Schimmel Sisters Help Louisville to OT Win Over Oklahoma
Louisville scraped by the University of Oklahoma on Sunday after a hard fought overtime win, 97-92. The Schimmel sisters, Jude and Shoni, made big plays for Cardinals, which helped them win the preseason Women’s National Invitation Tournament title.
The Cardinals, ranked fifth in the country, fell behind the 11th-ranked Sooners by 15 points in the first half. But they came back in the second half outscoring Oklahoma 46-26 to force overtime.
"Oklahoma came out and absolutely just punched us square in the nose," Cardinals head coach Jeff Walz told ESPN. "We didn't respond well. I told my staff, I'm not calling time out. I don't care if it gets to 30-2. It's the fourth game of the year, and I was going to challenge my players. They have to learn to figure some things out by themselves."
In the second half, Shoni was fouled while hitting a running jumper, but she made the three-point play, taking the Cardinals to an 83-80 lead.
But, Jude scored the final four points in regulation for the Cardinals to tie Oklahoma 86-86 and force the overtime.
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“Jude Schimmel got the rim so fast,” said Oklahoma head coach Sheri Coale, to ESPN. “I thought it was her layup, before the layup that tied it that really hurt us. If we could have just forced them into using 10 to 12 seconds on the shot clock, it’s ours. We own the game.”
She contributed eight field goals on the night, and also had a team high of six assists, adding two steals and 3 blocks.
Her sister, Shoni, was the team’s second highest scorer of the night with 16 points, after Tia Gibbs, who scored 23 points.
In the extra period, Louisville jumped out to a 95-87 lead with 1:39 left on the clock. But the Sooners scored five points closing the gap to three points. The final score was 97-92.
“Big win for my girls today. So proud of them and the opportunity to compete in this tournament.” Walz said to NDNSports.com.
The Cardnials's next game is against Ohio on November 21.
