Louisville women's basketball throws bulls-eye against Dartmouth 94-52 -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

FIVE CARDS HIT DOUBLE FIGURES IN 42-POINT ROMP

Coach Sam W. in her ugly sweater

Louisville shot 52.1% and put Briahanna Jackson (14), Sam Fuehring (14), Myisha Hines-Allen (13), Asia Durr (12) and Erin DeGrate (10) in double figures Tuesday night while creating 22 turnovers in a win that got the Cards back to .500 (5-5) for the season. 

Despite the huge win, Jeff Walz wasn't totally satisfied with his team's effort against the Big Green on Ugly Sweater night in front of a crowd of 7971.

Coach Walz is 2-0 lifetime in this ugly sweater.
(Photo by Charlie Springer - UofL Card Game)

"They (Dartmouth) average 52 points a game and that's exactly what we held them to. We scored 94 and that's fantastic...but we didn't do anything but hold them to their average. We've got to figure out how to take a lot more pride in what we're doing. We're really having difficulties in communicating the importance of defense to our kids."

We thought there might be a chance to see extended freshman play last evening against the (2-9) Big Green and Walz sent the group into the fray en masse with 5:20 left in the first period to replace starters Mariya Moore, Myisha Hines-Allen, Cortnee Walton, Briahanna Jackson and Arica Carter with the Cards holding a 6-2 lead but guilty of two turnovers and shooting just 3-8 from the floor. 

Coach Steph displays her ugliness in sweater choices as well

Asia Durr, Sam Fuehring, Brianna Jones, Taja Cole and Erin DeGrate played together for three minutes and got scores from Durr and DeGrate to push the lead to 10-6 but a scary scene developed with 1:42 remaining when Durr went to the floor and had to be helped off the court....favoring her left ankle. The Cards held a 15-7 lead after ten minutes and were outscoring Dartmouth 10-0 in the paint. 

Ugly shoes and socks even got in on the act.

Walz put four of the starters back in the contest with Durr (who suffered a slight ankle roll) and Louisville ahead 21-13 at the 6:40 mark. A basket by Durr gave Louisville a 27-20 lead with 4:11 left until half-time and her score started a 12-3 run to finish the half...that included threes from Jackson and Durr...plus a nifty move by Hines-Allen in the paint to give the Cards a 39-23 lead after two periods. 

Dartmouth's Lakin Roland's grandmother representing

The Cards were shooting 42.1 % on 16-38 shooting. So was Dartmouth...going 8-19 from the floor. Hines-Allen had eight points on 4 for 5 shooting and Durr totaled seven first half points.

Louisville turned up the effort after the half...going on a 15-0 run from the 8:03 mark to 4:39. Jackson canned three threes in that stretch...putting Louisville ahead 59-28. DeGrate connected on a nice feed from Moore and Hines-Allen added a free throw to set the tally at 62-36 after thirty minutes. 

Cardinal fans were wearing ugly sweaters, too

A wide variety of combinations saw the court for Louisville in the final period...the Cards outscoring Dartmouth 32-16. Jones, DeGrate, Weatherford, Fuehring and Cole finished out the final five minutes for UofL. Fuehring went 5-5 from the floor and 2-25 from the stripe to score 12 points in the final quarter...Louisville shot 70.6% on 12-17 shooting in that final ten and held the visitors to 36%. 

A win that was fully expected and that gave Coach Walz the opportunity to try quite a few different combinations...giving all players at least 10 minutes (Weatherford) on the court and no player more than 24 (Moore, Walton). 

UofL Pep Band bassist rockin' the ugly sweater

The Cards out-rebounded Dartmouth 45-27 and hit 10-22 from the three-point range. Jackson had four of those...Durr and Weatherford added two each. Moore was an uncharacteristic 1-6 from the deep and Cole hit the only three she attempted. 

Points in the paint went to Louisville by a whopping 40-4 margin and the Cards held a 29-7 edge in points off turnovers. 

WHAT WE LIKED

This sweater may have been the ugliest of all...EEEWWWW

-- Yay! Dakota!  Not only did she get her first points of the season...she ended with eight points and had three assists an a steal. A great, hustling effort for the attack Yorkie from Cicero, IN.

-- Further on with Fuehring. A big fourth quarter the 6'2" freshman...showing some drive and determination in the paint. Free throw shooting still needs a little work but we saw her take it to the hoop big time against the tall Dartmouth interior. 

Paige Sherrard getting ugly on press row with this sweater

-- Myisha Claus? The sophomore came to the post-game presser wearing a Santa hat and did a few dance moves before answering questions. When asked if she asked Walz whether she could wear the hat during the game...she shyly lowered her head and replied "no...no...I got it from a fan after the game." 

THINGS THAT NEED WORK

Defense. One wouldn't think that defense would be an issue in a 42-point win, but Hines-Allen and Walz both indicated that it was the thing that needs the most improvement with the squad.

Double the ugly in sweaters right behind me! 

Free Throws. 10-17 won't cut it and the combined 6-13 from Walton, Hines-Allen and Fuehring must improve before conference play. Durr and DeGrate, at least, were perfect...going 2-2 each. 

C.J.'s Jonathan Lintner keeping it ugly in sweater choices

The effort may not have been picture perfect all 40 minutes tonight....but Cardinal fans needed a blow-out, good-time-in-the Yum! outing and they got one tonight. There were encouraging things from the freshmen tonight, but as Walz pointed out in the post-game presser....they cannot simply rest on the laurels of a good performance and decide to not work as hard in the future. 

The sweaters may have been ugly but the win wasn't and the redemption train successfully rolls through another stop

Louisville returns to action on Friday with a trip to Cookeville, TN to face Tenn. Tech. 

paulie
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Louisville Women's Basketball hosts Dartmouth tonight -- Tuesday Cardinal Couple

CARDS LOOK TO REMAIN ON REDEMPTION TRAIN AGAINST IVY LEAGUE'S DARTMOUTH

The University of Louisville Women's Basketball team has a chance to get back to .500 on the season when Dartmouth (2-8) travels to 2nd. and Main for a 7 p.m. contest in the KFC YUM! Center. 

The Cards (4-5) are coming off a comeback win over IUPUI that was basically a three part opera. The first act, a brief one, saw Louisville jump out to a 9-4 lead and encouraged the crowd of 8484 that the inglorious loss to UK was water under the bridge. Act II saw the rise of the Hooiser squad to a incredulous, shoulder-shrugging 18 point lead with a mere 16 minutes left to play. The final act saw an emergence of heart, soul and accuracy as the heroines overcame the adversity and soared to the win. Frank Capra couldn't have written it any better...

Tonight...a squad enters the arena that has had a season of hard luck and that is looking to put a signature win on their resume. 

This is the Dartmouth mascot. Seriously?

Big Green isn't anything special to rave about. They managed to pick up their second win of the season in a snore-fest against Hartford Sunday on the road by seven in a 43-36 contest. 

The Cards scored 44 points in the second half against IUPUI. Any worries that Dartmouth will come and throw an offense blitzkrieg against UofL can be pretty much forgotten.

Dartmouth had lost their previous five games before knocking off Hartford...so it's not like the Ivy League competitors are walking onto the Denny Crum Court as a dangerous, uprising mid-major.

The Big Green were picked to finish fourth in the Ivy League and might well hold up that speculation...but losses to Drexel, New Hampshire, McNeese State, Jacksonville, Oakland, Rhode Island, Maine and Vermont tell us that they're either not very good against the northeastern part of our nation or...just not very good at all. Five of those losses were by ten or more. They did beat Boston University by 20...but the Terriers are 0-for-season so far in the win column. 

LAKIN ROLAND PLAYED ACROSS THE RIVER IN JEFF

Dartmouth, like Louisville, is a fairly young squad. Nine of their 13 players are either freshmen or sophomores. Lakin Roland, a 6'0" senior forward from Jeffersonville, IN leads the squad in scoring with 12.8 ppg and is also the leading rebounder for the team. She was one of the leaders of the 2011 Jeffersonville 4-A Girls High School Championship team and also played in the Indiana-Kentucky All-Star games that summer.  Kate Letkewicz, a 6'0" sophomore guard is good for 9.9 a game and is second in board-grabbing for the Hanover, New Hampshire college. 

A contest featuring some 'givens' awaits Cardinal WBB fans tonight. Given that Briahanna Jackson will turn in one of those all-over-the-court relentless attacks. Given that Myishia Hines-Allen will be menacing in the paint and that Mariya Moore will be trying to get off threes if the Big Green allows her open looks...although the coaching staff has been tirelessly working with her on perfecting a mid-range, pull-up jumper.   

Maybe this will be another game where Walz can get the freshmen a little extended playing time. With the probability of Asia Durr being around for the entire season now...it would be fun to see how the 2015 recruiting class plays as a unit with her, Taja Cole, Erin DeGrate, Sam Fuehring and Brianna Jones on the court for an extended stretch. 

It's Ugly Sweater Night at the arena tonight...so feel free to give your fellow attendees something to chuckle about. 

Cards TV is listed as the game watch option...but that hasn't exactly worked out too well this season from what I'm hearing from others. Your best bet is Matt Andrews and A.J. on the radio. We'll have a full recap of the action Wednesday for you.

paulie
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