Louisville women start NCAAs with 88-42 rout of Idaho

IOWA CITY, Iowa – It had been 13 days since the University of Louisville women's basketball team had played a game, and for some teams such a long layoff can have an ill effect leading into the NCAA Tournament.

Coach Jeff Walz, however, said the Cardinals relished the time off and came ready for the first round. After needing about five minutes to settle in, third-seeded U of L unleashed the fury on No. 14 Idaho, using a dominant, ultra-efficient performance on both ends of the floor to roll 88-42 in the Louisville Regional at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

"We figured out a way in the past six or seven years to play well at the right time," said Walz, who improved to 6-0 in first-round games during his seven seasons. "Some coaches complain about the two-week layoff you have between your conference tournament and the NCAA Tournament. But we embrace it.

"… You have to be efficient this time of year. There is no tomorrow if you don't take care of business today. We take pride in that."

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Sara Hammond had 16 points to lead five U of L players in double figures as the Cards quickly flipped a 1-for-10 shooting start into basket after basket. They used ball pressure to create 32 points off 18 Idaho turnovers.

Jude Schimmel (14 points), who sparked the Cards off the bench with her defense and up-tempo play, Asia Taylor (13), Antonita Slaughter (11) and Shoni Schimmel (10) also had good efforts. Shoni Schimmel added a career-high 11 rebounds and five assists for U of L, which shot 71 percent (22 of 31) in the second half.

All 11 U of L players who appeared in the game scored, and the Cards' reserves outscored Idaho's 32-0. U of L had only nine turnovers and outrebounded Idaho 42-23.

"Once we get everybody moving, that opens up things," Hammond said. "I think it's hard for defenses to narrow down who they're going to pick to shoot because you can't leave any of us open."

UofL (31-4) advanced to Tuesday's second round, where it will face No.6 seed Iowa, an 87-65 winner over Marist. Should the Cardinals prevail, they'll return to the KFC Yum! Center for the regional semifinals and final.

Idaho (25-9), which was seeking its first NCAA Tournament win in three appearances, were led by Ali Forde's 16 points and eight rebounds. The Vandals' top player, Stacey Barr, had only four points and five turnovers and struggled, coach Jon Newlee said, after taking a shot to the face that may have caused a concussion.

The Cards, playing their first game since the American Athletic Conference Tournament final on March 10, started slowly, missing nine of their first 10 shots as Idaho took a 6-3 lead in the opening five minutes.

But Jude Schimmel came off the bench to score five straight points and begin a 23-7 run over the next seven-plus minutes that gave U of L a 26-13 lead.

"It's fun to be the person that comes off (the bench) and gives a spark to your team," said Jude Schimmel, who had four assists and three steals. "We were down 6-2, and to me that should have never happened. But I did exactly what my team needed me to do at that point."

After Idaho cut the deficit to 30-21, the Cards took off again, scoring 10 straight to close the half.

U of L kept pouring it on after halftime. A 15-2 run that included a 3-pointer by Jude Schimmel and two more by Slaughter made the score 78-35.

The Cards made 38 of their final 58 shots and finished 57.4 percent from the field. U of L went 6 of 14 on threes, with top long-range shooter Shoni Schimmel making none, and Walz said that "speaks volumes" about the balance of the team.

"I said they should be a No. 1 seed," Newlee said. "They didn't do anything out there to disprove that."

Walz said on Monday when his team was surprisingly given a No. 3 seed — one or maybe two seed lines worse than was widely projected — that he expected his players would have a "little chip on their shoulder" when the tournament began.

In ripping the Vandals, the Cards appeared to play like they had something to prove.

"What we're trying to do right now is prove that we belong, and I think a lot of that with our seed has to do with respect," Walz said. "We have to do our job to earn respect, get our program where year in and year out, that we're competing for a No. 1, 2 or 3 seed. … If we were a program that has been around for 20 years, we may have gotten a better seed. Who knows? So our kids are playing for respect right now."

On Tuesday night, the Cards can take their next step toward showing they are and intend to remain among the nation's elite.

Steve Jones can be reached at (502) 582-7176 and followed on Twitter at @SteveJones_CJ.