Great to have the WBB squad back in the YUM! Center and a appreciative 7500 rolled out last night to see the 22- point win over the Red Hawks. A nice night of basketball, Louisville was aggressive early and held a 23-5 lead before the first quarter had ended.
FIVE THINGS ABOUT THIS GAME
1) Go Big or Go Home. All three of the WBB post-players (Sam, Bionca and Kylee) ended up with double-digit scoring numbers and shot a combined 16-25 for the night (64%) Really impressed with the paint prowess and Sam didn't even grab a single rebound.
2) Dana Does It. I continue to be impressed with her, she led in assists last with six and had 14 points plus two steals. Yes, she's fast. She just sprinted down court and back in the time it took me to write this sentence. Her game continues to improve. She even tried to pick up an assist in the third quarter with a "no look" pass to a wide open Jeff Walz, who didn't take the three-pointer.
3) Thinking highly of Kylee! She led Louisville scorers with 17 points with an efficient 6-9 shooting. Also, she tied for most grabs with six. It's a more aggressive and consistent Kylee in the paint this year and a nice effort on three rebounds and put-backs where she battled for and won the possession battle.
4) Someone call a policeman! Louisville had 16 steals and forced 21 turnovers. Everyone on the roster except Sam and Jess had a steal, which means they're buying into the Walz theorem that "we're a better offensive team when we can get the ball." (Hey! Where'd my coffee mug go?) Daggone, Asia.
5) A quiet 16? Yes, it's possible. "Nite-nite" was the second-leading scorer with 16 and I thought at the end of the game she might have been under double figures until I saw the stat sheet. She matched Lindsey Duvall's two-three pointers and grabbed seven rebounds. Not worried at all about the 7-13 shooting. Great players find multiple ways to get their teammates engaged in the action and Asia does that oh, so, well.
I liked that Walz got the freshmen plenty of court time (at least 12 minutes each) and that they held their own in the fourth against the Miami (OH) starters.
Nebraska next Thursday night. Cards hoping to reveal the Final Four banner then and move the banners to a place they can be seen when the game lights are on.
Event of the night: Paulie likes official Bryan Enterline and teased him at halftime by putting a cookie up on the media row table where he can see it. He told Bryan that if he was a good boy and called a good game he could have the cookie after the contest. And, sure enough, it was there at the final buzzer and Bryan scooped it up. (Despite "mayor for life" Jerry Abramson's best attempts to lay claim to it).
Cookie rewards. Surely the NCAA wouldn't investigate that, would they? Paulie said he'd do the same for Jeff Brohm if he decides to head south.
--sonja--
