Thursday Cardinal Couple

THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-Brains, beauty and a baller -- Jude Schimmel gets it done on and off the court

-Nita Slaughter -- we wait and hope

-Walz Radio Show -- An hour well spent

University of Louisville junior guard Jude Schimmel has been nominated for the Allstate Good Works Team. It doesn't mean she has to go out and do insurance claims or appear in those mind-numbing TV commercials...it is an award that honors college athletes who have made a difference in their communities with civic service, volunteering and public commitment.

That would be Jude. Travelling the country with her family visiting tribal reservations, she and her kin have become the most recognizable native American symbols for what hard work, dedication and teamwork can achieve.

In addition to being the feisty, playmaking leader on the court, she has spent the last three years making speaking appearances at reservations, conferences and gathering across the USA. Wherever the University of Louisville women's basketball team has travelled to for competition, 100's of fans want to access her and her sister, scores of Native Americans attend the contests to shake her hand, take her picture and hear her encouraging message.

A positive impact on and off the court? Oh yeah, you betcha.
Below...Jude reflects on the mission:

"When Native Americans come to our games, they are like, 'Our kids look up to you. You are the biggest inspiration.' It means a lot to us. We're just trying to do better and be better not only for us but because we want other Native Americans to know that they can do it, too."

On the court, Jude is a crafty ball-handling and defensive star who can also drain a three and go coast-to-coast for a layup. In the classroom, she carries a 3.777 GPA and is scheduled to receive her bachelor's degree this summer.

Yes...one of the "attack Yorkies" under Walz's tutelage has come quite far. We wish her and the rest of the team the best of luck this season and a trip to Nashville this spring.

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At the time of the writing and publishing of today's CARDINAL COUPLE, Nita Slaughter was still undergoing tests and observations in Jewish Hospital for her collapse Tuesday night at the start of the Missouri State game.

We've received dozens of e-mails here at the CARDINAL COUPLE from fans of other college women's basketball programs expressing sympathy and support for the senior guard/wing and inquiries on what exactly happened. Here's the chain of events.

Slaughter started the game and was replaced by substitution at the 17:44 mark. She scored the first UofL basket of the game at the 19:41 mark. Seated on the bench next to Tia Gibbs, Nita mentioned to Tia that she was feeling dizzy and light-headed. Seconds later, her head slumped, her body went stiff and she actually collapsed and slid behind assistant coach Sam Williams on the bench, who was watching action at the other end of the court...where the Cards were advancing the ball after forcing Missouri State into a turnover.

Gibbs caught Nita's head and the bench reacted to the slumping Slaughter. Walz, who was also watching the on-court action was notified by several players and coaches that something was wrong with Nita, turned to the bench and assisted with the then incoherent player. She was laid carefully on the court, a towel under her head, and staff and EMS medical attendants gathered around her. After a brief time on the floor, she was lifted onto a stretcher and taken off the court. The determination was made to immediately transfer her to Jewish Hospital.

I was on press row, across the court from the UofL bench and watching the game and did not see the incident. I first became aware of it when the ball advanced over the half court line and I saw the UofL bench standing around an undetermined player on the floor. At first, we didn't know who it was. A rapid player count of those standing led me to believe it was either Nita or Monny Niamke...I couldn't fully see if she was standing as she was behind a taller player.

We hope that the diagnosis is good for the affable three-point specialist and she is cleared to play after it is determined that she can do so without the scary event ever happening again.

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Jeff Walz is back on the air with a weekly, one-hour radio show Wednesday nights on ESPN 680 AM in Louisville. He and Matt Andrews discussed a variety of Cardinal Women's basketball topics and took phone calls as well.

My favorite calls were..

1) the whiner who was wimping about his seat selection and why the University didn't penalize fans who didn't attend games who had seats better than his. I thought Walz handled it well, mentioning that through scanning devices when you enter a game...they could compile a list of those season-ticket holders who were infrequent attenders and talk to them about possibly providing their tickets to others if they were unable to show up.

2) the caller (Robert, I think) who point blank asked Walz how do you beat UConn? Coach and Matt discussed this over the next five minutes and Walz offered a blue-print for eventual success over the Huskies that entailed recruiting, coaching, training techniques and talent. He didn't predict any victories over the Geno-led Storrs dwellers...but never underestimate the man who designed the Baylor beating last season.

All-in-all, an hour well spent. It worked out great for me, since I was in snarled traffic for 3/4th of the show and could listen while I was fuming at a backed up Interstate system.

Like Sammy Hagar, I can't drive 55. Yesterday, I couldn't even drive 5 for what seemed forever. Coach Walz and Matt Andrews kept me company and I'll be back to listen next Wednesday night.

Hopefully at home and not in snarled gridlock.


paulie

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Wednesday Cardinal Couple -- Cards win one for Nita...91-49 over Missouri State

WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

*******NITA SLAUGHTER UPDATE********

This from the UofL SID staff on #4:

Antonita Slaughter is still in the hospital undergoing tests today and tomorrow
to determine what caused last night's episode.  She is alert, in good spirits
and surrounded by her family. We hope to have testing completed by early
Thursday.  Once we have results and a diagnosis, we will be holding a press
conference to update everyone on Nita's condition.  At this time we ask that you
respect the family's privacy.

We'll discuss more on our favorite wing in the Thursday edition of CARDINAL COUPLE...which we may start calling "Slaughter COUPLE" until our pal is back on the court and draining treys.

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-Nita Slaughter rushed to hospital during game

It's the kind of thing one hopes to never see at an athletic contest. A player on the floor, surrounded by medial staff and EMS techs. Loaded onto a cart and hastened off the court...motionless and eyes closed. Players standing around in shocked disbelief and worry.

Shortly after coming out of the game Tuesday night at the 17:44 mark, Nita Slaughter grabbed a seat on the Cardinal bench and then went into seizure mode. Quick thinking medical and arena staff personnel went into action, laid her on the floor of Denny Crum Court and had her on the way to the hospital via ambulance.

The reports finally came in. Slaughter was responsive and answering doctor's questions at the hospital.

She is OK.

UofL sent this e-mail out at 8:15 about her to members of the media:

She was taken to Jewish Hospital and is awake and answering questions from the doctors. We will not know the official cause of her episode until all the tests are run. Head Coach Jeff Walz will be available following the game     It was, of course...the topic of discussion at halftime and on press row during the rest of the game. No one knew of any prior events events that Slaughter had had with similar issues. It was offered  maybe she was dehydrated and her electolyte level had dropped significantly. Trying to ease the tension...a jib about turkey poisoning from Thanksgiving leftovers made the rounds. I even heard one tale that she couldn't believe Shawnta Dyer converted a free throw and passed out in disbelief.   We can be a sick bunch on media row at times.

Hospital physicians and staff are evaluating and diagnosing why the senior forward suddenly started convulsing and seizing up and she'll spend the night in the hospital under observation

She had been pulled from the game early on by Coach Walz...along with Asia Taylor and Sara Hammond so he could question them on a designed play that backfired...with the Cards holding a 6-2 lead. Slaughter had scored the first goal of the game just 19 seconds into the contest.

Coach Walz gathered the players after the incident by the free throw line and discussed the matter. He told them that she was in good hands and that if Nita was there...she'd want them to play hard and well.

And, they did for Nita.

Louisville raced out to a 15-4 lead when Shoni drained her second three-pointer in a row with 14:22 on the clock. Her third three of the game made it 22-8 Cards and a Emmonnie Henderson jumper pushed the Cards to a 16-point advantage with 12:35 remaining in the first half. 

Two free throws from Tia Gibbs made it 30-11 Louisville...part of a 13-2 run over a four minute span that put Louisville comfortably ahead 37-13 with 7:36 to go. 

The shots kept falling for the Cards, who shot a blistering 61.1% in the first twenty minutes. A Shawnta Dyer jumper in the paint gave Louisville their largest lead of the half...47-19...at the 3:47 mark. the Cards would go on to lead 55-30 when the half ended. Shoni led all scorers with 11 first half points and Bria Smith contributed 10 on 5 for 6 shooting. 

The final half was a bit slower offensively but the Cards defense tighten up markedly over the final 20.  Missouri State would not score in the first 4:38 of action...and when Kenzie Williams hit a layup for the Bears...it made the score 61-31 Cards.

Louisville steadily increased the lead. Shoni's final three dictated a 67-41 margin at the 12:17 clock reading and Cortnee Walton scored a layup to increase the margin to 75-44 with 8:26 remaining. It was part of a 12-3 Louisville run over the next five minutes that culminated when Monny Niamke bounced home a layup to set the score at 87-47 and 3:12 to play.

Megan Deines jumper made the final 91-49 and the Cards had done what they set out to do...play hard and win one for their teammate.

The post-game presser with the players and Coach Walz was centered around the Slaughter incident and Walz was headed to the hospital to meet with the doctors and Nita's family after his media appearance. Shoni and Bria indicated they wanted to go also when asked in the presser.

A nice win under scary circumstances early on. Louisville solved the turnover bug with only 12 against the MVC foe. Louisville turned up the defensive effort in the second half...going to a zone and extending the defense in the Bears passing lanes. The Cards shot an acceptable 56.5% for the contest and created 24 MSU turnovers. Louisville also had 24 assists on 35 made baskets...a stat that Walz praised. Free throw shooting still can't quite get to the 70% mark,..the Cards going 14-23 for 60.9%. Shawnta Dyer's 2-6 and Cortnee Walton's 0-2 stats from the charity stripe lessened and otherwise decent effort for the Cards at the foul line.


THE FINAL WORD

Thoughts turned to Nita as we watched first half action...we relied on asst. women's basketball SID Kim Pemberton's updates and all breathed a sigh of relief when it was announced during halftime to us that Nita was alert and responsive.

As Shoni mentioned in her post-game remarks...this team is family and they were just as worried as Slaughter's family about the prognosis and event. We, as media, also have had great post-game interviews with the perpetually smiling wing and our concern was genuine and heartfelt.

As Jody Demlng mentioned to me as second half action began...it may have been one of the best early game substitutions in Walz's coaching history...even if it was purely coincidental. Imagine Nita running down the court, leaping in the air or battling for a rebound and the event occurring. She was sitting when the seizure struck and that may have been a blessing because her chances of hurting herself were greatly reduced.

We wish her a positive diagnosis and speedy return to the court.

LINKS:

FINAL STATS


POST-GAME WALZ WITH MEDIA



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In other news, Jeff Walz debuts his call-in radio show tonight at 6 p.m. on ESPN Radio 680 AM in the Louisville area. Matt Andrews will co-host with the Coach.

Let's hope they review the seven words you can't say on the radio with Coach prior to broadcast.

Here's the Louisvillle SID release:

LOUISVILLE, KY. -HEAD COACH JEFF WALZ WILL BEGIN HIS WEEKLY RADIO SHOW ON ESPhereN 680 THIS WEEK. THE FIRST HOUR LONG SHOW WILL AIR ON WEDNESDAY, DEC 4 AT 6:00 P.M. THE CARDS PLAY-BY-PLAY ANNOUNCER, MATT ANDREWS WILL HOST THE SHOW.

THE SHOW WILL RECAP THE PREVIOUS WEEK AND PREVIEW THE UPCOMING SLATE.  FANS ARE ENCOURAGED TO CALL AND ASK THE COACH QUESTIONS AT (502) 267-9680.

THE JEFF WALZ SHOW CAN BE HEARD LOCALLY ON ESPN 680 AM, STREAMING ON-LINE AT ESPNLOUISVILLE.COM OR VIA THE TUNE IN APP FOUND IN THE APP STORE OR GOOGLE PLAY STORE.

THE DECEMBER EDITIONS OF THE JEFF WALZ SHOW WILL BE THE 4TH, 11TH, 18TH, AND 30TH ALL FROM 6:00-7:00 P.M.

So there you have it, Walz defenders and detractors. Your chance to call in and ask him the questions you bomb our e-mail box with.  Maybe I'll use my Russian accent and call in to ask him if he would like Memorial Coliseum marked for razing. Or have the Cardinal Dames from our radio show give him a ring and invite him out for pastries, shots of bourbon and one-on-one hoops out on the driveway of their mansion in Goshen.

Let's hope he doesn't get a call from Don Paulie...

paulie

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Cardinal Couple Tuesday - Let's Talk Volleyball

TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

(JEFF MCADAMS WITH THE TUESDAY EDITION OF CARDINAL COUPLE AND IN A SHOCKER...HE DISCUSSES VOLLEYBALL. HE'S BAD, BAD, BAD, BAD, BAD...HE'S NATIONWIDE.)

Volleyball brackets

Illinois Sub-Regional

The NCAA Volleyball Selection show was Sunday night and, as we covered in yesterday's Cardinal Couple, UofL Volleyball will be traveling to Champaign, IL for a first round match with Marquette.  The winner will meet the winner of the 13th seeded, and thus hosting, Illinois vs Morehead State match.

As Illinois is the seeded host, their match is the second match with an 8pm ET, 7pm local, start time.  First serve for Louisville and Marquette will be at 5:30pm ET, 4:30pm local.

Marquette is a familiar foe, given the number of years that we spent in the Big East Conference matching up with Marquette frequently.  Somehow, and looking at their schedule I'm not exactly sure how, their RPI ended up being 8th in the nation.  Yes, their win-loss record is good, but I'm not seeing any real signature wins over top class opponents, and losses to the opponents you would expect on their schedule...BYU, USC, Penn State, Florida.  In the end, though, RPI doesn't matter, seedings don't matter; you go out and play the games and find out who wins.  Historically, Louisville has overwhelmingly won this matchup, with a 28-4 record against the Golden Eagles.

In the other half of the sub-regional, we'll be cheering for Morehead State to upset Illinois.  OK, sure, this one is a long-shot.  Morehead State sports a 95th place RPI and is in the tournament by virtue of beating SIUE...yes, I had to look it up too, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville...for the OVC championship and automatic qualifier.

Illinois proves the point that RPI isn't everything for NCAA selection.  With a 20th place RPI, and remember that Marquette is in 8th, Illinois is the seeded team in the sub-regional and thus gets to play on their home floor.  They also are playing hosts to one of the regionals, so if we can advance from the sub-regional, we return to the Urbana-Champaign area to compete in the 3rd and 4th rounds.  Historically, Louisville is 4-8 against Illinois.

Elsewhere in the brackets

The other three regionals are also hosted by teams getting a double-dose of hosting goodness.  Our
friends down I-64 in Lexington are seeded 15th, USC...Southern California, not South Carolina...got the 6th seed, and Nebraska have the number 8 next to their name.  All are hosting regionals as well.

The NCAA did a generally good job of keeping teams playing near home, though as is typical, there are a number of, "Sucks to be them" reactions to be had.  Miami (FL) and Oregon playing in Nebraska isn't ideal.  North Carolina and Cal playing in Wisconsin isn't the best either.  Then there are the doozies like: Utah playing at Penn State, Alabama at Stanford (which makes Oklahoma's trek to Stanford seem not-so-bad), Alabama State at Washington, and possibly the worst is New Hampshire at Southern Cal.  Hawaii is a host this year, which means everyone placed there has a long plane ride, with the lucky winners being Idaho State, Arizona State, and BYU.

The only undefeated team is 4th seed Missouri, with Colorado State only carrying one loss.  I'm hard pressed to identify many match-ups that I would tab for potential first-round upsets, though Wichita State over #14 Kansas:  is one that I would keep an eye on.

I would expect the Final Four to be some of the usual suspect.  #1 Texas and #2 Penn State are likely to be playing on the final weekend again.  #4 Missouri certainly looks like they have a shot, but their conference-mate #5 Florida is in the same region and may give them a challenge in their third meeting of the year.  #3 Washington also has a closely seeded conference-mate in #6 USC that could likewise give them a challenge in their third go-round.  Both Florida and USC lost both regular season matches with their higher-seeded conference-mates, but, as always, it can be hard to knock off the same opponent 3 times in a single year.

Same Song Seventh Verse

I think we have this one down pat at this point.  The American Conference announced weekly honors, with Maya McClendon digging up her seventh Freshman of the Week.  An error-free 16 kills vs Rutgers, in a double-double with 15 digs surely contributed to the last of these deserved honors for the year.  And with that we bid a fair adieu to The American Conference volleyball awards.


The Bears, the bears....

The Missouri State Bears lumber into the KFC YUM! Center tonight to play UofL in exciting women's college basketball action. Here's the word on them (thanks to Louisville SID for the preview)

Missouri State is 1-4 on the season with a home victory over Sun Belt

Conference favorite UALR and losses to Arkansas State, IUPUI, Arkansas and
Quinnipiac. Last Tuesday, Missouri State led Quinnipiac for the bulk of the
game’s first 31 minutes before Quinnipiac took over for a 75-65 victory at JQH
Arena. Kenzie Williams led the Lady Bears with 15 points and Hannah Wilkerson
added 12 on a perfect 4-for-4 from the beyond the arc.

Sophomore guard Kenzie Williams leads the scoring at 17.6 points to go with

4.6 rebounds. Tyonna Snow averages 9.6 points, 4.0 boards and team-bests of 10
assists and eight steals, while sister Bry Snow averages 8.8 points and is the
team’s leading rebounder at 6.0 per contest. As a team, the Lady Bears average
61.4 points and allow 75.2 while shooting 37.87 percent overall, 31.2 percent on 3-
pointers and 62.5 percent from the foul line.

Head coach Kellie Harper is in her first season with the Lady Bears. She

owns a career record of  168-133
so...using the old we beat them by this much and they beat them by this much hypothesis...louisville beat Quinnapiac by 18 and the bears lost to them by ten, so louisville wins the game tonight by 28. toss in ten points for home court advantage and it's a 38 point win. unless there is a post-UK slug and general malfeasance.




jeffmcadams

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Monday Cardinal Couple -- Cats 69 - Cards 64

MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-  Stalled

-  Volleyball starts against Marquette


DeNesha Stallworth's 15 second half points, CARDS cold shooting lead to loss in Lexington.

After trailing by nine points at halftime, UK used a 24-9 run over the first 10 minutes of the second half to open up a six point lead over the University of Louisville's women's basketball team and held on to defeat UofL 69-64 Sunday afternoon in Memorial Coliseum.

The Cards looked in control after 20 minutes...leading 36-27 and outrebounding UK 23-13 in the first half. Asia Taylor had 10 points for Jeff Walz's squad and the Cards were shooting 50% against a tight UK defensive effort.

Enter Stallworth and Jennifer O'Neill for the Wildcats. A combined 1 point between the two in the first half ended up with the duo totaling 27 in the final stanza and UK took advantage of 14 whistles against Louisville to take the lead for good when Bernisha Pinkett nailed a three with 10:45 remaining to grab the advantage at 46-45. Pinkett would sink another trey and UK had turned the tables...up 51-45 with 9:32 left in the contest.

Cold shooting plagued UofL in the final twenty....going 10-36 (27.8%) while UK took control of the boards and forced the Cards into 24 turnovers...the second straight game Louisville has committed "give-up's" of two dozen or more.

Yet, the Cards fought back and after Nita Slaughter and Sara Hammond scored to narrow the Cats advantage to 64-62 with 2:08 left...it looked to be a fight to the finish.

A questionable foul on Sara Hammond sent her to the bench with five infractions just 13 seconds later. From that point on, the Cats went on a 5-0 run to seal the win. Shoni got a putback with five seconds left to make the final 69-64.

Shoni had 17 to lead Louisville in scoring...15 in the second half. Sara Hammond ended with 12 in 23 minutes and Asia Taylor completed the Cards in double figures with 10...all in the first half. 24 fouls and 24 turnovers. 22 made field goals.

A disappointing loss. Fuel for the fire for those who claim the Cards have no legit "big" inside. Louisville had no answer for Stallworth inside in the second half.

It's not the end of the world. Louisville takes to the Denny Crum Court Tuesday to face Missouri State for a 7 p.m. tip.

Hopefully without referees Michael Price, Mark Zentz and Maj Forsberg in attendance.

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THE FINAL WORD

Jeff Walz described it best in the post-game presser when he said the Cards gave this one away. Actually, he used a different term, but he asked the media to use discretion...so I am.

UofL was up 14 in the first half. Up nine at half. UK wanted it more today and they got it. It's one game, one loss but losing to your in-state rival always stings.

Hopefully it was a loss that will lead to a finish like the Cards had last year. I'll take wins over Baylor and the Vols over a loss to UK anyday.

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The NCAA had their Volleyball tournament selection show Sunday evening an Louisville will travel to Champaign, IL and face Marquette in opening action. Jeff McAdams will have more on this, in comment and article form, later this week. Below is the UofL SID release:

The NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Committee announced today the 64-team field for the 2013 NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Championship and the University of Louisville will face Marquette in the first round of the tournament Friday at 5:30 ET in Champaign, Ill. The winner will advance to play the winner of the No. 13 seed Illinois versus Morehead State match.

“This puts us in a familiar spot,” said U of L head coach Anne Kordes. “We played Marquette three times last year and we have a lot of respect for the team and their coaching staff. It is a tough first round matchup but it helps that we have played in Champaign so it is a familiar area. The whole point of playing a tough schedule and winning the conference is to get a good matchup in the tournament. We are fired up and ready to go.”

Thirty-two conferences were awarded automatic qualification, and the remaining 32 slots were filled with at-large selections to complete the bracket. Louisville earned the automatic qualifier after sweeping The American Athletic Conference.

The match with Marquette will be a rematch of the 2012 BIG EAST Conference Tournament Championship with the Cards prevailing 25-19, 25-23, 26-24. U of L also beat the Golden Eagles 3-0 at home and 3-1 in Milwaukee during the regular season. This year, Marquette is currently ranked No. 24. U of L has a 24-8 series edge on the Golden Eagles.

The top 16 teams were seeded nationally and placed within four regions. The teams tabbed as the top four seeds were No. 1 University of Texas at Austin; No. 2 Pennsylvania State University; No. 3 University of Washington; and No. 4 University of Missouri, Columbia.

Per the established bracketing principles the top 16 seeds were provided the opportunity to host. In addition, first- and second-round conference matchups were avoided and team pairings were determined by geographical proximity.

The Pacific-12 Conference led all conferences with nine teams. The Big Ten Conference and Southeastern Conference were next with eight teams in the tournament. Two teams, Penn State and Stanford have earned bids to all 32 championships. Four teams are making their initial appearances in the tournament: Alabama State University, Duquesne University, Hampton University and Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis.

In the 32-year history of the championship, 10 schools have been crowned champion, seven of which are in this year’s bracket, including defending champion, Texas.

 

Past winners making the field are Stanford (1992, 94, 96, 97, 2001, 04), University of Hawaii, Manoa (1982, 83, 87), University of Nebraska, Lincoln (1995, 2000, and 06), University of Southern California (1981, 2002, 03), Penn State (1999, 2007, 08, 09 and 10), Texas (1988, 2012) and Washington (2005).

First- and second-round matches will be played at 16 campus sites. Teams winning both matches will move on to regional play December 13 and 14. The pre-determined regional sites are Lexington, Kentucky; Los Angeles, California; Lincoln, Nebraska; and Champaign, Illinois. All regional semifinal games will be shown on ESPN3. Regional final games will air on ESPNU.

The regional winners will advance to the semifinals and final hosted by Washington and at KeyArena in Seattle, Washington, on December 19 and 21. Both national semifinal games as well as the championship game will be broadcast by ESPN2.

-paulie

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Battle in the Bluegrass

SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

- #3 and #7 Do battle in Lexington


(OUR STAFF BASKETBALL ACE JENNY O'BRYAN GIVES US HER TAKE ON TODAY'S GAME IN LEXINGTON. WE'RE FULLY REPRESENTED IN MEMORIAL TOMORROW WITH JEFF, JENNY, SONJA AND PAULIE ALL ATTENDING. WE HOPE FOR A PLEASANT RIDE HOME.)

The Battle of the Bluegrass heats up today in Lexington at 1:00 p.m.  This intrastate rivalry is a fan favorite.   Ask any Louisville Cardinal fan and one thing they always want for Christmas is a Kentucky loss.  A Kentucky loss to any team, in any sport, will make a Cardinal fans day.   It is a rivalry as strong as any in the nation and since it's basketball...it ramps up to a higher level.

So what is at stake today for our Cardinals? 

From the fan perspective, it is all about bragging rights.  Who gets to claim ownership of the state as the best team?   It’s about proving Louisville is little brother to no one.   Finally, just because Kentucky fans can’t seem to find their way down I-64 west, does not mean that Louisville does not exist.  (I am sure it means a whole lot more to fans, but I am keeping this relatively clean of smack talk.  I prefer to let my team do the talking with their actions on the court.)

Both the Wildcats and the Cardinals enter today without a blemish.   With both teams heading into this match-up with 7-0 records, someone gets their first mark in the loss column.   A loss this early in the season rarely hurts a team, when you think about the end goal, of post-season play.   Just look at the books for this game last year.  Louisville lost a heartbreaker at home.  I’d venture to say that the loss actually helped the team, rather then hurt it, in the big picture.   Coach Walz says it almost in every post game interview.  Yes they want the win, but more importantly, they want to get better as a team after each game.  So, regardless of the outcome of this game, as long as the team can grow and learn from the game, an early season loss does not hurt your end goal of post-season play. 

Probably the biggest thing that can be affected by this game is NCAA seeding implications.   The loss, to whom ever gets it, will not in and of itself prohibit post season play.  It can, however, come in to play in the selection committee’s seeding of teams.    I think this is particularly important this year with Regionals being hosted by home teams for the first (and likely last time) in many years.  Kentucky is hosting the first and second rounds of the tournament, and Louisville is hosting the Regional Round of play (sweet 16 and elite 8).  The higher your seed, the less likely you are to play in the tournament on someone else’s home court, in the early rounds.  So, your path to the Final Four (at least in theory) is easier, with the higher seed.    I do not pretend to understand the myriad of things the selection committee accounts for in seeding.  I do venture to say that a win against a top 10 team, on their home court, will be highly favored.  So, taking care of business today can go a long way in making March a little less stressful. 

What can we look for in today’s game?

 Both teams like to play in transition and put up a lot of points.   One of this biggest critique’s of the Kentucky squad from last season was that they could not play in the half court.  If you remember, Coach Walz really slowed the game down last year.  A lot of people (including myself) felt like it got slowed down too soon.  However, that is how you win games.  You take teams out of their comfort zone and make them beat you with their weakness.   I expect a slower pace again this year.  I do not see this as a high scoring affair. 

DeNesha Stallworth and Samarie Walker are both a very strong presence in the paint.  They will score and pull down rebounds.  Both are averaging double digits in scoring.  Samantha Drake and Azia Bishop will offer relief in the post for the Cats.   Louisville also has a strong post presence of Asia Taylor, Sara Hammond, Shawnta Dyer, Cortnee Walton and Emmonie Henderson.  Dyer and Henderson are both improving their conditioning, but can both provide very valuable time to the Cardinals, especially if we get in to foul trouble. 

Both the Cardinals and the Cats are loaded with talented guards and wings.  We have the Schimmels, Bria Smith, ‘Nita Slaughter, Tia Gibbs, Megan Deines and Monny Niamke.   All are very talented in their own right.  Niamke is the newest addition to this crew but she showed her defensive prowess and speed against FSU most recently.  The Cats have an equally impressive group of guards.  Jennifer O’Neill, Janee Thompson (the freshman guard from last season, who showed incredible poise in a high pressure situation in her very early collegiate career, to seal the win against Louisville), Kastine Evans, Bria Goss (who looks to be the high scorer for the Cats) and freshman Linnae Harper (a high school teammate of Thompson, and a top 5 kid in the class of 2013) and Makayla Epps. 

Looking at the above personnel I see a lot of talent on both sides, one side not more outstanding than the other.  So what decides this game? 

The obvious glaring issues the Cardinals have had are turnovers, fouls and free throws.   The Cardinals will have to take care of business in all of these categories.  

- Kentucky is a high-pressure defense.  They can and will create turnovers.   The Cardinals will have to keep the turnovers limited, and honest.  No giving the ball away to Kentucky.  

-With that high pressure defense will come fouling.   Louisville will have to take advantage of calls they get and play high-pressure defense with their feet, not their hands.  We do not want to see any of our players on the bench early in foul trouble, much like we saw against Oklahoma. 

-Louisville will have to do better at the line.  We have been saying all along that free throw shooting can and will lose you games against high ranked teams.   Let’s be on the right side of that stat tomorrow. 

There is one piece of the puzzle that I think will weigh heavily in our favor tomorrow, and that is competition level.   Louisville has been challenged this season. 

The Cardinals have played two top 15 teams and a 3^rd team (FSU) that is getting a lot of votes and will likely crack the top 25 soon.   Kentucky has had no such challenge this season.   Not only has Louisville played some top competition, the Cardinals have also come from behind twice to force overtime and win the game going away.  This Cardinal team has learned to not panic and to trust themselves and their teammates.  This, I believe, will work to the Cardinals advantage. 

My prediction for this game is a close, low scoring affair.  I firmly believe that the Cardinals have the talent to win this game.  The question mark in my mind is if they can stay away from a slow start and the game time lapses that allow opponents to come back, or build a lead.  IF the Cardinals can stay present throughout the game, play a full 40 minutes, I give the win to the Cards.  

Let us know how you think it'll go in our comments section.  

Regardless of what happens today, it will not make or break the season.  A win on the road would be fantastic and likely help with postseason seeding.  A loss will mean the groan of Wildcat bragging rights and a little less control (and perhaps a little more stress for the coaching staff) over their postseason fate.  Neither will prove to be obstacles insurmountable.  So, have fun Cardinal fans as you cheer on your favorite team and as always, stay classy.  

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( OUR LATEST BROADCAST IS NOW UP ON THE SOUNCLOUD AND AVAILABLE FOR LISTENING. WE SPEND OVER HALF THE SHOW TALKING ABOUT TODAY'S GAME. WE ALSO WONDERED ALOUD WHY PAULIE DIDN'T SEE LAURA TERRY AT THE GAME. THANKS TO READER KENNY S., WE HAVE LEARNED SHE WAS ABSENT BECAUSE A DEATH IN THE FAMILY. OUR SYMPATHY IS EXTENDED TO THE TERRY FAMILY...PAULIE)

LINK:

RADIO AS IT HAS NEVER BEEN PRESENTED. A TOTAL QUAGMIRE...AS ONLY WE CAN DO IT!



-jennyobryan

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Saturday Cardinal Couple -- Volleyball downs Rutgers...Completes perfect AAC slate

SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

- Cards 18-0 AAC record may never be duplicated

- An early look:  UofL WBB v. UK

- Radio today!


VOLLEYBALL SWEEPS RUTGERS -- AWAITS NCAA


LED BY MAYA MCCLENDON'S 16 KILLS, THE UNIVERSITY OF LOUISVILLE VOLLEYBALL TEAM TURNED AWAY THE SCARLET KNIGHTS 25-16, 25-13, 25-19 IN A STRAIGHT SET SWEEP FRIDAY AFTERNOON IN CARDINAL ARENA.

WITH THE WIN, THE CARDS WERE PERFECT IN THE AAC REGULAR PLAY...BUILDING AN 18-0 RECORD AGAINST THEIR ONE-YEAR CONFERENCE FOES. IT WILL BE THE BENCHMARK AND BAR TO HURDLE FOR FUTURE AAC PARTICIPANTS AND THE BEST EVER CONFERENCE SEASON IN THE HISTORY OF UOFL VOLLEYBALL. WITH THE WIN, THE CARDS GO TO 23-7 OVERALL AND AWAIT THEIR NCAA FATE. ESPNU WILL ANNOUNCE THE NCAA VOLLEYBALL TOURNAMENT PAIRINGS ON SUNDAY NIGHT @ 9:30 P.M.

THE CARDS ROARED OUT TO AN EARLY 14-5 LEAD IN GAME ONE. RUTGERS RALLIED TO GET WITHIN FOUR AT 16-12 BEFORE LOUISVILLE STEPPED ON THE GAS AGAIN AND TOOK NINE OF THE FINAL THIRTEEN POINTS TO WIN GOING AWAY. MCCLENDON HAD FOUR KILLS LATE IN THE FIRST GAME TO THRILL THE CAPACITY CARDINAL ARENA CROWD.

GAME TWO SAW THE CARDS BREAK AWAY FROM  A 6-5 DEFICIT TO TAKE A COMMANDING 14FL-7 LEAD. THEY KEPT THE MOMENTUM FLOWING...GETTING KEY CONTRIBUTIONS FROM KATIE GEORGE, JANELLE JENKINS AND SYDNEY COOPER TO OUTDISTANCE THE RUTGERS SQUAD 11-6 THE REST OF THE WAY.

AFTER THE BREAK, LOUISVILLE AND THE PISCATAWAY VISITORS WERE ENGAGED IN A TIGHT 9-7 MATCH BEFORE A 5-1 CARDINAL RUN GAVE UOFL SOME BREATHING ROOM AT 14-8. R.U. DID BATTLE BACK TO GET WITHIN THREE AT 16-13...BUT THE CARDS PREVAILED 9-6 THE REST OF THE WAY AND A MCCLENDON KILL GAVE LOUISVILLE GAME AND MATCH.

THE CARDS HIT AN OUTSTANDING .400 FOR THE MATCH. EMILY JUHL ADDED TEN  KILLS, KATIE GEORGE PROVIDED 39 ASSISTS AND CAITLIN WELCH GOT OUT THE SHOVEL FOR 13 DIGS.

SINCE THERE IS NO AAC CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT, THE CARDS GET THE AUTOMATIC QUALIFIER TO VOLLEYBALL'S 'BIG DANCE'.

A EXCELLENT FINISH TO REGULAR SEASON THAT HAD SOME DINGS AND DENTS EARLY ON. ANNE KORDES WAS EFFUSIVE IN HER PRAISE FOR THE SQUAD AND PARTICULARLY THE SENIORS...BROOKE MATTINGLY, EMILY JUHL, CAITLIN WELCH, HANNAH KVITLE AND CARLY SAHAGIAN.  

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IS THAT BOBBIE BOUCHARD PLAYIN' THE BASSETTBALL?


UOFL WOMEN'S BASKETBALL HOPS ON 1-64 EAST AND HEADS TO LEXINGTON TOMORROW TO FACE MATTHEW MITCHELL'S UK WILDCATS. OUR BASKETBALL TOUR DE FORCE JENNY O'BRYAN WILL HAVE MUCH MORE ON THIS IN THE SUNDAY EDITION OF CARDINAL COUPLE...BUT TODAY, I'LL GIVE YOU 10 THINGS TO PONDER ABOUT THE GAME AND THE HISTORY OF THE SERIES.

-  THE SCHOOLS STARTED PLAYING OFFICIALLY FOR THE RECORD BOOKS IN 1975 AND ACTUALLY FACED EACH OTHER FOUR TIMES IN 1977...UK WINNING THREE.

-  KENTUCKY LEADS THE OVERALL SERIES 31-17 AND HAS TAKEN THREE OUT OF THE LAST FOUR MEETINGS.

-  100 POINTS BY EITHER SQUAD HAS ONLY BEEN ACHIEVED ONCE...WHEN UK DRUBBED A ROSTER-DEPLETED UOFL SQUAD 101-67 IN THE 2009-10 SEASON.

-  88 IS THE HIGHEST POINT TOTAL THAT THE CARDS HAVE ACHIEVED AGAINST UK...IN A LOSS BACK IN 1977.

-   LOUISVILLE WON FIVE IN A ROW AGAINST BIG BLUE FROM 2004-2008. THE CATS WON 13 OUT OF 14 IN A STRETCH FROM 1979-1989.

-  JEFF WALZ IS 3-3 AGAINST UK. TOM COLLEN WAS 3-1.

-  SAMARIE WALKER AND KASTINE EVANS HAVE PLAYED THE MOST MINUTES FOR UK THIS YEAR...EACH LOGGING 179 OR 25.6 PER GAME

-  UK  HAS HAD FIVE DIFFERENT LEADING SCORERS IN THEIR SEVEN GAMES.

-  AN ANNOUNCER'S NIGHTMARE...UK HAS A BERNISHA, DENESHA, MAKAYLA AND JELLAH ON THE ROSTER.

- THE KATS HAVE ACHIEVED THE CENTURY MARK THREE TIMES THIS SEASON WHILE ALLOWING OPPONENTS 70+ JUST THREE TIMES.

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AND JUST WHEN YOU THOUGHT IT WAS SAFE TO TURN YOUR INTERNET DEVICES BACK ON...

we're baaacckkkk....on the radio, that is....with another stirring episode of CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR this morning at 11 a.m.  balls will be flying through the air as we discuss women's basketball and volleyball. i've also prepared a quiz for my two co-hosts and we have comments from Jeff Walz and Michelle Clark-Heard following the WKU game.  be a part of Worldwide Jeff McAdams' quest for universal dominance and visit your local bakery and deli because it's small business saturday and you really should stop by there more often!

you can join in the fun and invite your friends to hear sheer lunacy and informative and affirmative dialogue on uofl women's sports and it don't cost nuthin'!

we'd like to think we're the kind of show that John Coffey would have listened to while he awaited his fate on the green mile...if there had been internet radio and wi-fi stations in prison back in the 1930's.

In yesteryear, people would do some pretty strange
things to get good radio reception...

we just hope the studio doors are unlocked today and a engineer shows up to work the switches, buttons, knobs and digital recording devices. or free pizza. either of the two would be fine. if you're a local pizza shop and reading this...send one over (on the house...) to 2520 frankfort avenue and come to the side door. jenny said she'd tip the delivery driver. we'll even mention your establishment on the ether. 

click the link below to go to the erstwhile and docile internet station we affectionately refer to as CHR:

WHO DEM PEOPLE ON THE INTERNET RADIO, BOSS?

-Paulie
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