Louisville women's basketball. Moore early, Durr late...Cards 78 -Wake Forest 54. MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

DUO COMBINE FOR 44 IN CARDS 14th STRAIGHT WIN

Louisville women's basketball got 15 first half points from Mariya Moore and 13 second half points from Asia Durr to finally get clear from a tenacious Wake Forest squad Sunday afternoon at the KFC YUM! Center in ACC Conference action

A crowd of 9673 saw Moore keep the Cards afloat offensively with three first half threes and Durr score 13 of Louisville 15 points in a 15-0 run that took the Cards from a 50-41 advantage to a 65-41 lead in a four minute stretch over the end of the third period and beginning of fourth period. 

Durr commented on the run:

" I was just trying to stay abreast of it. Coach Walz got highly upset when I didn't shoot, so I was just going out there and trying to shoot."

Why the hesitation? Coach Walz had no answers.

Referee Billy Smith was dancing all day...

" I wish I could tell you. No coach ever had to tell me to shoot. I just want you to know that, Paul. Never. And she works harder than anyone on this team. She's in the gym more than anybody...working on her shot. And I told her in one stretch...you're as good to this team as my 2 1/2 year old daughter. Lola could do exactly what you're doing and that's catch and throw it over there. She's not strong enough to shoot from the three-point line and you won't even look to do it. And, I think she got a little upset with that. The next time down she takes a three and hits it and gets that look like "I got you back'. [ Laughter] She just got to get shooting more."


It ultimately worked out well for the Douglasville, GA freshman...who ended the game with 4 of 9 shooting, 2 of 5 from three point range and 8 out of 9 free throws....ending with 18 points.  

Moore went 6-12 in the first half as Louisville struggled offensively...shooting 22.7% in the first period and sitting at just 30% at halftime...Louisville owned a shaky 32-26 lead after trailing most of the first period before Durr put in a layup at the buzzer and ahead just 27-26 with 2:42 left in the second period. 

Defensively, the Cards held the Demon Deaconesses to just 38.5% from the floor and 5-19 three point shooting...but that percentage bested Louisville's 26-70 (37.1%) afternoon. 

Louisville (17-5, 9-0) did force 25 turnovers, and they led to 26 points, but Amber Campbell and Ariel Stephenson were getting easy looks and layups most of the evening...scoring 14 of the 20 made Wake baskets. 

Yes, it's a win and Walz did give the freshmen and Dakota Weatherford the minutes over the final six minutes of the game...but Wake Forest battled hard and kept the contest close for 27 minutes. 

HOW DID FRED DO ?

Free Throws: The Cards sank 19 of their 25 free throws (including 10 of 12 in the third quarter) for 76%...so they beat the Fred standard of 70% and we'll give a capital F in that category. Besides Durr's 8-9, Moore was 5-7 and Cortnee Walton was a perfect 3-3.

Rebounding: The Cards won the battle of the boards 45-37 and it was a balanced effort with five players grabbing five or more. They won the offensive rebounding battle 23-12...so we can easily award a capital R here. 

We're 99% sure that WASN'T Willie Nelson walking by the refs.

Easy Shots: Way too many easy and open looks missed in the beginning of this game. The Cards made 16 shots in the paint but missed 21 and eight of the misses were layups. No "E" awarded here. That 37% shooting could have been much higher if layups and putbacks would have fallen. 

Defense: Yes, Wake Forest scored only 54 points and shot just 38.5%...but 22 points in the paint and 16 second chance points...plus the close score for 3/4ths. of the game...indicate that the defense was good but not great. Still too many unchecked and wide open scores. We'll give a lower case "d" for the afternoon. 

By request, we're bringing back the "What we Liked" and "What Needs Work" categories. 

WHAT WE LIKED:

1) Myishia back in the mix. A solid return performance for Myisha Hines-Allen after missing the Clemson game. 10 points, six grabs and three assists in 24 minutes. You could tell she was happy to be back on the court and she and Moore really do compliment each other so well on-court.

2) "Moore" than they bargained for. The sophomore garners our Player of the Game honors with her second-highest point total of the season. After good but not great efforts against Syracuse and Clemson...the fire and intensity was in her eyes tonight and we'll take 5 for 10 three point shooting anytime out of her.

3) Stepping on the gas. Louisville closed the game on a 28-13 run and displayed a killer instinct. What's impressive is that the freshman contingent had 22 of those points. Maybe it was a case of Wake Forest running out of gas...but it's always good to hold your foe to 28 second-half points....especially when you toss in 56.

WHAT NEEDS WORK

Sonja was not thrilled with the first ten minutes...or me taking
pictures of Deb Antonelli. I'm not sure which issue got me the
sour look. 

1) Avoiding the slow starts. UofL missed 18 of their first 22 shots. Six of their 12 turnovers came in the first ten minutes. They got away with it tonight. Against a few of the future ACC opponents, those numbers might equal a loss or much deeper hole to dig out of. 

2) Getting a third three-point shooter. The Cards were 7-22 from beyond the arc and two players (Moore and Durr) were 7-15. BJ, Taja and Arica are all capable of adding to that success rate but they didn't fire this afternoon. We're not sure if we're ready to see Sam Fuehring trying them yet. She's 1-9 on the season so far. 

3) Stopping the dribble-drive. A couple of times out there this afternoon, it looked like "matador" defense for the Cards. Protect that paint and make it where a guard or wing might be a little reluctant to venture in after a couple of denials. Wake Forest guards Ariel Stephenson and Amber Campbell got up 35 total shots and only 15 of them were threes. 15 were from the paint. 

Photo by Charlie  Springer - UofLCardGame.com

In the final analysis, it is a win and keeps the Cards atop the ACC with Notre Dame. It's also maybe that "hiccup" game that Walz has talked about...where some of the numbers didn't look so great. With four players in double figures, though...and 25 turnovers forced, it was a team effort and also provided a few "teaching moments" ...both good and bad...that the coaches can use to prepare for the game at North Carolina and when Notre Dame comes to town next Sunday. Especially the lapses in defense...

The fans left happy, Louisville is still undefeated since playing Kentucky (who got beat by Florida today), and Deb Antonelli almost got plunked by a bag of peanuts during the cheerleader toss. All in all, not so bad an afternoon...

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THE CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR

Photo by Charlie Springer - UofLCardGame.com

Our Saturday broadcast is available for hearing on the Crescent Hill Soundcloud at WCHQ 100.9's website. We had a full but fun hour discussing UofL women's sports and have audio clips from Jeff Walz, Quentin Hillsman, Sandy Pearsall, Asia Durr, Myisha Hines-Allen, Kelsi Jones, Whitney Arion, Kayla and Jamie Soles for your listening pleasure...in addition to our own babbling about action. It's live and unrehearsed radio...so expect the occasional stutter and stammer.  

https://soundcloud.com/chradio/cardinal-couple-013016  

paulie
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