LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Missouri State was close to No. 7 Louisville early. Then, after one of the Cardinals' players was taken off the court on a stretcher, they ran away from the Bears.
Kenzie Williams scored 13 points, Tyonna Snow added 12 and Desiree Phillips 11 as Missouri State (1-5) lost its fourth straight, 91-49 to Louisville on Tuesday night.
The Cardinals (8-1) were leading 7-2 with 17:13 to play in the first half when Antonita Slaughter, who had started the game and scored the first basket, went to the bench and suddenly collapsed. Louisville coach Jeff Walz and his staff rushed to her aid and EMS was immediately called to the bench.
Bears coach Jon Harper expressed his team's concern for Slaughter, who was taken to a hospital by an ambulance.
"That's a tough sight for anyone to see," said Harper, who is leading the Bears in place of wife and head coach Kellie Harper while she recovers after giving birth to their son on Nov. 25. "It happened right in front of us. Hopefully she's going to be all right. She'll be in our thoughts and prayers."
The Cardinals regrouped after watching their teammate leave the court and went on a 15-4 run that included three 3s from Schimmel to boost its lead to 24-8. The Cardinals continued to bolster their double-digit lead from there.
Harper praised the efforts of Phillips, who came off the bench to bolster the Bears' offense.
"Desiree has had several good practices in a row," Harper said. "She's doing a better job defensively."
Freshman forward Rachel Swartz, who also came off the bench, had five points in 16 minutes of play.
"The biggest regret I had from the last game (against Quinnipiac) was not getting her in more," Harper said.
Shoni Schimmel scored 14 points, Bria Smith had 12 and Asia Taylor added 10 points and seven rebounds for the Cardinals, who led by 25 at halftime.
After shooting 40 percent in the first half, the Bears went 7 of 26 in the second half and missed 10 of 14 three-pointers.
The Bears committed 24 miscues, compared to 12 for Louisville.
"We had times where we took advantage of some of their mistakes," Harper said. "We had other times where they made mistakes and we just couldn't capitalize on it."
Schimmel said the team was relieved to get good news about their teammate during the game and they hoped to visit her as soon as possible.
"Coach Walz told us at halftime that she was doing good, that she was conscious," Schimmel said.
Smith added: "It's tough to see anybody get carried off the court on stretcher. Definitely, to see Antonita in that position is hard for all of us because we're like sisters."
Walz said he didn't have any information on what caused Slaughter's to collapse.
"She's coherent, she's responding to questions and talking with her family," he added. "We're not sure and they're not sure what took place yet. I would say by tomorrow morning we should know more."
Louisville — ranked 10th in the country at 48 percent shooting from the field — finished at 56 percent against the Bears, including 36 percent on 3s, and finished with 24 assists.
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