Pitt's 21% shooting, Hammond's double-double keys to Cards twentieth win.
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| Photo by Charlie Springer - UofL Card Game |
No...48-35 was not the halftime score.
In a defensive struggle in the KFC YUM! Center Sunday afternoon in front of 13656 fans, Louisville used a 12-2 run in the second half to pull away from the Panthers and get win number 20 on the season.
If high scoring offense is your thing, Denny Crum Court wasn't the place to be Sunday. Neither team had much luck lighting up the scoreboard but the Cards were successful in grinding out a workmanlike win...led by Sara Hammond's 11 points and 13 defensive rebounds.
With Louisville clinging to a 31-26 lead and 10:40 remaining, Pitt's Brianna Kiesel drove to the hoop but was stopped by Emmonnie Henderson...crashing underneath the Pitt basket and drawing a foul...but suffering a left wrist injury and not returning to the game. Aysia Bugg cashed in the two free throws intended for Kiesel and Pitt drew within one on a Yacine Diop jumper 30 seconds later...but the Panthers were missing their floor general and it started to show.
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| Photo by Charlie Springer - UofL Card Game |
Mariya Moore cashed in on two free throws, Henderson scored underneath and Shawnta' Dyer added a couple from the charity stripe to put Louisville ahead 38-32. Sara Hammond connected on a short range jumper and a free throw from Moore and layup from the freshman 30 seconds later culminated a 12-2 UofL run that set the scoreboard at 43-32. It was a six minute run and 2:58 remained in the game.
From there, Louisville was able to outscore the Panthers 5-3...that included a spectacular Jude Schimmel steal and feed to Bria Smith for a layup that set the final score of 48-35.
Trying a lineup change to avert another slow Cardinal start to a contest, Jeff Walz started redshirt senior Sherrone Vails to muscle with the talented Pitt front-liners. Vails gave the Cards four and a half minutes of physical play and scored Louisville's first basket, but was 8-4 Pitt when she went to the bench and Shawnta' Dyer entered the game.
The Cards responded to the lineup change and outscored the Panthers 10-0 over the next 3 1/2 minutes to go up 14-8 after a Myisha Hines-Allen layup, who was in for Sara Hammond. The Cards were able to maintain that lead over the final 12:07...outscoring Pitt 11-10 and holding Pitt's star Kiesel to just two first half points on 1-8 shooting. Jude Schimmel created a daring steal as the half ended and getting a pass to Shawnta' Dyer for a score with two seconds left in the half.
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| Photo by Charlie Springer - UofL Card Game |
With a 25-18 halftime lead, the Cards weren't exactly blowing the Panthers back up the Ohio River, but they actually led at halftime for once...and that was encouraging.
A great halftime ceremony ensued...celebrating National Girls and Women in Sports Day. UofL's women student-athletes took to the court (minus on-the road Lacrosse and in the locker room WBB squad) to honor UofL administrator Dr. Elaine Wise, who was in attendance and received an award and bouquet of roses. I even managed a quick wave to Field Hockey coach Justine Sowry...lined up on the court with the rest of the participants.
The Panthers weren't going away without a scrap and managed to outscore UofL 10 to 8 over the first ten minutes of the second half before Kiesel left the game.
Shutting down Kiesel and Monica Wignot was the Louisville defensive game plan and it worked. Kiesel ended up with those same two points and Wignot had three in 38 minutes.
Coach Walz expected a tight defensive game, especially after experiencing one a month ago in Pittsburgh...but if you told him prior to the contest that Louisville would win scoring just 49 points, going 0-6 from trifecta line and shooting 31% on the night...e just might have had security usher you out for psychiatric observation.
Sometimes, wins aren't the most prettiest things around and that was the case Sunday against this ACC foe...but Louisville earned it by limiting the Panthers to just 13 baskets in 62 attempts, out-rebounding them 48-44 and scoring 30 points in the paints while holding Pitt to just eight in the paint. The Cards also had 10 assists on 17 made baskets.
Megan Deines did not dress for the game, suffering a ankle injury earlier in the week during practice.
20-3 for the Cards and 8-2 in ACC Conference play. They head to ACC Cellar dweller Clemson next...for a Thursday night game against the 9-15, 1-10 in conference Tigers.
On a day where we celebrated Girls and Women in Sports, it was two of the senior women on the Louisville squad in Hammond and Dyer who made sure the celebration continued for the full 40 minutes.
Thanks to Charlie Springer for some of the photos. Read his comments over at www.uoflcardgame.com
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The annual Alumnae game took place after the post-game player autograph session and the black squad...led by Becky Burke and Dez Byrd squeaked out a hard fought win.
"Big Shot" Becky drilled a few threes in the exhibition and Dez was throwing behind the back passes and displaying her dribble-drive as the black team floor general. We got a few post game comments from an obviously exhausted Dez that we'll play on the Saturday Cardinal Couple Radio Show
Just as amusing was Sherrone Vails, Shawnta Dyer and Myisha Hines-Allen's courtside "play by play" of the action. No worries...Beth Mowins and Deb Antonelli, these three aren't ready to replace you yet...but they provided a decidedly different and hysterically funny approach to a "game call" after wrestling the microphone away from Jared "J-Bone" Stillman.
Kristin Maddox Cox, you need to work on that three...
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Also spotted at the game was highly sought-after junior Aislinn Konig. Thanks to Jenny for figuring out who she was for us...
“We were all talking and asking ‘Who have you seen in B.C. history who is better than her?’” asked Brown, the longtime Brookswood head coach of the 5-foot-10 Grade 11 Aislinn Konig. “All we could come up with was that we had never seen Bev Smith play in high school.’”
With a reference point like Smith, the former Salmon Arm and Oregon superstar who is best described as the Larry Bird of Canadian women’s basketball, you might get the idea that Konig is pretty good.
That, however, would be putting things mildly.
Already, according to Konig’s father Frank, over 150 NCAA programs have made personal contact. And as tough as it has been for her, Konig has trimmed her final list of schools down to, in no particular order, Washington, Oregon, North Carolina State, Louisville, Stanford, Southern Cal, Arizona and Kansas, all of whom she will pay unofficial visits to over the coming weeks in order to whittle her list down to a handful in preparation for official visits.
The University of Louisville softball team fell 11-6 to No. 11/13 Washington in their final game of the UNLV Sportco Kick-Off Classic Sunday.
In the game, the Cards (2-3) took the lead twice, but could not overcome a six-run sixth inning by the Huskies (4-1).
Louisville jumped to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first when senior Whitney Arion led off the game with a double and came around to score on sophomore Jordan McNary's RBI single.
The Huskies quickly evened the score behind Ali Aguilar's leadoff home run in the home half of the first.
Washington added four more runs in the second. Julia DePonte walked and Dani Braun followed with a hit to set up Kelly Burdick's two-run triple. A single by Taylor Van Zee scored Burdick to give the Huskies a 5-1 lead.
The Cards answered in the top of the third, using five hits to score three runs to make the score 5-4. Freshman Nicole Pufahl led off top of the third with her first career home run. Arion and McNary delivered back-to-back singles to set up Hailey Smith's two-out RBI hit. Dillard's single plated McNary.
Louisville tacked on two more runs in the fifth when McNary led off the frame with a hit and moved to third on a single by Duncan. An error on the play sent McNary to tie the score at 5-5. Another Washington error sent pinch-runner Morgan Meyer home to give the Cards a 6-5 lead.
The Huskies used two hits, three walks and an error to put up a six-spot in the home half of the sixth inning. Kelli Suguro reached on a fielder's choice and moved to third on a hit by Aguilar. Taylor Van Zee reached on error which sent Suguro home to tie the score at 6-6. Back-to-back walks issued to Kylee Lahners and Kimberlee Souza plated Aguilar to give Washington a 7-6 lead. Courtney Gano's fielder's choice saw Van Zee safe at the plate. DePonte's sacrifice fly and Krystal Aubert's two-run single gave the Huskies an 11-6 lead.
McNary went 3 for 3 with two runs and an RBI to lead the Cardinals at the plate. Arion was 3 for 4 with two runs. Pufahl was 2 for 3. Freshman Madi Norman (0-3) took the loss, allowing six runs, five earned, on four hits and striking out one with five walks in 4.0 innings of relief. Maryssa Becker surrendered five earned runs on six hits and walked one in 2.0 innings.
Louisville (2-3) returns to action next weekend at the Dot Richardson Tournament in Orlando, Fla
Paulie
No....Taylor didn't play much as a rookie. But, players usually improve dramatically between their rookie and second seasons in the league and Taylor is a strong rebounder and scorer underneath the basket. 
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