WBB bounces Bearcats 87-68 -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 

VAN LITH GOES FOR 28 IN CARDS SEASON-OPENER

Most of you probably remember how Hailey Van Lith ended the 2021-22 season...a four-game, 20 points or more in a row effort in the NCAA Tournament. Monday night in the KFC YUM! Center, she picked up right where she left off -- scoring 28 in a 19-point win over Cincinnati. 

The Bearcats started slowly and Louisville used an impressive 15-0 run late in the first quarter to jump out to a 24-7 lead that UC could never recover from. Van Lith had nine of the points in the run and the Cards held a comfortable 24-10 lead after 10 minutes. 

Hailey was getting a lot of help in the scoring department from Liz Dixon, Morgan Jones and Payton Verhulst in the first half and the Cards had expanded the lead to 48-28 at the half. 

Sure, there were a few turnovers, a few missed free throws and defensive lapses, especially in recognizing where UC's Braylyn Milton was (she had 14 first-half points and 28 for the game)...but Louisville turned in a solid 20 minutes of hoops, shooting over 50% and getting six steals. Add in the 21-16 rebounding edge and one had to be quite impressed at the seemingly inter-changeable 10 Cardinals who saw first half action. This Louisville squad runs well, runs consistently and didn't run out of energy in the first half. 

Michelle Clark-Heard's crew regrouped a bit during halftime and maybe made a few of the Cardinal faithful in the KFC YUM! Center a bit nervous by starting the second half with a 8-0 run over the first three minutes of the third quarter. Suddenly, the score was 48-36 . UC would get within eight, at 52-44 with 4:50 to go in third quarter action, but Hailey scored six of the Cards final eight points to end the quarter and that 8-2 run had UofL breathing a bit easier at 60-46.

As he is wont to do in the early season, Coach Walz experimented with a lot of different combinations in the fourth quarter and the Cards got quality minutes out of Merissah Russell, Norika Konno, Peyton Verhulst, Josie Williams and Nyla Harris The Cards put up a 9-0 run to expand the lead to 71-48 with six minutes to play. The Cards cruised in for the 19-point win and looked very impressive in doing so.

Walz played them all, except for a couple freshmen. Not seeing court time were Mobley (foot injury), Lester (redshirting) and Brown and Walker (unspecified). 

A fun night, got to see my pal Deb Antonelli, some exciting hoops and a Cards win. That's a pretty full, action-packed night. 

THE FRED REPORT

(Fred Sanford almost went into cardiac arrest on Morgan Jones' block)

Free Throws -- 20-28 barely squeaks UofL by the 70% mark. Morgan Jones showed a great knack for getting to the stripe and went 9-13. Freshman Nyla Harris went 3 for 4. We'll award the CAPITAL "F" here...

Rebounds -- Cards win the boards battle 39-27 and Olivia Cochran led everyone with eight. The Cards "bigs" went to battle quite impressively and you have to love Kasa Robinson collecting six grabs. A double-digit rebounding edge over a team that had decent height gets a CAPITAL 'R" easily awarded here. 

Effort/Execution -- 12 assists on 31 baskets is a bit low, but the shooting % (51,7%), 48-18 points in the paint edge, 16-4 second chance points edge all show that the hustle, effort and desire was there. 18 turnovers maybe a bit high, but, overall -- I think a lower case "e"  is the appropriate award in this category. 

Defense -- It was a strong defensive effort for Walz's crew. Five steals for Kasa Robinson !  forcing 24 UC turnovers and five blocked shots. The defense ws making the Bearcats work extremely hard when UC had the ball, and good things come out of hard work. I have no problems awarding a CAPITAL "D" here. 

FINAL FRED REPORT   F-R-e-D

(The freshmen)

So, a great way to start the season. An appreciative and full crowd, getting the Final Four banner hung and  solid win. Not bad for a Monday night...

(More photos by Jared Anderson)

THEY SAID IT: 

POSY GAME WALZ

POST GAME KASA ROBINSON AND MORGAN JONES

paulie