role and will embrace the team concept. If not, she can darn well transfer, sit out a year somewhere and play her senior season in front of 800 fans a game somehwere else. Personally, I don't think her ego would ever resign itself to playing in front of a apathetic, small fan base.
She'll come around.
Curtis Franklin
Easy, Curtis...no one is talking about transfers here and such. A coaching decision was made not to put a player back into a game.
DeleteLet's not become the UofL women's version of Cats Pause. Please...
Paulie
Walz got stugots that is for sure by coming out and telling the listeners why he benched her. Allright Walz!
ReplyDeleteNone of you were complaining about Schimmel when she lit up South Florida a couple of weeks back. Now she is a bad girl? Cards could take some lessons from UKWBB where there are no heroes at all. There is just a team. All working for one cause.
ReplyDeleteUK would beat Villanova by 20 or more.
-Matthew Mitchell For Governor-
Matt, you guys have a great team this year. You beat us fair and square. We'll play again next year for the bragging rights. See you then.
Delete(Editor's Note: We're 99% sure this isn't the real Matthew Mitchell. Unless he's moved to Mount Olivet, KY...which is where the I.P. address is located. Plus, I've met the guy who claims he is Matthew Mitchell for Governor on here. He's attended a few UofL ladies games this year.)
DeletePaulie
That's all fine, but if Walz wanted Shoni to be a defensive stopper he should have started teaching that role before she was a junior. She was a gunner in high school and I'm sure Walz recruited her as a gunner and told her she could shoot when she wanted to if she came to Louisville. The truth is that Shoni hasn't been hitting the percentages that will work if you're going to allow her to do whatever she wants to do on offense. LIke most WCBB players they don't play much defense in high school. I guess it's better that they figure out now what they want Shoni to do versus later. In my opinion Walz has been hoping her offense would improve. If she can fill it up better he can put up with her weak defense. That hasn't been working and sure won't work in the tourney.
ReplyDeleteIn case you haven't been paying attention the Pac 12 plays a pretty good brand of basketball and at least three or four of those programs would be happy to have Shoni, even for just a year. Further, if Shoni walks so does Jude. That's just how they roll. I'm sure Oregon would be thrilled to have the Shimmel sisters next year after they fire Paul Westhead and reload. If you think they'd feel bad about sitting out a year to finish up their careers in Oregon's Nike funded wonderland you don't get it. Oregon has the resources and fan base and it's also home for Shoni and Jude.
Whoa, whoa...no one is talking about transfers and such. Seriously. A player wasn't put back into a game because of a coaching decision. It's as simple as that. Oregon has a fine program. Let's not jump to rash conclusions here.
DeletePaulie
Actually Curtis started the transfer discussion not me. I just responded to his post. The Shimmel sisters are WBB legends in the Pacific Northwest. They can pretty much write their ticket to any program out there. It is the responsibility of Walz and his staff to bring these young ballers along in a way that makes sense for them and the program. I was never a Louisville fan until Shoni & Jude decided to sign up and I've been impressed so far with how it has worked out.
DeleteI don't know if folks in Louisville are familiar with the history of exceptional Native American ballers. Traditionally they have been not real big but are quick, skilled and creative on the offensive side. Shoni is a classic example of that model. They have never had a reputation for being defensive stoppers. I grew up in Montana, playing against and watching many exceptionally talented Indian ballers. As great as many of them were, few were good let alone great defenders. They generally won by out shooting their opponents. I guess that's what makes Jude such an interesting and compelling exception to that rule. Frankly I think Jude would be better off in her personal roundball development if she was in a different program than Shoni but that will never happen. They're sisters and Native Americans first and ballers second which is why many of the great ones never make if off the reservation to begin with.
In any case, if Walz wants Shoni to become a stopper then that shouldn't have just come up. That isn't how it has gone so far in that program. Walz has always encouraged her to do her thing on offense. A change in midstream is OK, but trust me when I say that if you try to John Wayne someone like Shoni it doesn't always work out so well.
The truth is Shoni has not improved as a player....regardless of who is a it fault it is up to her to get better. She could be one of the best players in the country if she wanted it.
ReplyDeleteTrue. It doesn't help starting the season non conditioned an out of shape.Definitely not a good message from the ''leader'' to the rest of the team.
DeleteI agree about Shoni's level of play...she is pretty much the same player (what I call Good Shoni / Bad Shoni) as she was as a freshman, with the occasional exception like USF down there that continues to tantalize us. Maybe she needs to read about Darrel Griffith, and how between his junior and senior years he became a gym rat, worked to improve in the areas where he was weakest, and became a much better player and team leader.
ReplyDeleteJust as an add here...Griff had some incredible talent around him his senior year. Derek Smith, Wiley Brown, Rodney McCray, Jeff Hall, Poncho Wright, Roger Burkman...not sure if what Shoni has to join her next year is quite that impressive...but with Nita, Bria, Sara, Jude, Shawnta, Asia, Sherrone, the rest...a very deep and experienced squad.
DeletePaulie
Shoni certainly hasn't grown as much as she could have. I imagine that both Shoni and the coaching staff are responsible for that at some level. That said, with no legit Inside / outside game it's tough to create dynamic offense. Much of this has been due to injuries which none of us have any control over.
ReplyDeleteThe ND game painfully illustrated her tendency to freelance, hot dog and take poor shots if there are no reasonable alternatives on offense. An earlier poster called out more minutes being played by Bigs which under the circumstances makes sense. If you can't consistently hit the three off the dribble / pass you need to go inside / outside to create space and opportunity. You also can't play effectively with Jude rotating into the key on defense against someone like ND. I'll be gracious here and give Walz and his staff the benefit of the doubt, but I can't remember another WCBB game ever in which someone had a strategy to rotate a five and a half foot baller into the key and had any level of success. And this is coming from a big believer in Jude.
Coach has had an issue with Shoninall season. The Villanova game was a good opportunity for him to make a point without much risk of losing a game. In her defense, it is always easier to star when you have a strong supporting cast around you but due to injuries we just don't have that so at times she really is looked upon to pull the cat out of the bag.
ReplyDeleteBoo to the Jeff Walz website creator - site is not available to non flash player devices such as I pads or I phones. What were they thinking?
ReplyDeleteShoni has led Louisville in scoring 12 out of the Cards 27 games. No other Lady Card has acheived that feat more than four times.
ReplyDeletePaulie
Any of the players can lead in scoring if they get the minutes or have the ball in their hand as a point guard.Walz problem with Shoni is her lack of defense.On defense Shoni tends to just stand around and literally wait for other teammates to do her job.If Shoni continues to get away with it,it breaks down our effectiveness on defense as a team.Go Walz- Team First!
ReplyDeleteShoni is second on the team in steals. Some defense is being played there. Just not consistantly. I hope she gets with the program. Too valuable a shooter to have riding the pine.
DeleteWalz should have kept his dirty laundry internal. No need to blast her on the radio. Discretion is the better part of valor. Walz slipped up and got his mouth in gear before thinking it through. She's a college kid, not an hourly employee.
Blue Lou
If I'm not mistaken, Walz said in that post-game interview that he challenged Shoni, Bria, and Jude at halftime. Asked them if they wanted to play in the second half. Not clear what, exactly, he meant by that, if it was playing defense, team ball, or whatever, but he said that Jude and Bria answered yes, Shoni gave no answer, so he took it to mean she did not want to play. If that is true, she basically benched herself. Let's all hope this goes down as lesson learned and she returns with fire. Also hope Jude's injury was not serious and that she is good to go.
ReplyDeleteThat's what I heard on the post-game comments, K-Man.
DeleteStill no word out of Sports Information Department on Jude, so I'm going high ground here and assuming its nothing serious.
Meanwhile, it is William Frawley's birthday...so I urge all Cardinal fans to begin the celebrations!
Paulie