FAMU vs. UofL WBB...Lady Cards win 86-66

CARDINAL COUPLE GAME REPORT:

-Burke and Reid carry the load against FAMU

In-Game Report and recap...

Today's starters: Sara Hammond, Becky Burke, Cierra Warren, Bria Smith and Shoni Schimmel.

At the half...UofL 41-FAMU 29. The Lady Cards being led by Monique Reid's 19 points. Cards were sluggish to start, fell behind 5-0, but went on a 16-2 run to lead 16-7 after a Shoni three at 13:45 mark.

FAMU cut it to 28-24 with 5 minutes to go. The Cards went on a 13-4 run, led by Reid getting 10 of them, to end the half. Louisville, despite a height advantage, having trouble on the offensive boards and Cierra Warren and Sara Hammond with just 2 points each. Shoni has (2) three's for six points. 22-22 in the rebounding stats and Louisville has 13 turnovers already.

Reid played 12 minutes, didn't start...Shoni with 17 minutes.

Second half...Louisville began the second half with a 7-0 run and pushed that lead to 55-34 when Burke connected inside with 16:28 remaining. A Burke three and Dyer inside putback gave the Lady cards at 65-40 advantage with 11:05 to go. The Cards largest lead came after another Burke three made it 70-44 with nine minutes left. 

Burke left the game with 5:40 to go with 16 second half points and 21 for the game. With her and the other starters on the bench...the Cards lead fell to 16 at 82-66 with 1:30 to go, but Louisville got final four points...two by Dyer and two by Taylor to win by 20...86-66.

Louisville avoided the possibility of a letdown with solid, but not spectacular play today against a determined but less talented Lady Rattler squad. Seniors ruled the action for Louisville, besides Burke's 21, was Reid's 22. They accounted for half the Lady Cards points today. Smith had 11. Shoni finished with eight points.

Cardinal scoring:

Reid                 22 (in 18 minutes)
Burke              21
Smith              11
S. Schimmel    9
Taylor              6
Dyer                 6
Hammond       4
J. Schimmel    3
Warren           2
Vails                2

(Harper & Slaughter played...no points.)

THINGS WE LIKED ABOUT TODAY:

-Becky Burke from deep. Five baskets from three point range today. She is at 999 career points and should join the 1000-point club Tuesday night in the KFC YUM Center against Murray State. She'd be the 22nd. Lady Card to get there.

-Shooting defense. Louisville held FAMU to 31% shooting.

-38-10 points-in-the-paint advantage. Thanks to Reid, Dyer and Taylor...the Cards were getting put backs and inside scores.

ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT:

-Turnovers. Maybe fatigue had something to do with it, but 27 turnovers is way too many against a MEAC Conference opponent. Sloppy guard ball-handling and dropped feeds in the paint.

-Freshman slump. After playing a big role in the early season, the freshman contribution today fell off to just 18 points. With Reid back, we expected a bit off a drop-off...but not this much.

-Oh where, oh where did our Cierra Warren go? A virtual ghost today with just 2 points. Maybe Walz figured he didn't need her, or she was worn out from Friday's two point second half effort. Puzzling. Her fouls seem forced at times.

HE SAID IT:

Coach Walz was far from pleased with the effort today, calling it "sloppy" and "uninspired" at times. Other things he touched on after the game:

-The freshmen need to become more active in the overall effort.

-Jude's play was not good today. Needs to figure out why.

-Turnover numbers were embarrassing today.

-Liked the way the Cards came out to start the second half and the way they battled back early in the first half after falling behind. Wishes they wouldn't get in those come-from-behind early situations, though.

-Pleased with Reid's 18 minutes and stressed that she would continue to get about 18-25 a game. Won't be a 40 minute-a-game-player..she tires too easily. 30 minutes about the most she can go, if necessary...right now.

- Burke continues to communicate well and show senior leadership abilities.

-The Lady Cards guards must play better when guarding the opponent with the ball and rebound better from the guard position.

Louisville returns to action Tuesday night, in the KFC YUM! Center with a 7 p.m. contest against Murray State. After that, the annual matchup against UK - this year in Lexington. (Memorial Coliseum, Sun. Dec. 4th., 1 p.m.) The Lady Kats are 6-0 and play tomorrow.

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