Louisville Women's Basketball -- Cards roll past UT Martin 91-56 -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

CARDS PUT 5 IN DOUBLE FIGURES IN ROMP

( JARED ANDERSON BRINGS THE WEDNESDAY COLUMN FOR US) 

Another day, another win. 

The Louisville women had no trouble dismantling UT Martin in the KFC YUM! Center last night. Five players scored in double figures for the Cards, led by Myisha Hines-Allen's (DOOO-BLAY) 16 points. The irony, though, is that she did not record a double-double with just eight rebounds. 

This game wasn't supposed to be close and the Cards assured that by storming out to a 29-9 first quarter advantage. The Skyhawks could not handle Louisville's full-court pressure early and ended up committing 22 turnovers. Louisville head coach Jeff Walz called off the press after the first quarter. More importantly, the Cards managed 35 points off turnovers. You must make your opponents pay for mistakes and Walz's team did that. 

Cheerleaders help out with a stuck ball. Or is she dunking? 

We saw 10 Cardinals get playing time -- anywhere from 16-26 minutes -- in a balanced distribution of court time. One face missing from playing time was Retta Kakala. Walz discussed in his post-game presser the she was going through a few things and that the staff was working with her on them and that we would hear more in a week or so. Post-game speculation among the media centered around a possible transfer or a red-shirt but nothing has been confirmed. 

This was a good game to allow everyone ample playing time since it was a lesser opponent and with three more games in seven days coming up at the YUM! the distribution makes sense. It is also finals week at UofL so care is being taken to not drain the roster physically and mentally. 

After the conclusion of the first quarter the Cards worked on improvement of their half-court defense. That met with mixed results -- Louisville only outscored the SkyHawks by one but reserve Jess Laemmle, our favorite Attack Yorkie, directed the offense from the point for eight of those minutes with Hines-Allen, Kylee Shook, Arica Carter and Asia Durr primarily on the court with her. Walz implemented a few halftime adjustments and they worked well -- UofL outscored UTM by eight points in the third session and six points in the fourth period. 

I was impressed with the play of Sydney Zambrotta last night. Syd came into the program known as a three-point specialist, which she has done since day one of being on campus. The sophomore from New Babylon, NY has improved her defense drastically as well as worked diligently on ball control. She dropped 13 points last night -- including a team high three-pointers -- and had two steals and no turnovers. 

Arica Carter put on a nice show for the 6279 in attendance. She added 10 points, five rebounds, four assists and no turnovers. A nice stat line for the redshirt-junior starting point guard. The zero turnovers are impressive for 21 minutes of court-time. 


THE JARED REPORT

Paulie , Charlie  andAl have spotted something...is it Jared
inside the scoreboard? 

J - JUMP SHOTS. Louisville shot 52.3% from the floor and 33.3% from beyond the arc. The Cards were 40% or better each quarter. There were too many missed layups but it's hard not to be happy when you make over half your shots. A CAPITAL "J". 

A- ASSISTS. Dana Evans and Carter combined for 10 of the 21 assists last night. That is A LOT OF ASSISTS compared to UT-Martin's 10 for the night. The guards did a great job of finding the open players for some easy buckets. A CAPITAL "A"

R - REBOUNDS. UofL snagged 43 rebounds and 29 were on the defensive end. UTM finished with 34 rebounds and 19 were on the defensive side of Denny Crum Court. I like seeing the Cards 43 grabs but I don't like allowing an opponent 34 and 15 of them being offensive-generated. Better blocking-out is needed. I can only give a lower case "r" here. 

E - EFFORT. The overall team effort impressed me. With so many games in so few days plus dealing with academics it's easy to get distracted or half-hustle it against a mid-major. All 10 players that saw the court hustled and bustled their butts up and down the court (and off the court -- did you see Asia Durr hurdling over the scorer's table for a save of a loose ball?) All this with Walz changing things up with different looks and wholesale substitution patterns. The team adjusted well and I can issue A CAPITAL "E" here. 

D- DEFENSE. Holding an opponent to 56 works. Especially in a up-tempo game. Keeping them at 32.8% shooting is pretty good, too.  UTM managed just 9-14 free throw shooting as well (64.3%). Excellent pep-band prevent defense a factor there. Forcing 22 turnovers kept the bakery open until the game ended and the 35 points from them is quite impressive. THE CARDS EARNED THE CAPITAL "D" I'M AWARDING THEM. 

J-A-r-E-D.  Almost perfect. 

Next head coach of the Steelers? 

On a side note, Coach Walz was pleased with the free-throw shooting once again. 80% will effect such a response. Durr was a perfect 4-4. Walz did joke that they spend more time practicing free ones since they don't practice dunking. On the four misses from the charity stripe, there were no "3 is better than 2" conversions. Walz didn't mention that. He's also a big Pittsburgh Steelers fan and boasted he was texting people near midnight Monday with the words "Who dey?" after the Steelers came back to beat the Bengals. 

Whatever, coach. 

Vanderbilt visits next. Their 3-5 record doesn't do a historically good program justice. The Commodores have has opportunities in every game to win but have fallen short in a few. Fill those seats for a potential dogfight Thursday night.

POST GAME AUDIO: WALZ

POST GAME AUDIO: JAZZ and ARICA discuss the win


VOLLEYBALL

Dani Busboom Kelly was named AVCA East Region Coach of the Year yesterday. In her first year as the Wide Net Girls skipper, she led the Cards to an ACC title and a undefeated home record against ACC opponents. 

Melanie McHenry and Wilma Rivera were named to the AVCA All-East Region First Team. Both players were consistent all year and provided great leadership. More good news. They're back for 2018. 

Molly Sauer, Tess Clark, Maggie DeJong and Jasmine Bennett gathered second-team honors. The dynamic duo of Tess and Maggie are graduating but Jasmine and Molly return.


FIELD HOCKEY

Despite their season being over for a few weeks, the Stick Girls garnered some attention this week. Senior Nicole Woods and junior Ayeshia McFerran were selected to the First Team All-American squad and junior Taylor Stone was selected for third team honors. What? No Minnie Mink awards? 

The three additions push Louisville's All-American totals since 2001 to a whopping 18. Coach Sowry has to be pleased with that. Maybe Minnie and Katie Walsh join the club next season. 

JARED'S CORNER

If you're in town and looking to get into the holiday spirit I will be performing with a couple local musical groups during their Christmas concerts. It's a little different than the fantastic music WCHQ plays on a regular basis, but it is live and local. 

Tuba Christmas will be held on the main stage at Fourth Street Live on Saturday, Dec. 16th at 1 p.m. The Louisville Winds will perform at Harvey Browne Presbyterian Church on Sunday Dec. 17th at 3 p.m. Both concerts are free and a wonderful opportunity to come see the man with the music degree do something besides changing $20's into $5's and $10's. 

As always, keep cheering on the Cards. They ARE off probation from accreditation now so good news is continuing to come in on the Belknap Campus. 

(Photos today from Jared Anderson, Julie Sullivan and Frank the Wonder Mule) 

Go Cards! 
Jared Anderson