University of Louisville
MISSISSIPPI VALLEY ST.
Women's Basketball Downs Mississippi Valley State 96-37
December 02, 2010 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 2, 2010
Box Score | Quotes | Notes | Photo Gallery 
Coach Walz Press Conference
Coach Walz talks UK
Louisville, Ky. - The University of Louisville women's basketball team defeated Mississippi Valley State 96-37 on Thursday evening in the KFC Yum! Center. The Cardinals improve to 5-3 overall.
Freshman Shoni Schimmel led the way for Louisville with 15 points, seven assists and six rebounds, as the Cardinals had five players finish in double figure scoring. Freshman Charmaine Tay led the team with a career-high 10 rebounds, along with a career-high six assists.
The Lady Devilettes fall to 1-5 on the season. They were led in scoring by Alia Frank with 10 points and five rebounds.
The Cardinals started out the game in an offensive slump as they went down 3-1 in the first minute and didn't score a field goal until the 16:45 mark. Tia Gibbs was able to slash down the lane for a layup to tie the score at 3-3.
Louisville was able to break out of the slow start by using an aggressive press, causing several turnovers that led to a 15-0 run. The run was sparked by Shelby Harper, who had a breakout layup and the run was capped off by eight straight points from Monique Reid to stretch the Cardinals lead to 21-6.
The Cardinals held the Lady Devilettes scoreless for almost seven minutes during their run. They finally broke their drought as De'Kisha Fondon hit her second 3-pointer up to that point to make the score 21-9.
Louisville continued to keep pressure on Mississippi Valley St. throughout the rest of the half as the Cardinals went on separate runs of 10-0 and 8-0. After Fondon's second 3-pointer at the 8:55 mark, Louisville held the Lady Devilettes to just three more field goals for the remainder of the half. The Cardinals ended the half with a 44-15 lead.
Louisville finished the half shooting 48.5 percent from the floor, while Mississippi Valley State shot 37.5 percent. The Cardinals and the Lady Devilettes finished the half even in rebounds at 14 apiece. Shoni Schimmel led the Cardinals in scoring in the first half with 13 points.
The second half started much like the first half had for the Cardinals with three straight turnovers. After some quick substitutions, Louisville went on a 19-0 run to extend the lead to 63-15 before the Mississippi Valley State coach was forced to call a timeout after three straight baskets for the Cardinals in less than a minute's span.
Louisville didn't give up a basket to start the second half for over eight minutes before Khristina Clemons finally hit a jumper at the 11:55 mark. The Cardinals continued to add to their lead as Antonita Slaughter came in and hit three 3-pointers over a span of less than two minutes, pushing the lead to 78-23 at the 8:11 mark.
The Cardinals scored again at the 7:40 mark when Gibbs hit a 3-pointer, but for almost the next four minutes, Louisville was held scoreless as Mississippi Valley St. was able to cut into the lead as they hit seven free throws over the span, cutting the lead to 81-32. Asia Taylor ended the drought as she scored with 3:52 remaining in the game. Both teams traded baskets as the game came to an end for a 96-37 victory.
Louisville finished the game shooting 52.2 percent from the field, while Mississippi Valley State shot 27.5 percent. The Cardinals out rebounded the Lady Devilettes 37-27. Louisville's 96 point effort is the fourth outing this season of 90 or more points scored in a game and the fourth game the Cardinals have held an opponent under 50 points.
The Cardinals will be back in action on Sunday, Dec. 5 against 8/9 Kentucky at 2:00 p.m. The game will be televised on the Wazoo Sports Network.
