TUESDAY as seen by CARDINAL COUPLE:-Collins BIG EAST Pitcher of the Week
-Wherry named to BIG EAST Honor Roll
-LADY CARDS WBB vs. Xavier tonight.
-The Sideline Reporter Great Eight starts today.
-Dumb and Dumber on the air.
Paul Sanderford, pictured above, does color commentary on UofL Women's Basketball games. He'll be on hand for tonight's match up in Cincinnati when Louisville faces Xavier at 7 p.m. at the Cintas Center. Tickets still available. Sanderford was also a coach at Western Kentucky University and Nebraska and they say he was a pretty good catcher 'back in the day'. He and Louisville Bats radio voice Matt Andrews will have the broadcast on 790 AM/101.7 FM WKRD. The game will also be shown on ESPN2. WE strongly urge you to attend, though. Cincinnati is less than two hours away from Louisville and your LADY CARDS need as much "red" in the stands to offset what will be a large home advantage for the Muskies and their fans.
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Tori Collins has been named BIG EAST Pitcher of the Week for her 3-0 record last week. She also recorded a save in five appearances. The junior struck out 24 batters and allowed just two runs on 12 hits for a sparkling ERA of 0.59 in 23.2 innings. Opposing batters went an anemic .150 against Tori. It is the second time this season she has been selected Pitcher of the Week.
Colby Wherry swung the big bat for the Cards last week and has been named to the BIG EAST Softball Honor Roll for outstanding performance. Colby was a hitting machine...going .625 at the plate with a home run, three doubles, six RBI's and four scored runs. Her on base % was .611 and her slugging percentage a perfect 1.000. The senior helped lead the Cards to a 4-1 record out at the San Diego Classic II.
Louisville faces in-state rival Kentucky at Ulmer Stadium on campus Wednesday at 6 p.m. The Cards (18-9) also have a weekend series to begin BIG EAST play coming up against Villanova.
Tickets for UK are $5 and can be purchased at the field game day.
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Louisville's LADY CARDS basketball team will take on Xavier tonight at the Cintas Center on the Xavier University Campus tonight at 7 p.m. For the Cards, stopping the gigantic front line of Amber Harris and Ta'Shia Phillips will be a priority, as well as slowing down senior guards Special Jennings and Megan Askew. Local high school girls basketball fans may also remember Jeffersonville star center Sabrina Johnson, who is a reserve on the Xavier team.
The Cards will look to establish their own pace against the Musketeers instead of letting Xavier settle into their half court game of getting the ball inside to their dual post players and controlling the boards on both ends of the court.
The two teams met early in the season, on November 23rd. in the Cintas Center. Although Xavier won 71-59, Louisville jumped out to an eleven point first half lead using transition, fast break basketball and a stifling man-to-man defense. Xavier head coach challenged senior post Amber Harris, from Indianapolis to get more involved in the offense and she turned in a yeoman effort, torching the Cards for 13 points and 10 boards in the first half. Harris ended up with 28 points and 18 rebounds in the game and Xavier used a 19-3 run early in the second half to take control of the game. Senior guard Special Jennings nailed a couple of key 3's during that run.
"She's fantastic." head Louisville coach Jeff Walz remarked about Harris after the game. "She's unbelievable. Next to Maya Moore, she may be the best player in the country." Walz, known for his humorous sarcasm at times, was dead serious about Harris. She is all that.
Ta'Shia Phillips, Xavier's other post dominator, got into early foul trouble against the Cards and only played 20 minutes. The Cards had no one that could stop Harris, though, and it will be interesting to see what tactics Walz employs tonight to keep both from controlling the boards against a usually weak Cardinal rebounding squad. Louisville will also be wary of the three point shooting of guards Jennings, Tyeashia Moss and Katie Rutan.
Monique Reid had 20 points for Louisville in the loss.
SONJA SAYS:
The Cards will need to force the tempo and keep the Xavier guards from working the ball inside
to the Xavier twin towers if they are to advance in the NCAA Tournament. Cut off the head of the beast and the body dies. They'll also need to shut down any Xavier long range marksmanship, which they can do with effective full court pressure and a tight guarding scheme.
Keisha Hines needs to step up and have a big game on both ends of the court and if Walz chooses to give Asia Taylor extended minutes to combat the Xavier height advantage, the Columbus, Ohio sophomore must play prevention defense and avoid the reach-in fouls that have stymied her at times this season. Good shooting from the perimeter from Schimmel, Gibbs and Burke is a must and Reid will be expected to produce her usual stellar performance from inside the arc.
You counter height with quickness and Louisville has the fast break, transition basketball game to keep the Muskateers off balance and on their toes if they can get it started. Steals against the veteran Xavier back court may be hard to come by and turnovers few and far between...but if the Cards can contest ball movement and play smart, they can beat this A-10 powerhouse.
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CARDINAL COUPLE (well, at least 1/2 of the couple...) will be court side for the action and bring you pre-game, in-game and post game reports from the Cintas Center. Look out I-71, the red is on the way...
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***********************************************************************The final eight contestant of the Sideline Announcers Bracket are ready and raring to go and the first matchup pits Erin Andrews vs. Heather Cox. Since the NCAA Men's basketball tournament is on CBS and their affiliates this year, we haven't seen much out of the ESPN duo lately. Maybe they're doing some women's or men's NIT games...but we aren't catching them if they are. Both have been embroiled in a bit of controversy lately...Cox and her obscenities during a taping of a halftime report and Andrews and the stalker. WE enjoy both, though, when they are on the air and this will be a tough one to decide. David Watson goes with Andrews,
Paul is siding with the red-headed Cox and Sonja selects Andrews. You can weigh in on the fray here in the comments section..or send your vote to us at cardinalcouple@insightbb.com*************************************************************************************
Did anyone else out there catch the Tennessee vs. Marquette game last night on ESPN2? We normally don't pay much attention to the meanderings and dribble that flows from the network play by play and color commentators...but Debbie Antonelli and "pretty boy"Dave Ryan must have had money on Marquette. Especially "pretty boy"... who almost reached orgasm every time Marquette's Angel Robinson took a step, tied her shoes or put up a shot. "Debs" was her usual condescending, haughty self...lamenting that Marquette could not produce enough defense to hold Tennessee. Hmmm. That Golden Eagle "d" had it down to a 2 point game late and both "pretty boy" and "Debs" were in full connubial ecstasy. Tough loss for a good and veteran Marquette team. Tougher, though, to listen to the 'dynamic' ESPN duo and their on air love affair for Terri Mitchell's squad. And...who cares if Bruce Pearl got fired and if it would affect the Vols? For goodness sake...do you really think losing a lying men's basketball coach is going to affect the way Pat Summitt prepares for and coaches a game? Please...ESPN and their "head games". We can understand "Debs" hatred for the Vols...she was UK's Director of Marketing early in her professional career. Once a Kat, always a Kat. Ryan, a veteran of both CBS and ESPN broadcasting needs to stick to college football...in our humble opinion.
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We're OK with the studio show and Trey Wingo, Kara Lawson and Carolyn Peck. Wingo stays out of the way and lets Lawson and Peck talk about the sports they know. Lawson has improved dramatically over the past several years and it's good to see her on the studio report with Peck instead of "Ms Negative" Stacey Dales. We do wonder why Carolyn Peck hasn't been hired by someone has a coach. She knows the game quite well and that cute, little southern drawl of hers...well, we're sold. Sure, she had a rough 2006-07 season as Florida Gators head women's basketball coach which led to her dismissal...but she won an NCAA Championship while head coach at Purdue. She has WNBA coaching experience at Orlando, too. Maybe it's of her own choosing to stay in the studio instead of returning to the sidelines...but WE can think of at least five BIG EAST teams that would grow and prosper under Peck's knowledge and coaching ability. Sounds like we're trying to pimp her out as agents...that's not the case, though. We're perfectly fine listening to her intelligent and informative studio commentary. And Walz doesn't need another top flight, opposing coach to worry about in the BIG EAST.
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With Gonzaga's win last night, the Spokane Regional is looking like a tougher ticket than the Final Four. There's nothing on Stub Hub, and that's without the huge spike in demand that will occur if Louisville wins tonight.
ReplyDeleteWhat do you think about having Reid, Hines, and Vails all playing at the same time against Xavier? -PDX Phil
Vails was gimpy in the second half of the Vanderbilt game and even though Walz played it off as insignificant...we're not sure if that was just "coach speak" or not.
ReplyDeleteLouisville would benefit greatly if Vails and Hines could battle Harris and Phillips to a standoff...we're thinking Walz will try Taylor and Hines first, though...and have both Vails and Slaughter at the ready if they're needed.
Intersting idea proposed earlier today on local talk radio that Walz might go with a smaller, quicker line up (like Schimmel, Tay, Reid, Gibbs and HInes) and try to wear the Muskies out.
We'll see in about five hours. GO CARDS!