No. 15/13 Louisville Cardinals Fly Past Runnin' Bulldogs at the KFC Yum! Center
December 10, 2011 | Women's Basketball
Louisville, Ky. - The Gardner-Webb women's basketball team could not overcome its cold shooting and its turnovers, as the Runnin' Bulldogs fell to No. 15/13 Louisville , 92-27, on Saturday afternoon at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Ky.
The young Runnin' Bulldog squad struggled out of the gates against the full-court Louisville pressure, committing seven turnovers on their first seven possessions of the contest, as the Cardinals took a 14-2 lead at the first media timeout with 13:51 to go in the first half.
The GWU offense, which did not record their first made basket until over five minutes into the contest at the 14:57 mark on a 15-foot jump shot from the left wing by freshman Eliana Scanlon, continued to looked overwhelmed throughout the first half, turning the ball over 12 times in the first nine minutes of play to fall behind 22-4 with 11 minutes remaining before the half.
Back-to-back three-pointers by Antonita Slaughter and a fast-break layup by Becky Burke off a Runnin' Bulldog turnover forced GWU head coach Rick Reeves to use his second timeout, as the Cardinals pulled ahead by 28 at 35-7 with 7:13 to play in the opening half.
Over the final 3:47 in the first half, Gardner-Webb outscored the Cardinals 9-5 to put the score at 44-14 in favor of the nationally ranked Cardinals at the halftime break.
The Runnin' Bulldogs, who shot only 29.4 percent in the first half overall, was only 5-of-17 from the floor overall, while the Cardinals, who shot 42.5 percent, were 17-of-40 overall from the field and 5-of-17 from behind the three-point line.
In the second-half, the Runnin' Bulldogs came out with both poise and aggression, as sophomore center Catrina Green scored all seven of GWU's points over the first five minutes to put the score at 57-21 in favor of the Cardinals with 15:19 to go in the contest.
However, the Runnin' Bulldogs would fall back in another offensive rut, as other than a rebound and put back by Green, Gardner-Webb failed to score over the next nine minutes of play until a left-handed runner by freshman guard KiKi Smith fell at the six minute mark.
Green led the Runnin' Bulldogs with 11 points, nine of which came in the second half, and eight rebounds, while no other player had more than four points for the game.
For Louisville, Slaughter had a game-high 23 points, draining 7-of-9 from behind the three-point line, while Shoni Schimmel added 12 points in the blowout win.
Gardner-Webb committed 36 turnovers and shot was only 11-of-39 (28.2 percent) from the floor overall, while the Cardinals were 34-of-69 (49.3 percent) overall and totaled 21 steals in the win.
The size and athleticism was too much for GWU, as Louisville outscored GWU 46-16 in points in the paint, 42-3 in points off turnovers and 12-0 in fast break points for the contest.
The 27 points is the lowest that a GWU team has scored in a single-game since the Runnin' Bulldogs scored 31 in a loss to No. 6 Duke on November 25th at the 2011 Junkanoo Jam in the Bahamas earlier this year.
Gardner-Webb falls to 0-8 on the year and 0-4 on the road with the loss, while the Cardinals improve to 8-2 overall and 4-0 at home with the win.
The loss drops Gardner-Webb to 0-3 versus top-25 nationally ranked opponents (#19 North Carolina, #6 Duke and #13 Louisville) on the year and 0-8 overall.
Gardner-Webb (0-8) will remain on the road, as the Runnin' Bulldogs will return to action next Sunday afternoon, December 18th, to take on the Lipscomb Lady Bison at 2 p.m. in Nashville, Tenn.
No. 15/13 Louisville will tip-off a three-game road trip at Cincinnati on Wednesday, December 14th, at 7 p.m.
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| Box Score: #13 Louisville 92, Gardner-Webb 27 |
