WBB bests Belmont 80-66 -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 FOUR FINISH IN DOUBLE FIGURES IN LOUISVILLE WBB WIN

Look who Jeff McAdams ran in to at basketball

Louisville women's basketball used a strong first half to put away a pesky Belmont women's basketball squad to go to 7-1 on the season in the KFC YUM! Center Sunday afternoon before 7002 fans. 

The Cards placed Olivia Cochran, Kianna Smith, Chelsie Hall and Hailey Van Lith in double figures and shot 54% in the win. If you're a fan of solid defense, you got that in the first twenty minutes of the game -- the Cards held the Bruins to just 24 points in building a 39-24 lead. 

Kianna Smith scored six of her 14 points in the opening quarter, but it took a 7-2 quarter-ending run by the Cards to gain the 17-12 first quarter advantage. Tied at 10-10, Liz Dixon, Van Lith and Smith went to work to push the Cardinals advantage to 16-10. A Van Lith free throw sent the score to 17-10 with 28 seconds to go, but a Belmont shot and bucket at the buzzer cut the lead to 17-12. 

Look who Jeff Walz ran into at basketball

Early in the second quarter, the Bruins rallied to cut the UofL lead to 22-20 with just 90 seconds gone in the quarter, but the Cards picked up the offensive pressure and  outscored Belmont 17-4 the rest of the first half...seven different Cardinals joining in the scoring spree and Louisville limiting the Bruins to just 33% shooting while forcing five turnovers in the quarter. A Peyton Verhulst steal led to a VanLith layup with 42 seconds to go gave the Cards a 39-24 lead and that's how the half ended. 

The squads played pretty even in the first half of the third quarter, Louisville holding a 54-37 lead at the media time out break -- and Jeff Walz decided to bring in the "second squad" -- a wholesale five-player substitution -- in Ahlana Smith, Dixon, Verhulst, Norika Konno and Kasa Robinson. Their 10-4 run extended the Cards lead to 64-41 as the quarter expired, but Belmont's Destinee Wells fired a three pointer right before the buzzer that went in to set the score at 64-44 at the end of three. 

Louisville could only muster four points in the opening three minutes of the fourth quarter, so Walz played Chinese Fire Drill again and reinserted the five starters at the 66-49 score tally. Belmont never gave up the offensive pursuit, though, and managed to cut the lead to 11 with 4:47 to go, at 72-61 after a Tessa Miller basket and free throw. But, the Bruins would get no closer. Olivia Cochran scored the Cards final basket with14 seconds to play off a Kianna Smith feed and Louisville got the 80-66 win. 

A win that could have turned into a "trap" game. Yeah, the defense looked rough in the second half, but, the Cards were never in any serious danger of losing this one. 

THE FRED REPORT

(Cards dance to a win the way Fred Biletenkoff used to dance to the endzone)

Free Throws -- Th Cards went to the line ten times and sank seven of them for 70%. Chelsie Hall led the way with a perfect 4-4. Since the earning of a "f" in this category is mandated by the 70% success rate, I'll assign a small-case "f"....not a capital one

Rebounding -- The Cards held a commanding 40-24 edge in this category. Engstler led the way with eight and Cochran added seven to pace Louisville. No problem in awarding a CAPTIAL "R" here. 

Effort/Execution -- Louisville shot 54% for the game and sank five threes. They also had 17 assists on 34 made baskets. Sixteen turnovers is still more than I'd like to see, but the starting guards only had four. A whopping 46-28 points-in-thee-paint edge convinces me to award the CAPITAL "E" here. 

Defense -- It wasn't the Cards best defenssive effort of the season, allowing Belmont 45% shooting on the floor and Destinee Wells to explode for 19 points on them. Louisville did have 10 steals, though, and blocked a couple of shots. Only nine fouls for the Cards as well, with no one getting more than three. 'll go with a small-case "d" here, because we won. 

FINAL FRED TALLY:  f-R-E-d

The Cards return to action Sunday at 1 p.m., bringing in the Kentucky Wildcats. It should be a fun one, they always seem to be, lately, against "Blue". 

photos by Jared Anderson

is Coach saying "let's hear it for Jared?"

paulie