No. 7 Louisville women use balanced offense to rout Central Florida 94-73

PUERTO VALLARTA, Mexico – Louisville made short work of its future Big East foe.

Sara Hammond scored 15 points to lead a balanced offense and No. 7 Louisville routed Central Florida 94-73 on Tuesday night in the opener of the Hardwood Tournament of Hope.

Sheronne Vails added 13 points, and Megan Deines and Monique Reid each had 12 for the Cardinals (4-0). Shoni Schimmel added 11 points, five assists and five rebounds.

"Shoni played one of the best games she's played all year," Louisville coach Jeff Walz said. "It was really nice to see where we could win the battle in the posts."

Louisville took a 21-15 lead midway through the first half before using a 17-4 run to take command. The Cardinals led 55-33 at halftime, shooting 61 percent from the field, and cruised from there as Central Florida could get no closer than 19 the rest of the way.

"We did a very good job in the first half of controlling the tempo of the game," Walz said. "We took care of the basketball and were very unselfish."

Louisville outrebounded the Knights 50-25.

"The only negative on the night was the 73 points," Walz said. "We got to do a better job guarding the dribble drive."

Briahanna Jackson scored 21 points and Gevenia Carter added 16 for Central Florida (1-4), which will join the Big East next year.

Louisville will face Gonzaga in the second round of the tournament on Wednesday night after the Bulldogs beat Missouri State 80-66.