THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE
- Mariya Moore scores nine in USA win
- Sellout for Shoni
- Mary Beth Whittaker leaves UofL WBB
The USA U18 FIBA National team had little trouble with first round opponent Mexico...winning 104-55. Louisville freshman Mariya Moore had an impressive evening with 9 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals in 14:29 minutes
of action. She was 4-7 from the field and hit her only free throw.
Moore...who did not start...grabbed four of her boards in the first half, but did not score until the last minute of the 3rd quarter. She finished big in the final 10 minutes...connecting on three fast break layups, one off a nice steal.
USA jumped out to a 26-10 first quarter lead and led 47-24 at the half. They started the second half with a 20-5 run and held a 77-40 advantage after three quarters. USA had scored 52 points in the paint in 30 minutes...mostly on layups and putbacks.
If there was any negative about the romp, it would probably be that USA was 0-10 from three-point range.
Jeff Walz...assistant coach on the squad...was his usual active self seated at the head of the bench...barking out sets and plays, coaching up players on the bench after substitutions and chatting up the official scorers.
Next up for Moore and the USA squad....El Salvador on Thursday. They lost to Canada on Wednesday 65-34. Game tips at 7:30 EDT and can be seen at FibaAmericas.com
No commentators to get in the way of the action (at least last night). Other top scorers for the USA below:
Jessica Shepard - Fremont H.S/Fremont, NE 16 pts.
Brianna Turner - Manvel H.S./Pearland, TX 16 pts.
A'ja Wilson - Heathwood H.S./Hopkins, SC 15 pts.
Napheesa Collier - Incarnate H.S)/O'Fallon, MO 10 pts.
Destinee Walker - Lake Highland H.S./Ocoee, FL 10 pts.
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The Atlanta Dream continue the "Road Trip from Hell" in Seattle tonight to face the Storm in a sold-out arena. They're honoring Shoni Schimmel tonight.
We hope she continues the upward trend she had against Phoenix Tuesday and gets a bunch of minutes on the court.
We know of several CARDINAL COUPLE readers that'll be in attendance and hopefully we'll get a live report from one of them.
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Louisville WBB Director of Operations Mary Beth (Whitaker) Norton has left the Cards to go into the family business in Somerset, KY.
She will be missed.
As the gatekeeper to Coach Walz's office...Mary Beth was always fun to talk to while waiting to see the Mad Scientist.
She handled a variety of duties for WBB. Day-to-day managerial operations, summer camp co-director and helping with on-campus recruiting.
Recently married...MaryBeth began her duties at UofL as a graduate assistant manager for UofL WBB in 2007. She then went to EKU where she served as the Director of Operations until 2010. She rejoined the Cards after two years in Richmond.
No replacement has been named as of yet.
paulie
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Tuesday in the Dream v Phoenix game Shoni looked more like the player we have come to expect to see. It has been no secret that Shoni has struggled to incorporate her style of play into the WNBA but she is getting there. Rookies have highs and lows so she just needs some playing time to show what she can do.
ReplyDeleteThursday she is being honored at the sold out Dream @ Seattle game and will be celebrating a return to her home area.