Louisville's women's basketball team tried to make it interesting for the fans yesterday in the Southpoint Shootout in Vegas against the Arizona State Sun Devils. They never led by more than five. Up by two at the half, they went into the fourth quarter and trailed 45-41 with eight minutes to play. Then, Dana Evans stepped up with three straight baskets, part of an 8-0 run to give the Cards a 49-45 lead.
Still unsure on whether the fans were sufficiently entertained or not, the Cards provided more nail biting opportunities when a 53-49 lead with 49 seconds to go -- after an Asia Durr jumper -- evaporated into a 56-56 tie with 10 seconds to play. Louisville committed three fouls in nine seconds, one of them on a three point attempt, and ASU sank all seven free throws in that short stretch.
It was Sam Fuehring, thankfully, who provided the last bit of fan entertainment and the game winner with 2.5 on the clock. Receiving an interior pass from Evans, she banked in a jumper from the paint. Then, Arica Carter stole the ASU in-bounds pass (without fouling) to secure the win. Sam ended up with 19 points and nine grabs to lead the Cards.
I'm pretty sure Coach Walz didn't enact the "foul 'em if you're near 'em" philosophy. A nervous stretch there at the end. I'm not sure who was howling more in disbelief or protest -- me or radio analyst Adrienne Johnson.. A nice touch by the production crew in giving us her and Nick Curran's audio call of the game (at times) while we were able to watch the action (in sync) ! on the internet.
Walz stayed pretty much with seven players most of the night. Durr, Fuehring, Carter, Jazmine Jones (a surprise starter -- the hip wasn't as bad as feared), Dunham, Shook and Evans. Yacine Diop played a little over one minute before leaving with a knee injury. She came back in later in the second half and almost immediately collapsed to the floor favoring the same knee -- no further information available on the extent of such. Mykasa Robinson had three valuable minutes at the end and showed some excellent defensive skills.
The Cards shot 24-59 for 40.7%. They were just 3-11 from three-point range. Louisville was outrebounded 41-40 and committed 16 fouls to the Sun Devils 12. They managed to win despite themselves, so to speak.
Besides Sam's 19, other double digit producers. Asia ended up with 14 and Dana Evans 11.
Sonya totaled four "bad words" three thrown pillows, two exaggerated eye rolls and two severe punches to Paulie's thigh in 40 minutes. He is expected to be available for tomorrow.
I expected Walz to make the infamous "are you not entertained?" speech concerning this top-20 matchup at the end of the game, but, most likely, he was probably just happy to get out of there with a win against a squad who came at the Cards in waves.
Coach Walz seemed to like the referee crew, a rarity anymore in WBB. Charli Turner Thorne, ASU head coach, did not seem as gratified or pleased with the stripes.
Walz and the crew return to play Saturday against the Hartford Hawks at 3:30 EST. Hartford fell 72-50 to the Southern Illinois Salukis yesterday in the Shootout.
--sonja--
Still unsure on whether the fans were sufficiently entertained or not, the Cards provided more nail biting opportunities when a 53-49 lead with 49 seconds to go -- after an Asia Durr jumper -- evaporated into a 56-56 tie with 10 seconds to play. Louisville committed three fouls in nine seconds, one of them on a three point attempt, and ASU sank all seven free throws in that short stretch.
It was Sam Fuehring, thankfully, who provided the last bit of fan entertainment and the game winner with 2.5 on the clock. Receiving an interior pass from Evans, she banked in a jumper from the paint. Then, Arica Carter stole the ASU in-bounds pass (without fouling) to secure the win. Sam ended up with 19 points and nine grabs to lead the Cards.
I'm pretty sure Coach Walz didn't enact the "foul 'em if you're near 'em" philosophy. A nervous stretch there at the end. I'm not sure who was howling more in disbelief or protest -- me or radio analyst Adrienne Johnson.. A nice touch by the production crew in giving us her and Nick Curran's audio call of the game (at times) while we were able to watch the action (in sync) ! on the internet.
Walz stayed pretty much with seven players most of the night. Durr, Fuehring, Carter, Jazmine Jones (a surprise starter -- the hip wasn't as bad as feared), Dunham, Shook and Evans. Yacine Diop played a little over one minute before leaving with a knee injury. She came back in later in the second half and almost immediately collapsed to the floor favoring the same knee -- no further information available on the extent of such. Mykasa Robinson had three valuable minutes at the end and showed some excellent defensive skills.
The Cards shot 24-59 for 40.7%. They were just 3-11 from three-point range. Louisville was outrebounded 41-40 and committed 16 fouls to the Sun Devils 12. They managed to win despite themselves, so to speak.
Besides Sam's 19, other double digit producers. Asia ended up with 14 and Dana Evans 11.
Sonya totaled four "bad words" three thrown pillows, two exaggerated eye rolls and two severe punches to Paulie's thigh in 40 minutes. He is expected to be available for tomorrow.
I expected Walz to make the infamous "are you not entertained?" speech concerning this top-20 matchup at the end of the game, but, most likely, he was probably just happy to get out of there with a win against a squad who came at the Cards in waves.
Coach Walz seemed to like the referee crew, a rarity anymore in WBB. Charli Turner Thorne, ASU head coach, did not seem as gratified or pleased with the stripes.
Walz and the crew return to play Saturday against the Hartford Hawks at 3:30 EST. Hartford fell 72-50 to the Southern Illinois Salukis yesterday in the Shootout.
--sonja--
