ATLANTA–The Charlottesville Cardinals claimed the bronze medal at the Shepherd Shoot-out Tournament by downing the University of Alabama Women’s team 55-49 on Sunday.
The win avenged a loss at the hands of the Alabama squad in the round-robin portion of the tournament on Friday evening.
Charlottesville endured a rocky start as the Alabama shooters quickly posted a 15-2 lead in the first eight minutes of the game. The Crimson Tide’s Cindy Oulette pumped in 11 first half points to spark her team to a 31-18 halftime advantage over the sleep-walking Cardinals.
But the game was a tale of two halves as the Cardinals started the second period with a 13-4 run to chop the margin to 35-31 with twelve minutes to play. Three successive baskets by Mike Looney, Tom Vandever, and Brandon Rush provided Charlottesville with its first lead of the game at 37-35 as the Cardinals continued to dominate the half.
Charlottesville built a 53-47 lead with just over three minutes to play and held Alabama to a single basket for the remainder of the game. Mike Looney provided most of the Cardinals’ second half firepower as he poured in 25 of his game-high 27 points to seal the victory.
Looney led all scorers with 27 points while Alabama’s Oullette had 17. The Cardinals’ Chris Robinson was named to the All-Tournament Team.
The 14-ranked Cardinals are now 5-3 overall and 4-2 in Championship Division play. The Cardinals next competition will be as host of the Herman Key, Jr. Memorial Holiday Tournament in Charlottesville on November 30th-December 2nd.
Game Report:
Charlottesville 55
University of Alabama 49