THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE
- Shoni's 21, Asia's double-double lead Cards to win
It was a win.
And that might be one of the most positive and encouraging things I can say about Louisville WBB's 60-50 defeat of the Temple Owls Wednesday night in the KFC YUM! Center.
It wasn't a game to school young hoopsters on the mechanics for successful free throw shooting, as Coach Jeff Walz mentioned in the post-game presser.
Louisville was 12-26. Temple 1-9. The Owls didn't successfully put one through the hoop from the charity stripe until 6:43 remained in the game.
And, the Owls wouldn't go away quietly. It was 46-41 Louisville after that lone made Temple free throw. A 6-0 UofL run over the next three minutes...capped by a Sara Hammond layup with 3:45 left...gave the Cards a buffer zone at 52-41.
Temple still wasn't getting the message.
A three by Rateska Brown set the score at 55-48 with 34 ticks remaining. Give Shoni credit...she hit three of four free throws the rest of the way and a Monny Niamke buzzer-beater layup gave the Cards the ten point win. A win that had some Cards fans shaking their heads as they piled out of the arena.
I even had one comment to me as I headed to the post-game presser..."Should we put lipstick on this one?" And, yeah...at times it was a pig. At times it was ugly.
Sometimes you win that way. It's not the most fun to sit through. I was actually checking out the stands in the second half to see if people I know were in their seats. Give 'em credit, they all were.
Shoni gets the lipstick award, I guess. Without her pointage, it's a "L". I was surprised when I saw she had 21 points. Maybe I was just watching the missed shots. 7-21 for her.
Shoni's 21 included only one trifecta and 6-10 shooting from the free throw line. Asia Taylor had another solid 32 minutes...at least when she was moving...going 6-8 from the floor and grabbing 12 boards. She took almost as many free throws as the entire Temple squad and out-shot them by one...going 2-8.
In practice, the Cards have to take 50 free throws for each missed charity atempt they've had in the prior game. Asia may need to pack a lunch, bring a cot and cancel any weekend plans.
Louisville led 27-19 at halftime, overcoming a 12-11 Temple lead at the 10:46 mark.
Walz summed it up pretty well when he mentioned he was proud of the Cards defensive effort Wednesday night and not-so-pleased with the offensive output.
Nevertheless, it's one that goes on the left side of the ledger.
QUICK HITS
-Temple outrebounded Louisville 41-40. Starting a four guard line-up. Granted...Erica Colville is a 6'1" guard and had 10 of those for the Owls...but it's the third out of the last four games that Louisville has played where the opposition has had more grabs.
-Nita Slaughter had three of the four threes Louisville made. Louisville was 4-17...Tia Gibbs having a rough bombing experience at 0-4 and Shoni going only 1-7 from the deep.
-Sara Hammond saw just 26 minutes tonight but contributed seven points and nine grabs.
-Walz mentioned that Monny Niamke saw just two minutes because of a slight groin injury. She was used primarily as a defensive stopper late, replacing Nita...but did get the breakaway layup to end the game.
-Bria Smith is expected back for the Memphis contest and Walz indicated she'd come off the bench. She's expected to practice Friday and Saturday.
CARDINAL COUPLE WILL BE CONDUCTING INTERVIEWS WITH COACH WALZ AND COACH KELLIE OF LACROSSE FRIDAY. GOT A QUESTION FOR THEM?
PUT IT IN THE COMMENTS SECTION OR E-MAIL US AT:
CARDINALCOUPLE@TWC.COM
We'll play the interviews on our Saturday morning radio show. You can catch it, or listen to our archived broadcasts at:
www.crescenthillradio.com
The station has applied for and received an FM broadcasting permit. Pretty soon, the voices of Jenny, Jeff and Paulie will be heard from St. Matthews to Jeffersonville and Northfield to the Highlands.
If that's not enough to make you buy an IPOD and scrap radio listening, we don't know what else it takes...
* * * * *
Finally (and thanks to our anonymous poster) we can see how Jeff Walz would do as a sportscaster on the nightly news. Ron Burgundy he isn't...but if this coaching thing doesn't work out...he's got options. Link below:
AND....NOW WE GO TO YOU, JEFF
Maybe I'll test him Friday with some off-the-cuff radio commentary on a random subject. No, we dont have a teleprompter...shoot, we barely have microphones.
paulie
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THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE
- Asia's 18 leads Louisville to win in Philly
Maybe it was the fire alarm in the middle of the night in the hotel Louisville stayed in New Year's Eve. Maybe it was a late night watching the new year come in. Whatever the case, the Cards sleepwalked through the beginning and end of the New Years Day game against Temple 77-68 before a crowd of 300 rabid Owls fans.
Asia Taylor led four Cards in double figures with 18 points before fouling out late in the contest. Louisville committed a ghastly 20 turnovers against the Owls and watched a 21 point lead with five minutes to go evaporate to nine at the buzzer.
The Cards looked sloppy from the get-go, but got two early baskets and a free throw from Sara Hammond to lead 9-5 five minutes into the game. Hammond was whistled for two quick fouls, though, and went to the bench for most of the remainder of the half. The Cards kept the Owls at bay while not looking especially good at it...leading 13-9 with 11:57 left.
The Cards were still up 15-11 with 8:09 to go...Shoni and Asia picking up the scoring slack. A Megan Deines jumper gave Louisville a 17-13 lead with 5:47 remaining. The Owls were not going away...Erica Covile and Natasha Thames scoring against the step slow Cardinal defense.
Louisville clung to a 20-17 lead with 4:44 left in the half. Shoni took over from there...scoring Louisville's next six points and the Cards got two Tia Gibbs free throws to put Louisville up 28-21. Louisville completed the 9-2 first half-ending run with three free throws to lead by ten at the break 31-21. Temple had 15 fouls whistled on them in the first twenty minutes, Louisville seven.
A buzzer beating final deep three of the half went through the net for Shoni...but the score was waved off by bumbling referee Joe Basilli, who then also signalled that Shoni had travelled. If he knew the rules, he would know that time needed to be put back on the clock...but Joe knows nothing except how to make bad and overly dramatic foul calls. It sure didn't look like Shoni travelled and the shot appeared to leave her hands before the clock hit zero.
Louisville had 13 first half turnovers but was 9-12 from the line. They played an incredibly sloppy first half and still led by 10. If it is any consolation, Temple looked worse than Louisville.
The Cards started the second half on a bright note. A 9-0 run over the first two minutes, that included two Asia baskets gave Louisville a 40-21 lead. It looked like the Cards had finally stumbled out of bed, had some coffee and were ready to take care of business.
Temple refused to become victims of the fury but couldn't do much more than just keeping the Cards from creating a blowout. Bria Smith's free throw had Louisville up 43-27 at the 15:40 clock showing. A Gibbs steal and layup put Louisville ahead 49-32. Gibbs two free throws made it 56-38 with 11:05 to play. Louisville got a layup from Monny Niamke to hold a 61-42 edge with 7:20 left to play....and the Cards equalled their biggest lead at 71-50 with 4:49 showing.
Temple made a belated but impressive final run. Or Louisville just lost their intensity and focus. The Owls had whittled the advantage to 73-59 with 2:30 left and drilled a three to cut the UofL lead to 76-66 just thirty seconds away from the finish. The Owls finished the 18-6 run with a final score to create the 77-68 final.
Besides Taylor's 18, Shoni (15), Bria (13) and Sara (11) were the Cards to put up double figures. Jude played 27 minutes and had a three for her total points. Tia Gibbs came off the bench for an impressive nine points.
Natasha Thames led all scorers with 24.
Louisville ended the game shooting 47% from the field and 21-32 from the charity stripe. The Cards had a whopping two trifectas for the game.
The Cards return home to face Cincy Saturday at the KFC YUM! Center for a 2 p.m. matchup. The Bearcats fell earlier in the day to SMU in Cincy.
THE FINAL WORD
It was good to see Asia Taylor turn in a nice road performance. Her two biggest games of the year have come on the road...which draws us to the conclusion that Coach Walz should ban her from the KFC YUM! Center or let her sit with us on media row.
Still...Taylor has helped lead Louisville to a 14-1 start and even the great teams throw in a clunker now and then. The difference is that Louisville won this clunker and continue to get good minutes overall from all 11 Cards taking the court. The problem is that a UConn would have built that 21 point lead with five minutes left to 30.
Temple will win a good share of games in The American conference play. Despite their season-leading scorer Feyonda Fitzgerald going scoreless today and Tyonna Williams being held to just three points, they battle hard despite the 25 turnovers and may just be the third best team in the AAC behind the Cards and Huskies.
In any event, it is a "W" on the road and those are valuable in conference play. Coach Walz wants a big crowd Saturday to cheer on the Cards in a contest that might be the last time Bearcats cross the river to face Louisville women's basketball in the foreseeable future.
$2 beers and Shoni Schimmel. What else do you need?
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AS WE'VE STATED HERE BEFORE INNUMERABLE TIMES....WE AREN'T A MEN SPORTS SITE. WE GET E-MAILS, THOUGH AND WE'VE RECEIVED A FEW ABOUT CHARLIE STRONG AND TEDDY BRIDGEWATER.
PAULIE'S TAKE?
FIRST, THANK YOU, TEDDY! YOU MADE LOUISVILLE FOOTBALL FUN FOR THREE YEARS. BEST OF LUCK AT THE TEXANS OR WHEREVER YOU LAND. YOUR NEW TEAMS WILL BECOME MY SECOND FAVORITE TEAM IN THE NFL.
IF FATE SHOULD GUIDE YOU TO THE BEARS...I'LL DO CARTWHEELS AND HANDSTANDS AT HALF-COURT OF THE KFC YUM! CENTER. (PREFERABLY WITH NO ONE WATCHING...)
SECONDLY, THANK YOU CHARLIE FOR RESURRECTING THE LOUISVILLE FOOTBALL PROGRAM. I HOPE YOU STAY. IF YOU GO, I UNDERSTAND. TEXAS IS FOOTBALL. YOU COULD BE A FIRST HERE...BECOMING A HIGH PROFILE COACH WHO DOESN'T BOLT AN RUN WHEN A MORE ESTABLISHED PROGRAM COMES CALLING. (SEE CORSO, GIBSON, SCHNELLENBERGER, SMITH AND PETRINO AS REFERENCE POINTS). JUST REMEMBER, KIM MULKEY LIVES IN TEXAS. MAYBE THAT WILL SCARE YOU OUT OF THE JOB INTEREST.
paulie
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WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE
- WBB faces the Owls today
Happy New Year to Cardinal Couple readers!
Yes, The Year of the Cardinal has come to an end. 2013 will be remembered for a lot of great UofL athletic acheivements.
Who says we can't make 2014 Year of the Cardinal: Part Deux? It starts today...Jeff Walz and his merry band of revelers conga line over to McGonigle Hall in Philadelphia to face the Temple Owls.
It'll be the second AAC conference game for Shoni & Company...Louisville's debut in The American resulted in a 71-51 dismantling of Keena Mays and her Mustangs from Dallas. The main jockeys in that one for the Cards were the "erstwhile" Shoni (18 points), The Hammer (14 points, 10 grabs) and smilin' Bria Smith (13 points, 11 grabs, 1 chipped tooth). The "erstwhile" tag on Schimmel comes from one of the SMU radio broadcast guys I was sitting next to at the game...who described her as erstwhile.
I guess.
It was the same guy who told his listeners that the Cards were proud to be a member of The American this season.
Yes sir, you betcha...
As the Cards settle into conference play, the elder Schimmel leads the way with 16.2 ppg. The Hammer follows with 11.0 and Bria adds 10.0. Asia Taylor has fallen out of double figures at 9.3 per game.
These Owls have roosted to a 7-4 record this season and downed Memphis last time out 63-56. Freshman Feyonda Fitzgerald leads these wise birds with 15.7 a game...followed by Senior Natasha Thames with 12.5
TODAY'S QUIZ:
HOW MANY TIMES HAVE LOUISVILLE AND TEMPLE MET IN WBB?
a) 14...with the Cards winning 77-33 in 2005 to make it 14 straight wins
b) 2....the Owls beating Louisville 56-55 in 1982 to even the series at 1-1
c) 1....Louisville defeating Temple 101-32 in 2008
d) 0....they have never met
(ANSWER AT THE END OF THE COLUMN)
Louisville is on a six game win streak and 13-1 overall. The game will be televised on the WatchESPN app (ESPN 3) via internet. You can also access it through CardsTV (for a fee) and free on Cards Radio 790 with Matt Andrews and AJ providing the call. Tip at 4 p.m.
Louisville will be looking to improve upon several aspects of their game against the Owls. Free throw shooting overall (62%) isn't where Jeff wants it...although three Cards are shooting 80% or better from the charity stripe (Shoni, Asia and Monny). Walz is still wanting more consistency from the squad for 40 minutes as well in the offensive sets...Louisville was held to just five points in the final seven minutes against the Mustangs and only one made basket.
( ANSWER TO THE QUIZ IS "D"...THE SCHOOLS HAVE NEVER PLAYED UNTIL TODAY)
paulie
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