Louisville WBB 95 - Belmont 35 -- Friday Cardinal Couple

Five Cards reach double figures in 60 point rout

Belmont should have enlisted Saratoga, Aqueduct and Santa Anita Thursday night to help corral the thoroughbreds that ran past them in the KFC YUM! Center Thursday night before 7404 fans. This race was over before they reached the first turn...to use a horse-players parlance. 

Up 8-3 two minutes into the contest after Taylor Mills' second trifecta, the Bruins stood by...watching helplessly at times it seemed...as Jeff Walz's ballers took off on a 30-2 run. It included a 24-0 stretch as the Cards sprinted off to take a 33-10 lead with 7:11 left in the half.


In the 11 minute whirlwind, seven different Cards scored and forced Belmont into 14 turnovers. The Bruins were getting no inside looks...when they were able to get the ball into the offensive set..and Louisville ended up scoring
28 points on turnovers in the first twenty minutes to take a 48-17 lead into halftime.

Freshman sensation Mariya Moore had 13 of UofL's first half points and Shawnta' Dyer came off the bench to add 10 more on 4-4 shooting. Louisville shot 56% in the half and limited Belmont to 30% shooting. The Bruins actually had more points from the three point arc (3 for 11) that the rest of the court (4-12). 

The Cards started the second half on a tear also...with a 7-0 run and at the 15:36 mark...Walz had the starters on the bench...leading 59-19. Led by the inside play of Emmonnie Henderson...and using every player combination imaginable...Louisville pushed the lead to 79-25 after a Sara Hammond three with 6:21 to go.

Caption this picture. Are the guys practicing a line dance?

Shortly thereafter... Belmont head coach Cam Newbauer emptied the bench to give his reserves a KFC YUM! Center playing experience. Arica Carter hit a jumper with 17 seconds remaining to give the Cards a 62-point lead at 95-33 before Belmont scored with two seconds left for the 95-35 final tally. 

Cam has a good squad and they'll compete as the front-runners for the OVC title this year. They just ran into a Cardinals team that was having a very good night.

It was a great overall and team effort by the Cards...all 11 players able to go scored and saw at least nine minutes of playing time. Louisville ended the game going 37-63 from the floor, a decent 58.7%...30 of those hoops coming from inside the paint. The Cards scored 48 points off turnovers.

The Bruins had almost as many turnovers (34) as they did points.

Moore led all scorers with 17 points...her average going into the game...and was joined in double figures by Hammond (13 in 18 minutes). Hines-Allen, Dyer and Henderson all had 12 each. Bria Smith and Megan Deines finished with eight each, Carter had six points and six rebounds, Jude Schimmel and Sherrone Vails added three points and Ariana Freeman hit a free throw. 


Jude's time was limited because of a bumped knee in the second half while going for a loose ball...but she did return from the locker room later and Coach Walz proclaimed she was OK in the post game press conference. 

Another scary moment occured when Dyer and Vails collided on the court but neither were injured. Same team, ladies... 

What we liked

- Louisville committed only nine fouls in the game and Belmont attempted no free throws in the 40 minutes. The Cards cleared the 70% mark again from the charity stripe with 18-25 shooting. 

- Dyer and Denies...(the "D" troops) came off the bench with very solid contributions...going 9-10 from the floor in 34 combined minutes. Dyer seems to "understand it" down on the block and reminds us more and more of the way Asia Taylor scored in proliferation inside last year. 

- "E" with no fouls in 14 minutes. She jokingly explained (we think) in the post game player interviews that it was because Belmont's posts were blowing by her before she had time to react. 

What needs work

Not much to discuss here. Maybe a better recognition and guarding of the three-point shooters early in the game and a bit more accuracy and a few more attempts from Louisville beyond the arc (they were 3-9...Belmont was 7-26...) but who can complain too much about a 60 point win?

The Cards return to action Sunday when they'll host Ball State at 2 p.m. 

For Cam Newbauer, a long three hour drive back to Nashville where the Bruins will prepare for a Tuesday 10 a.m. tilt against Kent State in Akron. 

95 points...only 9 of them from three point land and just 18 from the foul line. Looks like this "inside job" that Walz and the Cards are basing the offense on this year suits them very well...and Cortnee Walton should be returning soon to make it even more powerful. The maintenance crew at the KFC YUM! Center may have to "paint the paint" again before the season ends...if the Cards continue to frequent it with this current success and repetition.  

Some highlights in the link below:

CARDS PUT BRUINS INTO HIBERNATION

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Louisville Volleyball returns to Cardinal Arena for an ACC clash with Duke tonight at 6 p.m. It's the first of a three game home stand in the on-campus facility that will, in all likelihood end the 2014 season for the Volley Cards. 

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In case you still had any interest in it....the NCAA Field Hockey Final Four starts today. ACC foes #1 UNC and #4 Syracuse will face off at 2 p.m....then #3 Connecticut and ....Albany? will go at 4:45 p.m.

Albany slayed both Wake Forest and Maryland to get the semi-finals. David vs. Goliath here. Go Great Danes !!!

paulie
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