WITHOUT MOORE, B.J....CARDS CONTROL CAVS
On Senior Night...it was Mariya Moore and Briahanna Jackson's turn to serve one game suspensions Thursday night in the KFC YUM! Center (Coaches Decision -- Unspecified Team Violation) the reason again. Jackson probably couldn't have gone regardless...still day-to-day with the back and no rushing it is the plan with that...but without Moore...the Cards put Myisha Hines-Allen, Asia Durr, Jazmine Jones, Cortnee Walton and Kylee Shook out there to go after the opening tip against Virginia and the combo had a bit of trouble clicking at first.
Walz was straight-forward about the suspensions in the post game:
“We’re continuing to teach all of our kids that the choices they make affect everyone. It’s not just them or their teammates, it affects the fans, too."
Tied at 5-5 halfway through the first and trailing 8-7 with 1:20 left in the quarter...the shots weren't falling for the Cards against the Virginia zone and "the bakery" was definitely open with six first quarter turnovers (for each team) in a 11-8 first quarter that was pretty hard to watch. Euphemistically, you could call it a defensive battle...but besides Durr's seven points...there weren't a lot of bright spots.
Louisville responded a little better in the second quarter. J.J. got things popping with two scores to start action, Durr nailed a three and Hines-Allen ran off six straight points to give the Cards a 24-15 lead with 2:15 until half. Another Durr three pushed that advantage to 27-15 and a Sam Fuehring put-back gave the Cards a 29-18 lead at the midway break. This was looking a little more like the Cardinal team we've come to know. The Cards were beginning to do some good things. They held a 23-13 edge on the boards, 13-1 advantage on second chance points and Durr had nailed three threes and had 13 points. Ciera Johnson gave the Cards 10 strong minutes in the half and Shook and Hines-Allen had five grabs each. JJ's hustle, over-all play and six points were encouraging.
Then, things got a little dicey.
Walz needed one more factor to bust up the Wahoo zone starting the final period and found it early in Sydney Zambrotta. After Durr started the quarter with a jumper, "Z" drained two threes...sandwiched around a Hines-Allen score and the Cards were up 52-38 with 5:29 to play. Louisville had a 39-20 rebounding edge at that point and it appeared the Cards were safely on their way to their 24th. victory of the season. A Durr jumper at 2:38 gave UofL a 56-42 lead.The final 1:30 was a free throw fest...where Louisville made nine out of 12 attempts. Virginia would cut the Cardinal lead to nine on a couple of occasions...but MHA's final two charity tosses with 25 seconds left set the final margin at 66-55.
Durr led all scorers with 24 points and also grabbed seven boards. Hines-Allen narrowly missed a double-double with 21 points and nine rebounds. Mason ended with 19 for the Cavs on 7-11 shooting.
HOW DID FRED DO?
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| Just when you think you've seen it all...Fred's have their own water now. Paul's can't be far behind, right? |
-- REBOUNDS. A massive edge for UofL here...43-24. A nice balanced effort, too...All 10 Cards who played grabbed at least two except Bionca Dunham...who only played a minute. We have no problem with handing out a capital "R" for the grab domination.
-- EFFORT/EXECUTION. Louisville worked hard against the tough Virginia zone with some successes. 41.8% shooting was buoyed by 11-22 50% second half numbers. The Cards did have 16 turnovers...too high for us...and were the victims of 11 steals. All in all, an effort good enough for a 11-point win. The Durr and Hines-Allen show is enough to award a small case "e" here.
-- DEFENSE. The Cards did keep the Wahoos to under 40% shooting and did force 17 turnovers. 55 points is 26 less than UVA put on the Cards in Charlottesville and the two teams basically tied in the second half with 37 points each. We'll forget about the two Wahoo runs and give out the small case "d".
FINAL FRED COUNT: _-R-e-d
THINGS WE LIKED
Two out of three ain't bad...The old Meat Loaf song holds court here...the top three in the Cardinal hierarchy was diminished by one but the remaining two came through gangbusters. Thanks Asia and Myisha for making sure the seniors got a win on Senior Night.
Senior night...It's always hard to say goodbye to the graduates...but it was good to celebrate their time here. Cortnee didn't totally break down...maybe because she had half the state of Arizona at half-court with her. Briahanna chose to get her framed photo with her wearing #23...her jersey from her junior year here. She said she gave up #23 to Jazmine Jones this year because she was the new and upcoming and she was graduating. Once again, the un-selfish and assisting Briahanna...Taylor grinning broadly with parents...thrilled to have been a part of the Cards for a year. We'll miss all three of these dedicated Cards.
Shoot 'em Syd! She's becoming a crowd favorite with those three-bombs...is Ms. Zambrotta...and she knocked down two rainbows out of four tonight to the delight of the crowd. As our former mayor of Louisville kept yelling when she was in..."You're a shooter, Syd! Not a passer or driver!" The gunslinger on Main Street at high noon. Pull that trigger, Z.
THINGS WE DIDN'T LIKE
Struggling starts. We had hoped these were a thing of the past. Granted...with two starters sitting...it wasn't full-strength Cardinal WBB out there to open. Still...non-performance early against a Notre Dame or a strong first or second round NCAA foe might send the Cards to the sidelines earlier than we all want in the upcoming tournaments
SO...
Wins are the prime directive this time of year and the Cards did just that. Not the prettiest or easiest...but give UVA some credit for giving Louisville a battle until the end. The Cavs probably won't get a NCAA invite but could have gotten on that fence if they had beaten Louisville tonight...so they had a lot on the line as well tonight. We're getting a bit antsy with these ever-changing lineups...everyone get healthy, on the same discipline and rules page and go do work. THEY SAID IT.
TAYLOR, CORTNEE and BRIAHANNA POST-GAME
JEFF WALZ POST-GAME VIRGINIA ON SENIOR NIGHT
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SOFTBALL DROPS TWO IN CALIFORNIA
Tough start for the Louisville Softball team in Cathedral City, CA on Thursday...losing two close games. #9 Arizona downed the Cards 5-2 and #4 Oklahoma was a 2-1 winner over Louisville.
The Cards grabbed a 3-1 lead in the first game on a three-run Lillie Goetz shot in the third inning but were unable to maintain it and missed out on a great opportunity in sixth with the bases loaded and no outs. Megan Hensley took the loss for UofL against the Wildcats....just five hits but a few key errors by the Cards spelled "L". The Cards also had five hits against Arizona. In the nightcap, Louisville and the Sooners were tied up at 1-1 in the fifth inning but an Oklahoma double and Cardinal throwing error allowed the home team to take a 2-1 lead they never relinquished. Maryssa Becker allowing just two hits but Louisville only able to get two hits as well in the contest.
The Cards will face #24 BYU at 2 p.m. today.
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PAULIE PICKS
I went a perfect 7 for 7 on Paulie's Picks for Thursday. Georgia Tech knocking off Clemson 72-58
Louisville beating Virginia 66-55
NC State handling North Carolina 80-60
Notre Dame romping Boston College 82-48
Syracuse defeating Wake Forest 85-64
Miami downing Virginia Tech 79 69
Florida State taking care of Pittsburgh 79-48
paulie
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I would be willing to bet that these are curfew violations.
ReplyDeleteI agree, but for the most Part Maryria Moore has been a model student.
DeleteNot an indictment at all. From what I gather, they're all great young women. I can tell it was something "small" like breaking the curfew or maybe missing a class because it was only a one game suspension. Hopefully they'll learn from it and not repeat it
DeleteAlso so glad for Cortnee Mom Walton, last member of the Final four group.
ReplyDeleteMLW
It was nice to see the future cardinals lineup,Jazmine,Kylee,Asia,Ciera,sydney & Sam.
ReplyDeleteLove the M & M Girls.....☺but they will be senior next season.It's good to know that the program is getting stronger.Cards bring in HS McDonald's All American & Jordan brand true point guard in next season.
MLW
I for one think it's ashame that these young WOMEN not children are making those bad choices. You can say oh it's only curfew but is that fare to the team and for those following the rules? Your suppose to set the example for the under classman. Maybe not starting two games would make you think twice!
ReplyDeleteWho said "oh it's only curfew"? I said I bet they broke curfew and I only said that because Coach walz didn't say why they were suspended. I was merely guessing as to what the nature of the infraction might have been.
DeleteTake it down a notch and leave the discipline suggestions to the coach
Yup, good to know that none of us did anything even remotely stupid when we were 18 - 22 years old...never stayed out too late, never missed a class, never drank before we were 21, never got a speeding ticket, etc. etc. If we were fortunate, the consequence of our actions were relatively minor.
DeleteJust my opinion that I'm entitled to..Yes we were all young once and surley mistakes were made....However to be BLESSED with a full ride to play WBB with so many young girls who would give anything to have that opportunity and your team is down right now...I would think your standards are higher! I agree they were handed punishment accepted and move on.....Can't go back...Good luck tomorrow ladies.
DeleteJust my opinion that I'm entitled to..Yes we were all young once and surley mistakes were made....However to be BLESSED with a full ride to play WBB with so many young girls who would give anything to have that opportunity and your team is down right now...I would think your standards are higher! I agree they were handed punishment accepted and move on.....Can't go back...Good luck tomorrow ladies.
DeleteNo more infractions, please. We need to be clicking on ALL cylinders, with EVERY player available, bar injury. Everyone needs to be on the same page, playing their roles. Other than that, good win down two key players.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree more, kstarks! You see UConn doing this type of stuff? Notre Dame. Walz says he wants to build this program to those standards? He better start getting kids that want to follow the rules or make the penalties tougher.
DeleteMoore should be ashamed of herself. So should Durr. As far as Jackson goes, see ya later, goodbye. The Cards don't need her. A two guard that never produced and switched to a one guard who forgot how to shoot. I wish he;d used that scholarship for Victoria Vivians or Francesca Pan.
Sorry about the rant. It's time for these girls to grow up and act like the elite program they want to be.
Curtis "Rules are rules and you're here on OUR dime" Franklin
Strong stuff Curtis but dead on. If you can't toe the line, get out of the way for someone who can. There's plenty of fake state directional schools out there with scholarships.
DeleteHaving fun Paulie?
-- The Real Joe Hill --
In BJ defense she is a two guard trying to play a one.
DeleteMLW
Exactly!
ReplyDeleteOne guard on the way Dana Evans.
DeleteMLW
Let's roll with Taylor & BJ @ point these year.go cards
DeleteEverybody just take a step back and "surf"...as Kellie Young likes to say. This is a good basketball team and they are college kids. Trust in Coach Walz...he knows far more about them and how to push their button and apply discipline than we do.
ReplyDeletePaulie