Cards roll past Portland 95-48

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GAME DAY REPORTS

-Louisville flies over Pilots by 47 points

-Volleyball sweeps Bearcats in three games

Balanced scoring for Cards in Sunday win

Louisville women's basketball had five players in double figures and scored 49 points off turnovers in a convincing 95-48 win over Portland Sunday afternoon in the KFC YUM! Center. Shoni Schimmel led all scorers with 16 points for the Cards, who go to 2-0 on the season.

Louisville assumed command of this one early and ripped out to a 15-2 lead in the first five and one half minutes of the first half against Portland. The Cards were in command 21-5 when Monique Reid entered the game with 12 minutes left and promptly scored the first time she touched the ball The Cards led by 22 in the first half...at 35-13 with 7:18 to go...after a Bria Smith basket and free throw and by 23 at the halftime buzzer...when Megan Deines hit a jumper to beat the horn.

Louisville held a 31-2 advantage in points off turnovers after 20 minutes and had 26 points in the paint. Walz played all 11 Cardinals available and all but Cortnee Walton scored in the firs half...Shoni leading the way with nine. 

The Cards steadily increased the lead during the second half...going up 54-28 after a Shoni layup with 18:19 left, 59-30 when Deines drained a three at the 15:59 mark and 71-34 after two Smith free throws and 11:27 left. With 11 minutes left, the starters were done for the day, except for Deines who returned briefly. Reid scored her final hoop to make it 79-37 with nine minutes left, a Sherrone Vails layup doubled the score at 84-42 with five minutes remaining on the clock and Walton closed out the Cardinal scoring
with 29 second to go...for the Cards biggest lead at 95-46.

Besides Shoni's 16 points, Bria Smith had 15, Sheronne Vails 13, Megan Deines 12, and Shawnta Dyer 10. Reid and Sara Hammond finished with 6 each, Shelby Harper and Nita Slaughter 5, Cortnee Walton 4 and Jude ended up with three.

No Cardinal played more than 23 minutes (Hammond and Jude) and everyone had at least 11 minutes
except for Mo...(why take a chance with the knee against Portland, right?) who saw 7 minutes.  

Louisville won the assist battle 15-13 (Shoni and Megan 4 each), led in rebounding 40-29 (Sara 9 and Nita 8) and went a spectacular 19-22 from the foul stripe.

FIVE THINGS WE LIKED

-- Thirteen turnovers. The team goal was to stay under 15. The Cards had 10 in the first half...so mission accomplished with just three in the final twenty minutes.

-- 19-22 free throw shooting. 86.4% which Walz will take any day. Shawnta Dyer perfect with 6-6, Bria Smith 5-5 and Sheronne Vails 5-6. Shelby Harper 3-4.

-- Second chance execution. It had been a concern of Walz's after the A&M game and the Cards responded with a 21-4 advantage in the stat. Both Vails and Hammond strong on the offensive boards.

-- No let up. Louisville increased the 23 point half-time lead to 47, even with the bench (if there is such a thing on this team this year) playing the final 11 of the 2nd. half.

-- Bria the thief. Led Louisville with six steals. Good confidence builder for her today...she also shot 5-8 from the field, including a couple of nice mid-range jumpers. 

FIVE THINGS TO WORK ON

-- The trifecta. Six players tried them, four hit them but 6-21 (28%) needs to get better. Shelby's 0-3 and Nita's 1-4 numbers from beyond the arc came during "garbage time"...but that's when they should be the easiest.

-- 40% shooting from the foe. 19-47 for 40.4%. It isn't a big stat to get all-worked up about...but take Annika Holopainen's 4-12 and Kari Luttingen's 3-10 out of the picture and it is a much higher accuracy.

-- Missed opportunities. Too many put-backs, layups and close-in opportunities not finding the mark. Louisville did shoot 47.9% for the game...but Hammond and Reid could have had at least six more points each by sinking "gimmies". 


-- Attendance. Disappointing to us....with only 6423 in attendance. We know this will pick up as the season progresses, but a Sunday afternoon game should bring in 10,000 +. Yes, I know...the men were playing at 4 p.m. and Volleyball played at the exact same time...but doesn't that create a great double header opportunity for Cardinal fans to experience the YUM? C'mon fans, get your bodies in the seats!

-- Defensive rebounding. Cards lose that battle 20-19. They also put up 73 shots, compared to 47 for Portland...but no one for Louisville had more than three defensive boards except Nita Slaughter. 


FINAL ANALYSIS

This is the type of game that is so fun to attend. Cards scoring in bunches, great defensive plays and smiles on the players' faces. Remember, Louisville only beat Portland by 19 last year...so the improvement is obvious for Jeff Walz's team. No player combinations seemed to bog the team down this afternoon and Shoni put on one of her classic shows...so a good time was had by all. Her no-look flip-back for two off a missed Bria Smith shot was jaw-dropping and the three-pointer showed up for her today. Louisville won't win the rest of them by 47 this year and the distribution of minutes probably won't be as equal the rest of the season...so it was a "good time had by all" (except Portland...) and a great early Sunday afternoon..

Stat to note: The Cards guards (Deines, Smith, Shoni, Jude, Shelby, Nita) shot 21-42 for 50%. Take out Nita's 2-9 effort and Shelby's 1-4 and they are 18-29...which is 62%.

Post Game Walz

Jeff's comments following the win. Coach discuss layups, Vails, turnovers, Mo and playing time. LINK BELOW

Post game comments




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Louisville Volleyball sweeps Cincinnati in three sets...wins BIG EAST regular season title

Lola Arslanbekova and Gwen Rucker with 23 kills between them and the Cards end the regular season with a 25-18, 25-15, 26-24 sweep of the Cincinnati Bearcats.

Thanks to Marquette's three set sweep of Notre Dame Sunday afternoon (25-16, 25-17, 25-22), the VolleyCards are the BIG EAST regular season champs.

The Cards jumped out to a 15-10 lead in the first set and led by Lola's eight kills, took the game with .484 hitting. Louisville withstood a U.C. run that cut the Cardinal lead to 22-17 and took three of the final four points to go up 1-0 in the match.

Anne Kordes' crew broke a 9-9 tie in the second set with a 6-0 run and outscored Cincy 10-5 the rest of the way to win by ten. Tanya Lukeyanenko delivering five kills and Emily Juhl adding four for the hot-hitting Cards.

UC made a battle of it in the final game, leading 10-6 early on. They also overcame a 17-14 Cardinal lead to take the lead at 21-20. The Cards got to match point at 24-21, but the Bearcats tied it with three straight points. Successive kills by Lola and Brooke Mattingly gave the Cards a narrow two-point victory, though...and the match.

The Cards will have the #1 seed in the BIG EAST tournament that begins in Milwaukee this Friday. Louisville ends the regular season 25-3 and 14-1 in the BIG EAST.

Louisville will face St. John's first in quarterfinal action on Friday at 2:30 p.m. in the BIG EAST Tournament. The game will be shown on ESPNU. Louisville defeated St. John's at Queens, NY earlier in the regular season 3-2.
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Sunday Cardinal Couple -- Portland vs. Louisville in WBB

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SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-Portland to face Cards in the KFC YUM! Center today.

-Volleyball finishes regular season agains Cincy in Cardinal Arena.

Unfortunate timing today with both Volleyball and Basketball on the wood at noon today. Both squads coming off big wins Friday.

Portland travels to Louisville after loss to Cal-State Northridge

Kari Luttinen will look to lead the Pilots over the Cards

For 20 minutes of hoops Friday night, it looked like the Portland Pilots would open their season 1-0. They jumped out to a 5-0 lead on Northridge and held the advantage in the first half, going up by 10 after back-to-back treys from freshman Ellen Nurmi and junior Alexis Byrd.

That lead increased to 14 early in the second half before the Pilots suddenly lost direction and saw Northridge take over the contest...winning going away 70-51.

Kari Luttinen led Portland with 14 points and Byrd added 13 in the road loss.

One might understand if Portland may be stretching and yawning a bit at the start of today's game, having to play at 9 a.m. P.S.T. and after catching a cross-country flight to face the Cards.

LOUISVILLE comes into today's game after knocking off #12 Texas A&M 47-45 in a thriller Friday night. A quick turnaround for the Cards as well, minus the 3,000 mile flight...Sara Hammond began her sophomore season with a 20-point effort against the Aggies and Monique Reid resumed her basketball career with a strong 10-point performance.

Louisville defeated Portland 71-42 last year in Portland, Becky Burke with 17 and Shoni with 14 in the win. Nita Slaughter had eight rebounds against the Pilots last year in the Chiles Center.



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Volleyball hopes for shot at BIG EAST regular season title today against Cincinnati.

After a three-game sweep of Marquette Friday afternoon in the KFC YUM! Center, Louisville Volleyball looks to end the regular season in contention for the regular season champions title with a win over Cincinnati today. The Cards defeated the Bearcats earlier this season in Cincy in three games...but will need a little help from Marquette today in order to claim the crown. 

The Golden Eagles host Notre Dame in volleyball and need to knock off the Irish in order for the Cards to finish first. An Irish win, would leave Louisville and them tied at the top of the standings...and since Notre Dame gave Louisville their only conference loss...ND would get the regular season title. 

CARDINAL COUPLE will be back later this afternoon with reports on both hoops and kills (and the latest news on the Justin Bieber/Selena Gomez breakup...OMG!...)

GO CARDS!

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Louisville romps Portland 71-42

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CARDINAL COUPLE GAME REPORT...

-LADY CARDS roll past Portland University 71-42 this afternoon in front of an announced crowd of 3211...the highest attendance to ever see a Lady Pilots home game.

Louisville used a 32-6 run over the final fifteen minutes in the first half to overcome a 10-8 deficit and lead 40-16 at the end of the first half. They would start the second half with threes from Becky Burke and Shoni Schimmel to propel them to  a 57-24 advantage after another Shoni three with 14:55 remaining in the game.

Becky Burke had 17 points for the Lady Cards. Shoni and Shawnta Dyer had double figures also for Louisville. The Lady Cards shot 52% in the first half and held Portland to 22% shooting.

All eleven Lady Cards that dressed for the game played. Monique Reid was on the bench in street clothes.

STARTERS:

Asia Taylor, Becky Burke, Shoni Schimmel, Sherrone Vails, Bria Smith. They also started the second half.

Due to a prior Saturday night engagement commitment, that's about all we have time to report this evening.

We'll have much more for you in the Sunday edition of CARDINAL COUPLE...be sure to check back!

Previewing the University of Portland Pilots

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FRIDAY Cardinal Couple:

-A preview of the Portland Pilots

-David Watson's take on the Lady Cards season (so far).

The University of Louisville heads to (and is probably already in) Portland, Oregon as part of their two game, West Coast, "say Hello to the Schimmel's again" tour to face the University of Portland Pilots at 5 p.m. E.S.T. in the Chiles Center. The game is a NCAA "Pack the House" promotion and the Lady Cards will likely face a capacity crowd in the 4,852 arena.

The Pilots are 5-6 on the season and have faced some pretty good competition in 11 games. Their losses have come against DePaul (99-64), Oregon, Washington, Eastern Washington, Montana State and Seattle. Portland has wins over Hawaii, UC-Irvine,  San Diego State, cross-town rival Portland State and Montana. 

Day leads Portland in scoring

UofP is led by senior guard/forward Natalie Day. The 6'0" Pilot averages 18.4 points per game and leads in rebounding with 7.7 per contest. ReZina Teclemariam, a 5'8" senior guard is the other Portland WBB player in double figures with 10.1 p.p.g. She leads the Pilots in minutes played with 35.8 a game and has taken the most threes on the season...going 15-54. Cassandra Brown ( 6'2" soph. G/F), Amy Pupa ( 6'1" soph. F) and Alexis Byrd ( 5'10" senior guard) fill out the rest of the starting line up. The Pilots also bring freshman Jasmine Wooten off the bench extensively.

The Pilots are coached by Jim Sollars, entering his 26th. year as the skipper of UofP. He guided the Pilots to a 16-15 record last season, has been named WCC Coach of the Year five times during his stay with the Pilots and has a 356-381 record as the Pilots head coach.

Jasmine Wooten is a talented freshman
for the Portland Pilots.

Portland and Louisville have never met in women's college basketball. The Pilots are currently on a four game losing streak, falling to Seattle University last time out. 

On the season, Portland averages 61.9 points a game, while allowing opponents 67.0. The Pilots grab 36.8 rebounds a game while giving up 38.3. UofP attempts 6.3 three pointers per contest and defend 7.0 per game. They shoot .687 from the charity stripe.

The Lady Cards will look to improve off a dismal performance at Cincinnati on Wednesday night. Although the Cards won 64-59...they trailed the majority of the second half and shot only 38% from the field against UC's stifling defense.

The main attraction, of course, will be the Schimmel sisters return to the city where they played their final years of high school basketball and their home state. A large contingent of Umatilla Reservation fans will most likely be in attendance to watch Shoni and Jude and their six brothers and sisters will be watching along with their mother.

No status on Monique Reid's second half injury was available as we went to press. It's expected she'll make the trip...but her playing availability is unknown as of now. Also in question is the status of sophomore Charmaine Tay's eligibility after sitting out the first semester because of academics.

We hope to be able to watch this one through the Portland University Athletics website. If not, it's available on 101.7 FM WKRD.

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(David Watson is a special correspondent for CARDINAL COUPLE. Today, David weighs in on the Lady Cards after 11 games.)

David Watson

Hard to believe for me, but about 1/3 of the Lady Cards basketball season is in the books. At 9-2, the Cards have pretty much met my expectations so far for the year. They lost at Texas A&M and I expected that. They lost to UK, who I thought they might have a chance against. They underperformed at Cincinnati last night, which I didn't expect either. They still won, though, and are a perfect 1-0 in the BIG BEAST...oops EAST. The girls are ranked #14 in the nation.

Why am I not happy?

It's probably because I just can't figure out this year's team. Raise your hand if you're in the same boat.

 Last year, there were certain things you could count on. Shoni dazzling the fans with her WNBA moves, long range bombing and "sho"manship. Monique Reid getting a workmanlike 15-16 points a game with the consistancy of my neighbor's penchant of letting his dogs out at 6 a.m. to awaken everyone on the block. Keisha Hines battling inside. Tia Gibbs being an all over the court warrior. Becky Burke bombing from the perimeter with the frequency of a State Farm commercial on television. 

This year, no Gibbs. This saddens me - I really liked to watch her play. Shoni seems a bit more inconsistent and almost tame at times this year. Mo has been injured more often than the skateboarders over at the park down the street from me. Cierra Warren, who came in with such lofty potential has been average, at best. At least we still have Burke. And we'll always have the fearless Shelby Harper, who would probably try to break the men's team's press wearing snowshoes and a snorkel mask (and probably succeed). I should be encouraged by the improving play of Jude Schimmel. Bria Smith has been all that was advertised and I see big things coming from Sara Hammond down the line. The other bigs...Dyer, Vails, Slaughter and Taylor have had shining moments this season, which should give me reason to believe.  

Still, I worry more about this team than I do about rising gas prices and what will happen to my questionable credit score. 

Maybe it's because I think this year's BIG EAST is stronger than last year (hard to believe but true.) Maybe the Cards can get to double figure wins in conference play, but I'm not holding my breath. Maybe it's because I look at all this talent Jeff Walz has on his roster and can't figure out why they occasionally take a siesta and call it in. Maybe Walz is wondering the same thing.

Writer Sandra Walker brought up a very good point in yesterday's column when she wondered about the consistency issues in the lineup and rotation. When the lineup on the court changes with the frequency of my youngest daughter's clothing changes...something isn't right.

Figure it out, Jeff. The conference awaits.

(David Watson also worries about male pattern baldness, enough fiber in his diet and whether the sun will come up tomorrow. Catch him here exclusively at CARDINAL COUPLE...and in selected Wal-Marts in central Indiana.)
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