TWO HUGE RUNS SEND CARDS SOARING OVER THE HURRICANES.
The Cards actually trailed UM early...when it seemed neither team could find the basket with a GPS device...until Mariya Moore buried a three that was the start of a 7-0 run. Miami would lead one more time at 11-10 before UofL closed the period on a 8-2 run with two scores from Jackson, a Cortnee Walton jumper and two Myisha Hines-Allen free throws. Louisville led 18-13 after ten minutes and Jackson had seven of the Cardinals points.
As it turned out...Louisville was just getting warmed up. Jeff Walz put four freshmen and Arica Carter on the court to begin the second period...Asia Durr hitting a jumper at the 8:40 mark to make it 20-15 Cards...and Taja Cole connecting to make it 22-19.
Then, the Hurricanes ran out of wind.
UofL went on a 20-2 run over the final 7:14...Durr hitting a driving left-handed layup at the half-time buzzer to make it 40-21 Louisville. Defense and rebounding were the catalysts for the scoring....Miami was 1-11 on their final shots of the half and six Cards scored in the spurt. Louisville held a 27-14 rebounding edge and HInes-Allen and Jackson had 11 points each for UofL. Miami would have one last, fleeting moment of glory...scoring the first five points of the third quarter. Here came Air Raid Louisville again, though...a 21-0 run four the next six minutes...that included two Moore threes and a Jackson jumper that set the tally at 63-27 with a minute left in the third stanza. Louisville led 64-30 after three and Hines Allen had 15 points...including a sizzling 9-10 from the foul line.
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| LOUISVILLE MBB was on hand for the game (Photo by KK) |
DeGrate scored six of the Cards final eight points and the second squad battled Miami's starters the rest of the way to get the 79-51 win.
HOW DID FRED DO?
Free throws were 18-28 and that's below our standard of 70%. It should be noted again that Hines-Allen was 9 for 10 from the line and DeGrate and Fuehring were a combined 5 for 11. We can't award the letter "F" here for overall effort...but we'll surreptitiously try to sneak it to Myisha...Rebounding ended up a landslide Cardinal victory 53-28. No Card hit for double figures...but all 11 players who saw action had at least one. Capitol "R" easily here. Repeat and apply again....and again.
Easy Shots doesn't get a letter here, even though Louisville had 32 points in the paint. MHA was 3-12 for the game and Carter 1-6. 22 second chance points is nice, though.
Defense was spectacular Thursday night. The Cards forced 18 turnovers, had five steals and held Motley and Thomas to 21 points. Capitol "D"...embellished, underscored and highlighted. Miami scored 51 points....20+ under their average.
WHAT WE LIKED
A great day for B.J. It was great to see her hustle, scoring and overall play return to form. When she's rocking, it helps the Cards present another different and additional challenge for an opponent to overcome. Miami looked shell-shocked at the end of the first half. B.J. seemed quite happy.Spurtability. The term is attributed to basketball star-turned-announcer Clark Kellogg and Louisville had two great spurts against the Canes. Louisville could have won this game by 50 but Walz shifted into neutral and let the second squad battle Miami's starters.
Beating a top 20-ranked team. Always good for the RPI, the tournament seeding and especially when it is in their gym.
WHAT NEEDS WORK
After a nice win like this one, it's hard to come up with much. We'll just go with free throws and struggling early.
All things considered, a big-time win against an opponent that scared me and plenty of other people. What a difference in this team from the first time the Cards were in Florida this season. The train rolls on. Gathering steam, speed and momentum.
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BATTER UP!
Yes, today's action will probably be a little chilly but the rest of the weekend looks pretty good. The Cards (6-3) face Cleveland State in the opener and Kent State after that.
Oh....take me out to the ballpark...
paulie
xxxxx
Watching SEC Network Thursday night. What a job they do covering SEC womans basketball. Wonder how much of a recruiting advantage it will become for the SEC and Pac 12 having own networks. Tremendous coverage if you like WCBB.
ReplyDeleteMHA goes coast to coast! She is playing great in all area's. The continued development of her and Mariya has made a huge impact on this team. So often you take it for granted players will automatically improve each year. These two really have!
What a great win by the Cards!
ReplyDeleteWe had a great time at the game and saw the UofL men's team and Pitino there. I'm really glad BJ played so well because she had a pretty decent cheering section there for her. The men's team was pretty vocal as well. Miami seems almost disinterested until the very end except for Motley and the big white girl Hof. Glad we made the trip and Go Cards!
-- The Real Joe Hill --
A great game to attend, Joe. My spies in the stands said you were in red but Angela was in a dark orange blouse? We'll have to deduct penalty points. That had to be a fun drive back last night. What is Naples to Miami...a couple of hours? It's been a long time since I've made that trip.
ReplyDeletePaulie
From the arena to our doorstep we did it in just under two hours. You can really stretch the foot on that section of I-75 between the two cities. Even in a Prius (her car, not mine).
Delete-- The Real Joe Hill --
That was the way Jackson needs to play the rest of the way. What do you think, Paulie? Was it because of the cheering section? Because it was a big game?
ReplyDeleteBlue Lou
It never hurts having family and friends in the stands. With BJ, though, I think it is a matter of confidence. She got off to a great start, the shots were falling, yada...yada...yada...(I can't believe I just used the yadas in a comment).
DeleteEither that or the mad scientist developed a special potion for her. Regardless, she is a key to how far the Cards will go in the post-season.
It was fun to watch the second squad finish this one up. The offense seemed to revolve around Erin DeGrate and I think she is realizing just what she has to do to be effective at this level. She needs work on her ball-catching skills and free throw mechanics, obviously, but the little hook shot she flips up there has potential and if the Cards can get 10 or so quality backup minutes out of her and Fuehring the rest of the way it would be so beneficial...especially in the ACC Tournament, where Louisville could play three games in three days.
Paulie
I'm not a fan of our reserves yet. However, it was before I began following WCBB but didn't Nita and Tia and Jude have real limited freshman years?
DeleteTia actually started her college at Vanderbilt and transferred back home after a year down there. Her freshman year as a Commodore was probably a little better than Jude and Nita's first campaigns.
DeleteI like watching the second squad when they get to play extended minutes as a whole. Cole seems to be the leader, Weatherford tries to be everywhere at once, Fuehring works so hard in the paint, Jones seems to be a calming influence on the group and can score when open and DeGrate in the paint is an adventure every time.
Paulie
I wasn't "worried" about this game because I knew we would come out and compete, but I thought it would be more competitive and thus be a tougher match up. Miami is a good team and we just really went in and overwhelmed them. We had four players in double figures, which is what we need. If we can get a fifth player in double figures then watch out!
ReplyDeleteFelt good to see BJ attacking and scoring. She hit a couple of runners and shots with some degree of difficulty, but what I really liked were the two jump shots she hit where she just went straight up and down, two good fundamentally sound jump shots and they went in, and both scored in dribble drive action. None of that fading away making th shit more difficult, just straight up and down. We need more of that from her if we want to go deep.
Asia scores so effortlessly. I can't wait until she really gets out of her head and just plays because offensively she can do what she wants out there.
MHA is at another level. She was very good last year, but I will always remember Shawntaa Dyer saying that MHA was going to be great, and you know she was saying it because she saw things in practice that we didn't see. We'll we're seeing some of it now. I think if she puts in the time this off season she's going to come back as one of the top 10 players in the game next year.
Mariya was solid. Silly fouls didn't allow her to stay on the floor as much, she got her points and had some nice passes. I really really love Mariya's game. With BJ, MHA, and Asia as scorers, it's a great compliment to our team that we have a player like Mariya that can score, does score, but has such a high Bball IQ that she can affect the game in other ways and she can get the ball to the open player and the player with the hand.
Lastly this was one of those games that CJW talked about having such a large cushion that he could finally get the freshmen some PT for longer stretches. It did my heart good as my grandmother use to say to see Brianna Jones get in and play for as long as she did. The game still looks like it's moving a little fast for her, but she has good energy and what seems like a very good spirit. Saw her encourage Sam as she missed a couple of free throws and a few other instances where I saw her pat a teammate on the butt to keep them encouraged.
All around I feel good about what we've done this season, the possibilities for this team after such an abysmal start, and the future. We're assembling a scary collection of talent.
My last comment I mean making the shot more difficult. Sorry for the profane word. Didn't mean that at all. Pecking away from my phone. Apologies!
ReplyDeleteLOL. It happens. Drop down and give us ten and then a few laps around the gym.
DeletePaulie
I think the ACC gets seven teams in the NCAA Tournament. Irish, Cards, Noles, Cuse, Canes, Wolfpack and Blue Devils. I'll say that the win last night may have been Louisville's most impressive of the season. No one wants these Cards.
DeleteCurtis Franklin
What's interesting to me is in our entire ACC schedule I have only seen two good teams. Notre Dame and NC State. Either we make these teams look bad (Syracuse, Miami) or the conference stinks. I must not be giving out ladies enough credit because we sure make these teams look crummy.
ReplyDeleteOpen your eyes a little wider, Wade. The ACC has five teams in the top 25 and NC State isn't one of them I think that if you're in the top 25, you're a pretty good team.
DeleteCurtis Franklin
I just don't consider Syracuse or Miami very good. Maybe I'm being over influenced on how poorly they played against us and Notre Dame.
DeleteCards get a nice break with Syracuse getting the #3 seed in the tourney. They take to the court in Greensboro at 6 p.m. Friday if what I am seeing in the bracket set up is correct.
ReplyDeleteNick O.
A very nice win for your Cardinals last night! We're still trying to find our way down here at Clemson but we didn't look bad at times against Notre Dame last night. We'll be coming to Greensboro for the ACC Tournament, my wife and I attend both the men's and women's tournament each year. Are you headed down for it Paulie? It's always a great time, even though our Tigers are usually out of it after the first game. Go get those Irish for all us of, Cardinals!
ReplyDeleteArthur
Greer, SC
I will be making the trip to Greensboro, Arthur. Got kin down in those parts and my father is buried in a cemetery about 30 miles away from there, so I'll be combining reasons for going.
DeleteShoot me an-email or give me a call when you know what section you'll be sitting in. Would like to meet you.
Paulie
Best overall game of the season? Probably, although effort against ND, especially on the defensive end, was great except for some missed shots in the fourth period.
ReplyDeleteGood to see Jackson play so well in front of her family and friends. Team takes a big leap forward when she is playing well, with passion and enthusiasm.
Let's pack the lower bowl Sunday!
Absolutely, Mike! Let's get 14,000 + in there and show this team how much we appreciate their efforts this season. It may be the last home game of the regular season, but Cards fans can expect 1st and 2nd round NCAA games there, I think. Snap up those tickets when they go on-sale
DeletePaulie
We are 5-2 verse current top 25 ranked teams
ReplyDeleteBeat #12,17,18,20,21
Lost #3,15