WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE
( JENNY O'BRYAN BRINGS US THE HUMP DAY EDITION OF CARDINAL COUPLE AND SHE SHARES HER OBSERVATIONS ON LOUISVILLE WBB'S 127-40 WIN OVER PIKEVILLE. )
Louisville Women’s Basketball
played their lone exhibition game on Tuesday afternoon with close to 5,000
elementary school kids (and a few of us adults who braved the noise) in
attendance. The kids were incredibly loud
through out the game, but none moreso than when One Direction came on the jumbo
tron and when the Cardinals hit the 100 mark.
As was expected, this was a
lopsided affair. The starters for the Cards were Shoni Schimmel, Antonita
Slaughter, Bria Smith, Asia Taylor and Cortnee Walton. (These same 5 also started the second half.)
The Cards started off on a 24-0 run and never looked back. The halftime score was 67-14, with 11+
minutes left in the game the Cards hit the century mark, and at the buzzers
merciful end the final was 127-40.
From the start, Pikeville was
outclassed. That is expected in an
exhibition game. This win is no real
indicator of how the team will do against stiffer competition, those tests are
yet to come. With that disclaimer, I
will share my thoughts and highlights of the game.
Welcome back, welcome back, welcome back !
Asia Taylor, Tia Gibbs and
Shawnta Dyer all looked great back on the court.
Actually, Asia looked phenomenal! It is the best I can remember seeing her look
on the court. She was aggressive around
the rim, on offense and defense. She led
the Cardinal scoring and notched a double-double with 19 pts. and 12
rebounds. She was finishing at the rim,
pulling down boards and playing an overall very strong game. Her ability to move around traffic in the
paint and get to the bucket is indicative of her athleticism. Her pure athleticism is a thing of
beauty. I’d love to know where Coach
ranks her, in terms of her athleticism, compared to players he has
coached. Asia remaining healthy and
this active over the course of the season will be a key to the Cardinals
success.
Hard to believe I have
watched Gibbs on the sidelines more
than I have on the court. This young
woman has battled such adversity. I will
be honest and say that I did not expect to see a healthy Tia back on the
court. I have never doubted her ability
or willingness and desire, however, I have doubted her body. She played with such enthusiasm and gusto,
as if she knows this is her last chance.
Her first shot attempt was a made 3pt shot. She would hit several more of those before
the days end. More importantly though,
was her activity and movement on the court.
She was directing traffic with some of the younger guards, setting
screens , and overall just busy on defense.
While I expected to see her markedly slower than her teammates, I did
not really observe that. Gibbs brings
such confidence, poise, maturity and leadership to the team. She is a role model for her teammates on and
off the court (she will graduate with her MBA this year). If
Gibbs can remain healthy this year we fans are in for a real treat. I expect there will not be a single moment that
she is on the court giving anything less than 110%, knowing this is her swan
dance.
Shawnta Dyer
was a favorite of mine her sophomore season, which was a redshirt freshman year
for her (having a heel issue her first year here). It was so good to see her on the court. She has the ability to be a very dominant
post player on both sides of the ball.
She is wearing a very bulky knee brace, and it was evident that she has
been off of the court for a year.
However, she still showed that fierceness of getting inside and going to
the bucket. She ended up with 14 points
on the day. Dyer is interesting to
me. I often look at the scoreboard and
am in utter surprise at her points tallied.
She is not flashy, but she is a workhorse. She gets out there and quietly goes about the
task at hand. Before you know it, she is
second in scoring on the day. Keeping
Dyer healthy will give this team continued and added depth in the post. Without a true center on the team (Sherronne
Vails is out for the season with a knee injury) the combination of Taylor,
Dyer, Hammond, Walton and freshman Emmonnie Henderson will be doing all the work
in the paint. These players provide a
solid combination of strength, power, and athleticism to anchor the team. This was sorely missing from last years team
that was hobbled with injuries. Dyer
healthy makes this team all the more dangerous come March.
A box score for this game is at the end of the article. There was not an obscene amount of
fouls called, so, early indications are that the team is adjusting to the new
hand check rules.
Monny Niamke
is a point guard who sat out last year due to her transfer from Lindsay
Wilson. All I can say about her is that
she has speed, handles and was not deterred from getting to the basket. Starr
Breedlove is another guard, and new to the team, who also showed cat-like
quickness. I thought Jude Schimmel was
fast last season. I would love to see
the 3 of them in a footrace. While
close, my money is on Breedlove.
Breedlove also seems to be very athletic.
Emmonnie Henderson made her debut as a Cardinal on her birthday. During a time out, while in the huddle, the
fans sang Happy Birthday to her. Not
sure how in tune to that she was, as Coach Walz was his busy self with the team
gathered. Henderson is a strong, physical
presence in the paint. I expect, as is
true for post players adjusting to the college game, we will see the real
attributes she brings to the game during her sophomore season, much like we did
with Hammond. That being said she will
be a huge presence in the paint for years to come. She seemed to struggle hitting some gimmees
near the basket, yet she stepped out to the elbow and drained a shot. Her strength in pulling down rebounds will
be invaluable as she adjusts to the physicality and speed of the college
game. I am so excited to see Henderson
play and develop under Coach Walz. She
has all the tools to be a huge contributor for this program for years to
come.
Of course, the team as a
whole looked good. They played hard the
entire game, never taking their foot off of the gas. That was a welcomed sight, knowing full well
that last season they were plagued with mental absences from the game far too
often. Any lack of mention of a
players contribution is not indicative of how they played, but I more wanted to
showcase today the newcomers and what we can look forward to with them.
Dyer (14 points, five rebounds) and Gibbs (11 points, four assists) were among eight double-figure scorers for U of L.
Of course Shoni showed some
flare, Jude got in on the sister act and was the recipient of a transition, beautiful
behind the back, no look pass that she finished for two. Hammond and Slaughter were both really
pulling down boards. Smith looked
steady, Walton looks stronger and she and Deines both look more confident in
their game.
My friends, I think this
season has the opportunity to be very special.
This team appears to be clicking on all cylinders and has the chemistry
and confidence in each other that I did not always see last year (certainly I
did see it by the end of the season).
However, starting the season with that kind of confidence is exciting and
I think it is going to make for a very fun season.
It all gets started on
Saturday, Nov. 9 at 7:00 p.m.. The team
is talking about unfinished business.
They played today like they meant that.
Last season they were dubbed the party crashers, this season I believe
they intend to be the party planners.
(Paulie stole that from someone, and I like it, so I stole it from him.)
If you do not have your
season tickets yet, now is the time to get them. It is going to be a fantastic year for
women’s basketball; you are not going to want to miss a minute of it. I look forward to seeing you at The YUM!
jennyobryan
PIKEVILLE vs Louisville (11/5/13 at KFC Yum! Center Louisville, KY)
Official Basketball Box Score
Official Basketball Box Score
PIKEVILLE vs Louisville
11/5/13 11:06AM at KFC Yum! Center, Louisville, KY
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VISITORS: PIKEVILLE
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
32 Cheyenne Madden..... f 1-2 0-0 1-2 2 3 5 2 3 0 1 0 0 25
00 Christin Haney...... g 1-7 1-7 0-0 1 0 1 0 3 2 3 0 0 26
11 Brogan Conley....... g 2-6 2-5 0-0 0 0 0 1 6 0 2 0 0 14
23 Jayme Jackson....... g 2-6 2-5 0-0 0 1 1 3 6 3 3 0 1 28
42 Callisha Johnson.... g 2-12 0-3 0-0 1 0 1 5 4 0 4 0 0 13
02 Kayla Day........... 0-2 0-1 0-0 1 0 1 0 0 0 3 0 0 7
12 Patrice Tonge....... 1-3 1-3 0-0 0 2 2 1 3 0 3 0 0 16
13 Kandice Porter...... 0-2 0-0 0-2 1 4 5 1 0 0 2 1 1 17
14 Lelanda Matthews.... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4
22 Breanna Fraley...... 0-1 0-1 1-2 0 0 0 0 1 1 3 0 0 5
24 Kelah Eldridge...... 1-4 1-3 2-2 0 1 1 0 5 2 6 0 0 21
25 Courtney Haney...... 0-2 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6
31 Brittany Swindall... 4-7 1-1 0-0 3 4 7 3 9 0 1 0 0 18
TEAM................ 1 1 2 2
Totals.............. 14-54 8-30 4-8 10 16 26 16 40 8 33 1 2 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 5-24 20.8% 2nd Half: 9-30 30.0% Game: 25.9% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-12 16.7% 2nd Half: 6-18 33.3% Game: 26.7% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 2-5 40.0% 2nd Half: 2-3 66.7% Game: 50.0% 1
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HOME TEAM: Louisville
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
13 Walton, Cortnee..... f 5-5 0-0 1-1 2 3 5 2 11 0 2 0 1 18
31 Taylor, Asia........ f 6-9 1-2 6-7 7 5 12 0 19 1 0 0 3 15
04 Slaughter, Antonita. g 3-6 0-1 1-3 1 6 7 1 7 3 0 0 1 15
21 Smith, Bria......... g 1-9 0-0 1-1 0 0 0 0 3 3 1 1 2 13
23 Schimmel, Shoni..... g 5-10 2-7 0-0 0 2 2 1 12 7 0 0 2 16
00 Hammond, Sara....... 4-6 1-1 2-3 2 2 4 1 11 0 1 0 1 13
02 Niamke, Monny....... 2-3 0-0 0-0 1 1 2 0 4 1 0 0 1 12
10 Breedlove, Starr.... 3-3 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 2 6 2 3 0 1 12
12 Dyer, Shawnta'...... 6-8 0-0 2-2 2 3 5 3 14 1 1 1 3 17
15 Deines, Megan....... 3-4 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 6 4 0 1 1 21
22 Schimmel, Jude...... 4-6 2-2 0-0 0 2 2 1 10 7 0 0 1 17
25 Gibbs, Tia.......... 4-7 3-6 0-0 1 4 5 2 11 4 0 0 3 15
32 Henderson, Emmonnie. 6-12 0-0 1-2 5 3 8 3 13 0 0 1 0 16
TEAM................ 2 2
Totals.............. 52-88 9-19 14-19 21 33 54 16 127 33 8 4 20 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 28-46 60.9% 2nd Half: 24-42 57.1% Game: 59.1% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 6-12 50.0% 2nd Half: 3-7 42.9% Game: 47.4% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 5-7 71.4% 2nd Half: 9-12 75.0% Game: 73.7% 4
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JENNY O'BRYAN
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AP Photo/James CrispSixth-year senior Tia Gibbs started in Antonita Slaughter's spot on Saturday.
