Tuesday Cardinal Couple - Cards toss Tigers by the tail.

TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-Lady Cards ring in New Year over Tigers 88-25

Jumping out to a 23-0 lead in the first eight minutes of the game, the University of Louisville women's basketball team left little doubt who would be ringing in the new year with cheer...demolishing the Tennessee State Tigers by 63 points Monday night in the KFC YUM! Center.

The 25 points by TSU tied an all-time low by an opponent against UofL...Louisville holding Centre College to 25 points in 1977. Five Cardinals reached double figures...Monique Reid leading all scorers with 20 points in 18 minutes. Sara Hammond recorded a double with 16 points and 11 rebounds, as did Sherrone Vails with 10 points and ten boards.

The Cards shot a blistering 55.9% (33-59) for the game while holding TSU to 16.7% (9-54).

Starters Megan Deines, Sherrone Vails, Shoni Schimmel, Sara Hammond and Nita Slaughter hit the ground running after the opening tip...Deines scoring on an assist from Shoni just three seconds into the game. A Vails +1, Hammond layup, and Vails jumper had it 9-0 barely three minutes into the game. Slaughter, Schimmel, Reid and Smith got into the act and it was 17-0 Louisville with 14:34 left.

The Tigers finally got on the board with 12:02 left on a Simone Hopes jumper to make it 23-2 and actually played the Cards to a 5-5 tie over the next four minutes before a Hammond jumper in the paint made in 30-7 Louisville. It started a 12-3 Cards run over the final 8:13 of first half that took Louisville into the locker room up 40-10.

Reid had 11 of the Cards points on 5-8 shooting, Hammond and Slaughter added six each, Jude and Vails had five each, Smith three and Shoni and Deines two each. Shelby Harper played but didn't score in the first twenty. Cortnee Walton did not dress because of back pain. Louisville held a 30-2 advantage in the paint and 24-3 in points off turnovers.

We fielded several texts in the first half about the absence of Walton and Asia Taylor from the Cardinal bench during the first half. Both were receiving treatments in the Cardinal locker room. Taylor did return to the bench to watch the second half. She goes in for a checkup today to see if she can be cleared for play and Gibbs is supposed to begin a light running pattern soon to see how her hip holds up.  

The Cards began the second half in almost mirror fashion to the the first, roaring out to a 24-2 run in the first eight minutes...getting two threes by Shoni in the run that saw six Cardinals score. The rout was on... a Jude three made it 74-17 with 8:32 left and Louisville held their biggest lead of the game (69 points) when Shoni nailed a jumper with 4:31 left to make it 86-17.

The Tigers actually outscored Louisville 8-2 the rest of the way...Rachel Allen getting the final bucket of the game to make it 88-25 with 1:03 to go.

Reid finished with 20 on 8-12 shooting, Hammond added 16, Shoni 12, Slaughter and Vails with 10 each. Jude and Smith totaled eight each and Deines finished with four. Harper failed to score in 16 minutes, but only attempted one shot and had two rebounds.

Louisville out-rebounded the Tigers 51-23, scored 33 points off 22 TSU turnovers and went 18-23 from the foul line (78.3%).

Coach Walz was complimentary of the Cards hustle and effort in the contest and how Louisville was able to combat TSU's athleticism with a 33-10 advantage on the defensive boards.

A feel-good win before an appreciative crowd of 9023 in the KFC YUM! Center. The road gets tougher for Louisville beginning Jan. 5th. with a conference-opening trip to DePaul. The Cards play four games in 11 days, three of them on the road...hosting Rutgers on Jan. 8th. at home before trips to Providence and Connecticut.


THINGS WE LIKED.

1) Hustle. Coach Walz's pre-game objective for the Cards was to play hard and they did...putting together runs of 23-0 and 24-2. In the first fifteen minutes of the second half, Louisville outscored TSU 46-7.

2) Assists. 24 tonight for Louisville, showcased by seven from Shoni. She's showing more all-around skills and concern for over-all team success than  we've seen out of the junior in a long time. We hope it continues.

3) Free throws. WE like to see 70%+. Tonight brought 18-23 for 78.3%, which gets a big OK!

4) Hammer-Time! The Mt. Vernon sophomore went 5-6 from the court, 6-6 from the charity stripe, 11 boards, 4 assists and 3 steals. We swear we saw two of her out on the court at times...

5) Yo, Mo! Classic Reid tonight...scoring pretty much any time she desired and playing solid defense. She'll be needed heavily in BIG EAST plays and it looks like she is tuned-up and ready to roll.

THINGS TO WORK ON.

1) Offensive boards. The Cards only had a 18-13 advantage here. Of course, they made 24 more shots than TSU. More crashing after missed shots would help.

2) Three-point accuracy. The Cards went 4-14 (28.6%) from beyond the mark. Shoni WILL find that accuracy in time (2-8 tonight) and Louisville did get 16 second-chance points...several off Shoni misses, but there aren't any Tennessee State's waiting in the BIG EAST.

SUMMARY

It was what most people expected it to be tonight -- a Cardinal blowout. Walz has found eight solid players to inter-change pretty easily with no drop-off in talent level and the aggressive, hustling nature of the team will win one or two close ones on the road this year because of this, if they can maintain it. Walz would have probably played another five players over the last ten minutes if he had them dressed and on the bench. The scary thing is...if Gibbs and Taylor do return...just how powerful and dominating could this squad really be? Everyone saw at least 20 minutes tonight except Reid and Harper and there are currently no "weak" combinations on the court.

Tougher times are coming, but this group has been quite impressive for three games in a row now. Although against competition that's been obviously weaker than what lies ahead, it still shows that there is a wealth of scoring options, a dedication to hustle and plenty of players to share the responsibility and load.

Coach's post game link below. (He didn't have to come give me a ride home, either.)

HAPPY NEW YEAR, CARDINAL COUPLE READERS!

Post game Walz
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Monday Cardinal Couple -- Cards face Tennessee State

MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

- Louisville in final pre-conference game New Year's Eve.

- Brackemyre injures knee.

Jeff Walz's Louisville Cardinal basketball team engages Tennessee State Monday night at 6 p.m. in their final tuneup before BIG EAST conference play begin. The foe is 4-7 on the season, with wins over Cumberland, Samford, Idaho and Lipscomb and losses to South Alabama, Kansas State, UAB, Montana, Montana State, Cleveland State and E. Illinois.

For Louisville, the challenge is to resume the intensity that they showed against Washington State and Wagner. Ten days off for a team is never really something that a coach desires...but through individual workouts and a few team practices...the Cards should be ready to go against a team which has lost four out of their last five.

It's a chance to improve the Cardinal record to 12-2 before heading to Chicago to face dangerous DePaul, always tough Rutgers in the KFC YUM! and pesky Providence on the road all in one week's span, starting January 5th. 

The overall series against the Lady Tigers is 2-2, with Louisville losing to the Nashville school last time out on
Feb. 14th, 1987...78-65. TSU is the fourth Ohio Valley Conference school Louisville has played this season...the Cards winning against Eastern Kentucky, UT-Martin and Austin Peay earlier this season.

The nation's "fiscal cliff" aside, the Cardinals face a cliff of thier own, beginning in early January. Hopefully, they'll have their ropes in place and climbing gear in order to navigate the climb back into the nation's top 10.

We'll have the recap in the Tuesday edition of CARDINAL COUPLE.

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Future Cardinal target Sydney Brackemyre suffered a knee injury Saturday night and will undergo an MRI Monday to determine the extent of the damage. Our thoughts and hopes for a good diagnosis and speedy recovery go out to the top-rated 2014 prospect.

The Clinton-Massie junior has impressed college coaches greatly over the last year and Louisville, Dayton and Michigan are the final three schools in the hunt for her services, according to most reports. Clinton-Massie was playing Wilmington when the injury occured and ended up losing 46-35.

She had 32 points on 11-22 shooting and 13 boards in the semifinals of the Clinton County tournament Thursday night against East Clinton.

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Saturday Cardinal Couple - Tennessee State preview

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SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

( Game report. Louisville MBB defeats Kentucky 80-77 in Freedom Hall. Cards were up by 17 in second half. Donny Yaste will have the full game report in Sunday's edition of CARDINAL COUPLE )






( Staff columnist Quentin Voigt - AKA Elvis Redbird - brings us a report on Monday
night's opponent for the Louisville WBB team....Tennessee State. He also looks into
a couple of 2014 recruits that Jeff Walz is interested in. )


Coach Larry Inman and his Tennessee State Lady Tigers will attempt to derail the Lady Cardinals at the KFC YUM! Center Monday, Dec. 31st. at 6 p.m. This is, of course, New Year's Eve and the Cards will be looking to ring out the old year with a convincing win -- conference play looms ahead.

Hoping to catch the Cards day-dreaming about New Year's resolutions or revelry is a TSU squad that is 4-7 on the season....losing 76-67 to Eastern Illinois Saturday night. 

Avery Jones, a 6'1" senior, is a graduate of Louisville Manual High School and averages 7.5 p.p.g. for the Tigers. She sees about 20 minutes a game and has a team-best 48.3% from the floor, 70.4% from the charity stripe and grabs four rebound a contest. The only T.S.U. player in double figures is 5'8" senior Jasmine Schuler -- at 10 p.p.g. Schuler dishes out 1.6 assists a game, gets 2.8 rebounds and is the best Tiger from the line with a 78.3%.  Simone Hopes leads State in rebounding with 7.3 a game. T.S.U. averages 55.9 p.p.g., shoots 35.2% from the field, 24.6% from beyond the arc and 68% from the foul line.

I'm looking for the results of this match-up to be similar to the Wagner College outcome. Go Cards!

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Recruiting is always a front-burner issue and (without intentionally stepping on Jenny's toes) ESPN Hoopgurlz has reported that Louisville has offered two girls out of the class of 2014. One candidate hails from the left coast, Sacramento, CA's Ayanna Edwards ( known as 'Shaq'). Walz has seen Ayanna and reportedly feels she would be a great fit for the Lady Cards' program. This junior is already 6'4" and has garnered looks from programs across the country. Currently, she averages 8.6 p.p.g, 6.1 rebounds and has 125+ blocks to her credit. She's very athletic, has all the moves for a post player and is exceptionally strong ( hence the nickname).

From Iowa City H.S. (IA) comes Haley Lorenzen, a 6'3" forward that -- according to her coach Bill McTaggert -- is a stronger player in her junior year and has shown improvement on her footwork. In a recent game, she posted 23 points and 12 rebounds in a 82-67 win over Cedar Rapids.

Both Edwards and Lorenzen are committed to improving their games and have come a long way since their sophomore seasons. We hope they'll continue that journey and end up in the Cardinal Red and Black!

-Elvis Redbird (Quentin Voigt)

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( Today at 4 p.m. is also the annual tilt between the UofL and UK men's basketball teams. It'll take place in the KFC YUM! Center and tickets in the 300 section are reportedly being offered at $300 by scalpers for the sold-out contest.  We, of course, do not encourage our readers to do business with nor do we promote the scandalous scalpers...but that's a pretty penny to pay, in our opinion, for horrible seats at a nationally televised game. Men's hoops guru and recently engaged CARDINAL COUPLE Administrator Donny Yaste will have the recap for us in The Sunday Edition of Cardinal Couple! )

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